This media centre provides information for journalists and bloggers.
Please feel free to use any of the content about the author Anne Allen in this media centre.
If you would like to interview Anne for your newspaper, magazine, blog, TV or radio show, then please contact her PR Agent.
If you would like to review any of the books within The Guernsey Novels series please contact Anne.
Contact: Anna-Lisa Hasedzic
Company: The Globeflower Agency Ltd
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 07432090223
If you would like to contact Anne directly, please do so via email.
Email: me @ anneallen.co.uk
Anne was born in Rugby to a Welsh father and an English mother. As a result, she spent many summers with her Welsh grandparents in Anglesey and learned to love the sea. Now she is based in Devon to be near her daughter and two small grandchildren. Her restless spirit has meant many moves, the longest stay being in Guernsey for nearly fourteen years after falling in love with the island and the people. She contrived to leave one son behind to ensure a valid reason for frequent returns. Her younger son is based in London – ideal for city breaks
By profession, Anne was a psychotherapist who long had a desire to write and Dangerous Waters, her first novel, was published in 2012. It was awarded Silver (Adult Fiction) in TheWishingShelfAwards 2012.
Since then she has published five more books in The Guernsey Novels series; Finding Mother, Guernsey Retreat, The Family Divided, and Echoes of Time; winner of The Diamond Book Award 2017, a finalist in Readersfavorite awards and granted a ChillWithABookAward. Book 6, The Betrayal, was published in October 2017.
All the stories take place predominantly on the island of Guernsey and are linked by characters popping up from one book to another. They provide an ongoing story of a ‘village’ spread, so far, over 6 years. Each book is standalone with fresh new lead characters with their own links to the German Occupation during World War 2, having an impact on the present. The Guernsey Novels are a mix of mystery, family drama, and love story and influenced by the author’s love of the island where she spent many happy years. Guernsey itself is always a main character in the books, offering a gorgeous backdrop to all the sorrows, joys and tragedies she describes.
August 2018
Anne Allen was interviewed by Devon Life and featured as a two-page spread in the magazine.
Read an addition Devon Life online article about Anne Allen
August 2018
Anne Allen was interviewed about her writing for this popular magazine.
29/5/2018
Anne Allen was interviewed by journalist and Dublin City FM presenter Victoria Mary Clarke on her show All About Books.
Listen to the radio show using the soundcloud player below.
July 2018
May 2018
The Betrayal (The Guernsey Novels book #6) was reviewed in the News Journal (Mansfield & Ashfield).
12/3/2018
Anne Allen was interviewed by BBC presenter Jenny Kendall-Tobias about The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society movie and novel.
Read the keypoints and a transcription of the BBC Guernsey Radio show
4 May 2018
I spoke to experienced psychotherapist, turned award-winning author, Anne Allen about this. She said: ‘As a psychotherapist for many years, one of the first things I learned was how not to take on responsibility for other people’s problems.’ Ms Allen advised that, as a friend, we can listen and support but should encourage the person to work out their own resolutions – it isn’t our responsibility to do so.
April 2018
15 March 2018
It was an unlikely best-seller and it inspired Anne Allen of Teignmouth to become an author, writes Ted Hynds.
11 March 2018
I am a writer and have published six novels to date and my daughter, Louise, gave me the best pressie ever a couple of years ago. Louise bought me a Swarovski pen with a USB drive at one end and crystals in the cap – it couldn’t be better for a writer! It’s just a pity it doesn’t engage in ‘automatic writing’! When I travel I take my laptop – at home I use a PC – and load up important files onto the USB drive. It’s brilliant.
2 March 2018
NOVELIST Anne Allen will be the guest of the Friends of Dawlish Library talking about her series of books set in Guernsey.
Having lived there for 14 years, the island is somewhere she knows and loves.
She has written six Guernsey novels and a seventh, ‘The Inheritance’, will be published later this year.
Thanks to the new movie The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, the island will hopefully benefit from literary and possibly culinary tourism. However, is the Potato Peel Pie recipe actually real?
