Second novel, For Love of Anna, published 2009. This was two and half years in the making. There are three main strands running through it. Firstly, it may be read as a poignant love story – Anna is a ballerina with whom the main protagonist, the university student, Guido van Thool, falls in love. But Anna is also an acronym for Anarchists of the New Age, which brings us to the second dimension of the novel as an ideological story positing ideas in the mind of the philosophy student Guido, in the wake of the collapse of Russian communism and the dilution of oppositional politics, on what alternatives there are to the all-devouring monolith of corporate capitalism. Anna wants to steer him away from this sort of ‘dangerous’ thinking, but his friend, the anarchist Philippe, keeps goading him. Paralleling the lives of the lovers is that of a corrupt judge, Jeremiah Delahyde (the third strand) who literally crashes into the world of Guido and Anna on a fatal New Years night.
For Love of Anna on Amazon.com.
Some reviews of For Love of Anna
“It is a love story crossed with a political thriller. The lovers are student Guido van Thool and ballerina Anna Zweig, She introduces him not just to love but to political activism also. The other character in the novel is a corrupt judge, Jeremiah Delahyde. When the drunken judge knocks down and kills Anna on New Year’s Eve, itseems the law cannot or will not touch him but Guido sets out to get revenge.”
from Books Ireland, May 2012.
“For Love of Anna is a work of art for the twenty-first century, for a world that’s almost used up. It is a book that had to be written and cries out to be read. It will jolt us out of our encrusted corporate value systems and, with its searing pathos, will change the way we perceive the universe.”
Michael Geraghty
Reviews from Amazon
5.0 out of 5 stars Literary Page-Turner!,23 Nov 2009
By
Catherine Cooney – See all my reviews
This review is from: For Love of Anna (Paperback)
For Love of Anna is a literary page-turner, full of suspense and beautifully written. An original, deep and thought-provoking novel. Its resonance lingered with me long after I had finished reading it.
5.0 out of 5 stars More than just a romance story,3 Jan 2013
By
This review is from: For the Love of Anna (Kindle Edition)
This was the third James Lawless book I read and the more I read, the more impressed I am with his works. He has an insight that perhaps many of us, although are subconsciously aware, do not focus on in our daily lives until a book such as this highlights them. It then becomes thought provoking and is all the better for it.
Following a recommendation to read I did hesitate before committing time to it as I am not a “romance” reader as a rule but was persuaded to do so by other factors, It ultimately became a decision I did not regret and found it hard to put down to do what I really needed to do.
The novel touches on political corruption, a subject that always strikes a chord with me and some key aspects of the judicial system that we, in the west, hold so dearly. How accurate these reflections are I am not certain but I would speculate they are possibly not too far from the truth of actual happenings at some point, only with a little added and taken away to keep on the right side of the law.
Superbly written James and very well done from me. You have not converted me in to a romantic themed novel reader but you have demonstrated that a book really should never be judged by its cover, there is more to some story lines that first meets the eye.
5.0 out of 5 stars A must-read novel,2 Jan 2013
By
Nur M. Iqbal – See all my reviews
This review is from: For the Love of Anna (Kindle Edition)
Beautifully and successfully written. “FOR THE LOVE OF ANNA is a nicely paced novel that pulls at the readers’ heartstrings.
While I do not normally read “romance” novels, I can understand why they can really be touching and thought provoking even for male readers. The novel contains both politics and romance, and is superbly put together by the author’s deft hand.
A big cheer for Mr. Lawless. Really superb writing and a novel than may convert me yet into a reader of romance, except perhaps those of Mills and Boon.
5.0 out of 5 stars For Love of Anna,17 Nov 2009
By
Therese Woodburn – See all my reviews
This review is from: For Love of Anna (Paperback)
Apart from being a moving love story, For Love of Anna is a must-read book for the times we live in, with its deep questions about our capitalist norms and the ambiguous morality of some of our righteous leaders.
