Annabelle is the story of a lonely young woman forever marred by the dysfunctional relationship of her parents. It's a tale of love, longing and loss — and the price each character pays for passion.
As a young child growing up in an isolated environment, all Annabelle knows of love and marriage is what she witness between her parents: her father, the artist, and her mother, his devoted model.
And when that family life is torn apart, Annabelle is set adrift on a sea of grief and guilt. Can she ever find her way safely back to shore?
Excerpt
“My father was a painter,” Annabelle had said—was it at the second
session or the third?—“and my mother would pose for him.”
Annabelle remembered watching her father paint in the cold, clear light filtering into his studio. He used canvas and oils the way God had used clay, creating life from inanimate objects. The walls of the house were hung with his paintings—those his agent could not convince him to release—and everywhere Annabelle looked, her mother’s dark eyes would follow her, glowing on the canvas.
Sometimes, after a long session in the studio, her mother would be pale and weak, barely able to stand, so colorless that one would think
her a ghost. The portraits, by contrast, were pulsing with life. Annabelle had feared that her father was drawing the very lifeblood from her
mother, leaving behind an empty shell.
Professional Reviews
…one of those stories that you will remember for a long time
“ANNABELLE is a literary gem that captures your imagination to a haunting surrender. While grabbing you from the first page, your mind in drawn towards this addictive narrative that silences everything around you grabbing your full attention. This was a short but fulfilling read. The intricacy of the character Annabelle with her parents and the relationship between her parents had a delicate cohesiveness that seemed so seamless that you just couldn't stop reading. As a reader, to feel such intensity from such vivid, descriptive words is a testament to Christie’s ability as a storyteller. As you read ANNABELLE, it’s one of those stories that you completely escape into the characters. The storyline between her parents are so passionately engaging filled with love, loss, and tragedy. Her journey of desperation, guilt, seeking love, and that yearning to be that object of desire just completely satisfies your literary appetite. With all that said, if you love great writing and stories that you can completely escape into, I would recommend reading this. You will not be disappointed. This is one of those stories that you will remember for a long time.” - What is that book about /Michelle Bowles
an eerie, dreamlike quality… heart-breaking and alarming at the same time
"There is an eerie, dreamlike quality to ANNABELLE, heart-breaking and alarming at the same time. Like so many of Nancy Christie’s heroines, Annabelle is at the mercy. Of what? Of her father. Her mother. Herself. Life. It is all too much to cope with. But it is her life. She is fragile in the way that Kafka’s protagonists are fragile. Both writers tell their stories without the slightest self-pity or sentimentality. Like Kafka’s heroes, Annabelle is vulnerable and already deeply wounded. Yet, unlike them, she is deeply feminine. And unlike Kafka’s stories, Nancy Christie’s tales are always beautiful. When you read ANNABELLE, be prepared to say, “So that’s how it is…” Till you find yourself saying, “Yes! That’s exactly how it is.” Hers is a strange world, a new world. And a world that will change you. For once you visit it, you will know in your heart it is the real world."- Morrow Wilson, novelist
…a memorable journey through a young woman’s mind…
"The tormented soul of a young woman who has lost her way amidst her dreams and nightmares is beautifully evoked in this story by Nancy Christie. Annabelle wants to be loved, to be special. She desperately need to be important to somebody, to a father so self-involved he never knew she was there. And a mother, too obsessed with her father and his art to pay more than passing attention to her daughter. It’s a memorable journey through a young woman’s mind, a strange road on which memory, guilt, and wishful thinking mix, leaving Annabelle lost in an unreality between here and who knows where."- Marilyn Armstrong, Goodreads
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