Bio

I’m Montréalaise by birth and identity, but currently live in Toronto. I’ve called other parts of Canada and the United States my home: small-town Ontario, Nova Scotia, the Yukon and, yes, New Jersey.

I was a nurse’s aide and a graphic artist for a while, then a journalist with United Press International. I translated shirtless laird romances, and was in and out of school like a repeat offender. I ended up studying for a doctoral degree at Princeton, where I specialized in long bicycle rides and watching Oprah, but did enjoy writing gothic academic satires involving my profs.

I returned to Canada to face the music. I taught university, then lit out for the Yukon territory. In the frozen North I did a little of it all–dogsledding, piloting a small plane, cross-country skiing, the Kluane international bike relay. I’ve had a few jobs in government along the way. One fine day at the office my boss said, you’ve led such an interesting life, Anna. I figured I wasn’t long for government after that.

I have two unpublished young adult fantasy books.  Book one was a semi-finalist for the American Katherine Paterson Prize, and book two, in a mystery vein, made the long list for the Crime Writers of Canada’s unpublished novel prize. After being told by an agent my words were too “big,” I shifted to adult fiction.

THE SUSPENSION BRIDGE (Radiant Press, October 2024), an irreverent and immersive pilgrim’s progress set in 1962, is my  fourth published novel.  I’m also the author of the well-received AFTER THE WINTER (2017), THE AU PAIR (2018) and APRIL ON PARIS STREET (2021).

My books are stories about women in psychic danger, and what they do about it. THE SUSPENSION BRIDGE, a 49th Shelf Most Anticipated Fall 2024 Pick, is a hybrid literary mystery with some genre and narrative twists. It’s set in the imaginary small Canadian city of Bothonville and mixes a murder plot featuring Sister Harriet of Bingham with satire and allegory.