Rugby born Anne Allen, never dreamt that she would one-day become an award-winning author. However, her rise to the top has been thanks to her Rugby based mother who pushed her into entering a true-life writing competition in Prima magazine.
| Date | Blog & Link | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 14 June 2018 | Against the Flow Press | Book review of Echoes of Time |
| 14 June 2018 | Alternative Read | Book review of The Betrayal |
| 13 June 2018 | Heart shaped blue stockings | Book review of Dangerous Waters |
| 13 June 2018 | Jera’s Jamboree | Excerpt from Dangerous Waters |
| 12 June 2018 | Waggy Tales Blog | Book review of Dangerous Waters |
| 12 June 2018 | Book Inspector | Excerpt from Family Divided |
| 11 June 2018 | Kraftireader | Excerpt from Echoes of Time |
| 10 June 2018 | Proud Book Reviews | Book review: Family Divided |
| 10 June 2018 | Life of Emma X | Book review: Guernsey Retreat |
| 9 June 2018 | Bookish Jottings | Promotional Post |
| 9 June 2018 | Jess Bookish Life | Book review: Finding Mother |
| 8 June 2018 | Simply Shine | Book review: The Guernsey Retreat |
| 8 June 2018` | Books Life and Everything | Article: Anne Allen’s favourite places in Guernsey |
| 8 June 2018 | Donna’s Book Blog | Book review: Echoes of Time |
| 7 June 2018 | Adventure Out There | Article: Why you should visit Guernsey |
| 7 June 2018 | My Reading Corner | Book Review of The Betrayal |
| 6 June 2018 | Zooloo Book Blog | Excerpt from Finding Mother |
| 6 June 2018 | The Book Trail | Article: A Guernsey Love Affair |
| 5 June 2018 | Rachel Bustin | Book Review of Finding Mother |
| 5 June 2018 | Reviewer Lady Good ‘n’ Read~y | Book Review of The Betrayal |
| 4 June 2018 | Truly Madly Cuckoo | Excerpt from Dangerous Waters |
| 3 June 2018 | Wrongsideof Forty | Book review of Guernsey Retreat |
| 3 June 2018 | K.L Loveley | Book review of The Family Divided |
| 2 June 2018 | Portobello Book Blog | Excerpt from Dangerous Waters |
| 2 June 2018 | Travel and Baking Blog | Book review of Finding Mother |
| 1 June 2018 | Breaks.com | Promotional Post |
| 1 June 2018 | Chat About Books | Promotional Post |
| 1 June 2018 | A Lover of Books | Article: Anne’s Idyllic Childhood Holidays Inspired Her Love of The Sea |
| 1 June 2018 | TripFiction | Book review of The Betrayal |
Fans of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, will enjoy reading The Guernsey Novels by Anne Allen. The best-selling novel has been turned into a movie starring Lily James of Downton Abbey fame.
Anne was intriged when she dicovered the The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. Talking about the novel, Anne says:
“Although Mary Ann Shaffer’s story is a nice read, however, I’m not sure she could have conducted very thorough research.
“I lived in Guernsey for fourteen years, and have read many books about the Occupation, and was even donated diaries from islanders who lived through the Occupation – and I have never unearthed evidence of Potato Peel Pie being cooked.
“Whilst researching for my series, The Guernsey Novels, I discovered a wide variety of interesting WWII recipes from Guernsey including a steamed pudding made out of grated carrots, potatoes and oats.
“Bearing in mind the importance of research I have tried very hard to ensure that I have used authentic Guernsey dishes in my novels, as well as using the names of real restaurants, hotels, roads, and landmarks.
“I also try to check they were in existence in the time period of each novel.”
Whilst Anne has been disappointed in the lack of authenticity in The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society novel, she is looking forward to watching the movie. It boasts an impressive cast including: Lily James, Jessica Brown Findlay, Matthew Goode, Michiel Huisman, Katherine Parkinson, Glen Powell, Tom Courtenay and Penelope Wilton.
PRESS RELEASE – Potato Peel Pie Confusion