5.0 out of 5 stars Love at first read January 18, 2013
By Sara Hadi
Format:Kindle Edition
For the love of Anna has made me love the way Lawless tells a story, and led me to read two more of his books (Finding Penelope and The Avenue), and I won’t be stopping here. When I read Lawless I feel like the time when I was in college and a single Grisham novel was never enough, and you had to get your hands on another just as you were finished with one. Of course, I’m not comparing the authors, but only stating that Lawless is one master of a storyteller!In For the Love of Anna, Lawless incorporates into a simple boy meets girls plot, a deeper aspect of our world’s gentry that is mixed in white collar offense. A look into what power does to people, and what people can do to get that power. How a single turn of events can create a chain reaction of enormous proportions and lead even the simplest of people to do the unthinkable.What happens when the very people who are chosen by us to uphold the law, break it and cause insufferable pain? And what happens when those very people try to bend the law that they make themselves only so they can get away with the punishment that comes with committing the crime. And would you really blame the people whose lives are singularly affected by the crime, when they take the law into their own hands after such injustice is done. Ask yourself all these questions while reading this book and all the grey shades of our law system and the law holders start to become apparent.
4.0 out of 5 stars another interesting romantic plot 28 Jan 2013
By retoricyard
Format:Paperback
I have always been a fan of romantic novels. Whether it has a classical, medieval, modern or futuristic theme it does not really matter as long as the book is able to pull that emotional string in me. This book “For love of Anna” was my first read from author James Lawless and I am telling you, this novel has more to it than what its cover suggests. The story does not entirely root itself to the romance between the main characters but it focuses on the vengeful desire of one of them that survived. Political corruption is vividly depicted in the story and the struggle for power by corrupt individuals. These issues are seldom found in romantic novels so it made my read more interesting. James clearly knows what and for whom he is writing for.
Genre: FICTION / Romance / Suspense
Selling steadily in paperback especially on amazon and in the US and UK and as an ebook.
Distinguishing feature: with the weakening of ideational potlitcals, the novel questions alternatives in a deep thinking philospohy student, Guido van Thool to the monolith of capitalism. Very modern and relevant to our times in its questioning of corruption in high places as in the character of the judge and the tragic story of the lovers.
Guido van Thool, blond head downcast with little round spectacles perusing a book, is about to enter the door of Loti’s café in the old quarter of Potence when he bumps into a girl, knocking pumps out of her hands. He apologises, picks up the pumps, lets his book fall in the process, picks it up and rising, reddens slightly, as his eyes are drawn to long shapely legs protruding from a white wool coat.
The girl smiles doe-eyed, and his mind becomes suffused with the idea that he has just bumped into the most beautiful girl he ever saw, and she’s about to walk away.
‘I re...really am sorry,’ he hears his voice saying.
Another smile, revealing the straightest, the whitest of teeth. She’s moving away, turning her back, swivelling slightly, nursing the pumps in her arms.
‘Please,’ he says,
She turns around, shivering a little in the winter cold, waiting for Guido to speak. He’s searching frantically, trying to find a word. ‘The... the least I can do is buy you a coffee.’
‘Don’t drink coffee.’
How quick and sharp her reply. A crestfallen Guido.
‘I’ve just been in there,’ she says. ‘I had to come away; it’s too crowded.’
‘I know Loti,’ says Guido more assuredly. ‘She’ll get us a table.’
‘Well...’ She ponders, shaking back her long auburn hair...‘maybe a cranberry juice.’
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French
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Already translated.
Translated by Sakura A. Bolte
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Author review: I had the pleasure of working with Sakura on the translation of my novel For Love of Anna. She is a conscientious, thorough and meticulous translator whom I highly recommend, |
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Italian
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Already translated.
Translated by Claudia Mirruzzo
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Author review: Claudia is a thorough and excellent translator whom I highly recommend. |
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Portuguese
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Already translated.
Translated by Bruna Gunther
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Spanish
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Already translated.
Translated by Vicente Abella
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Author review: Vicente Abella Aranda is a first class literary translator showing deep insights into other cultures. His work is meticulous and captures the essence of the original work. I highly recommend him. |
