The Anna Papers: A Novel [Paperback]

Ellen Gilchrist (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 10, 1989

Anna Hand, a rambunctious, passionate, and famous Southern writer, returns home to straighten out the chaos of her family. But just as she forces her brother Daniel to face up to the responsibility of his daughter from an early marriage, she discovers that the vague malaise she has been feeling is cancer and commits suicide by walking into the sea. The papers she leaves behind shock her literary executor and sister Helen, but with the seductive help of her co-executor Helen begins her own liberation and the acceptance of Anna's adventurous--even exotic--credo of life.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A writer with a distinctive voice and a considerable narrative gift, Gilchrist ( Victory over Japan , Falling Through Space ) devotes her second novel to Anna Hand, met earlier in a story in the collection titled Drunk with Love ; most of the other characters here have also appeared in Gilchrist's previous books. Anna is a successful writer who is "very beautiful, very rich and very spoiled." She also considers herself very lucky, an unconscious irony that fails to take into account her doomed marriages, inconclusive affairs and aching unhappiness over her "empty troubled womb." When the novel begins, she is in bed with a lover; 12 and a half years later, having discovered she has cancer, she commits suicide. In between these two events we see Anna embracing life with passion and gusto, exercising her maternal instinct, her passion for meddling and her sexual appetite. Part II shows the family coming together for Anna's wake and Part III focuses on Anna's sister Helen, her literary executor, who achieves a liberating experience through Anna's papers. The Hand family springs to quirky life in Gilchrist's narrative, but the novel is disconcertingly uneven, largely due to the idiosyncracies of Gilchrist's prose style, in which pared-down simplicity sometimes becomes self-indulgent affectation. Yet Gilchrist excels in drawing the bonds of love and resentment in sexual and family relationships, and no one who encounters her charactershere or in her earlier workswill want to miss reading about them again.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Gilchrist's second novel stars Anna Hand, a much-loved, often-divorced writer with terminal cancer who has appeared in an earlier story collection, Drunk with Love (Little, 1986). While Anna is not very likable, being self-absorbed, spoiled, and prone to manipulative over-involvement in the lives of her relatives, she is colorful and vital. Childless herself, she works hard to connect with two of her nieces, one pampered, the other unacknowledged by the family. When her illness becomes serious, she leaves lovers and family, opting for suicide. Stuffy sister Helen serves as Anna's literary co-executor, discovering and absorbing some of Anna's free-living style. Good storytelling and memorable people, but not very substantial and often choppy. A solid choice for popular fiction collections. Ann H. Fisher, Radford P.L., Va.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 277 pages
• Publisher: Little Brown & Co. (October 10, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316313203
• ISBN-13: 978-0316313209
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,200,170 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of my favourites, highly recommended, June 14, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (Freedom Heart) (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Anna Papers: A Novel (Paperback)

This has always been, and remains, one of my favourite books. Gilchrist knows how to make you believe in her characters, and Anna is one of the most well-written and most interesting characters she has written about, ever. This book made me laugh, cry, and appreciate life in a way only Gilchrist (through Anna) could have done. It's a wondrous book, and one I hope to read over and over again. Anna is unforgettable, and it is a tribute to Ellen Gilchrist that she is.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Yes, it IS great fiction....., September 2, 2005

By 

Bronx Girl (Bronx NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Anna Papers: A Novel (Paperback)

I own all of Ellen Gilchrist's books and I am in the process of re-reading all of them in order. It's enriching my life in so many ways. I had to write a review to respond the two negative reviews that were posted before this one. The person who wrote the "Anna loves to do it" review is either about 12 years old or very ignorant. If that is all they took from The Anna Papers, they can't be a very perceptive reader. This book, like all of Ellen's work, is about art, poetry, science, love, loss, and family. It is NOT about furniture and clothing as the reviewer who wrote, "This is great fiction?", stated. The answer to your question, by the way, is a resounding yes. If you love "chick lit", The Da Vinci Codes, James Patterson, Nicholas Sparks, etc, then you will not appreciate the wonderful Ellen Gilchrist. However, if you are looking for some compelling literary fiction which will make you laugh, cry, love life, and THINK, then pick up any of Ellen Gilchrist's treasures....the best part is, she's 70 years old and still writing and teaching. Keep up the great work!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars part of a series of good books, May 23, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Anna Papers: A Novel (Paperback)

Ellen Gilchrist is a talented & really sensitive author. I've been reading her books for years, & my favorite characters are Anna, Rhoda & Olivia. The "Anna Papers" is a book about Anna Hand, a character that comes up again & again in Gilchrist's novels. Anna is an author, a sensitive woman living between extremes- happiness & depression, love & loneliness...I think the whole series is very good -especially "I cannot get you close enough" & "Net of Jewels". But this book is also not a disappointment.