What is the title of your latest release?
WHEN LEMONS GIVE YOU LIFE
What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
Ratatouille meets A Man Called Ove. A depressed former Michelin-starred chef living in a nursing home secretly rediscovers the joy of cooking – and it just might save his life.
How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
I spent years working in a nursing home, and it felt like the natural setting for the story I wanted to tell. I was drawn to the idea of bringing two very different worlds together: the relentless pursuit of perfection in Michelin-starred kitchens and the neglect and dysfunction of a failing aged care facility. The contrast created exactly the kind of tension I wanted to explore.
Would you hang out with your heroine in real life?
Absolutely! Griff is an incredible chef, so I’d love to pick up a few cooking tips from him! I’d also love to hang out with Lisa as we have a lot in common, including our midlife ADHD diagnosis.
What are three words that describe your hero?
Grumpy, compassionate, pineapple (spiky exterior, sweet inside)!
What’s something you learned while writing this book?
The discrimination many queer older people still face as they age and consider care.
Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
I try to avoid temptation and wait until I’m done. Editing a draft is like icing your cake batter.
What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
Chocolate croissant cake!
Describe your writing space/office!
We have a lovely backyard cottage (called a Granny Flat here in Australia) where I work from. It’s decorated in the Hamptons style!
Who is an author you admire?
Mike Gayle.
Is there a book that changed your life?
THE HAPPIEST MAN ON EARTH by Eddie Jaku.
Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be published). Or, for indie authors, when you decided to self-publish.
I think I screamed, danced with the kids, ate tiramisu and drank champagne. I’m not sure in what order.
What’s your favorite genre to read?
Feel good stories with high stakes and plot twists.
What’s your favorite movie?
The Castle – an iconic Aussie movie I highly recommend.
What is your favorite season?
Summer.
How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
With family, playing games and eating ice cream cake!
What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
Show: Shrinking
Movie: Project Hail Mary
Book: MY FRIENDS by Frederick Backman
Podcast: ADHD love
What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
Mexican.
What do you do when you have free time?
I absolutely love to travel whenever I get the chance, whether it’s going away for the weekend or doing a big international trip.
What can readers expect from you next?
I’m currently working on my third novel, set on a dairy farm in rural Tasmania, which explores the importance of returning to a human pace in a world that is becoming increasingly instantaneous.
WHEN LEMONS GIVE YOU LIFE by Anna Johnston
Narrator: Socratis Otto, Ainslie McGlynn
A Novel – A Humorous, Heartfelt Story of Sibling Reconciliation, Second Chances, and Forgiveness
From the author of the beloved international bestseller The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife comes a heart-stirring novel about family, second chances, and the lengths we go for those we love, following a woman fighting to hold onto life and her older brother who’s rediscovering reasons to embrace it.
Retired Michelin-star chef Griff Barlow has lost his appetite. He’s done with grief, guilt and the beige slop they dare call food at Sunny Glen Aged Care Facility, where he now resides.
Six decades of life have given him all the lemons he can handle, so he breaks into the nursing home kitchen to bake himself one last tart. It’s supposed to be his final meal but the act of cooking stirs a dormant joy. Soon, he’s regularly sneaking in after dark, serving up flavor and comfort to fellow residents, who, in turn, begin to come alive with each bite of Griff’s delicious concoctions. Yet behind the apron is a lie so big it could destroy the one thing Griff has left to protect.
Lisa, Griff’s younger sister and sole visitor, is navigating a midlife ADHD diagnosis, the spark of a new romance, and unexpected news that may change life as she knows it. Despite their fractured sibling relationship, she continues to show up, though hope of a reconciliation between the two is long gone, buried in the silence between them.
But the truth has a way of boiling over, and when secrets, soufflés, and second chances collide, Griff and Lisa may discover a recipe for forgiveness.
Heartfelt and inspiring, When Lemons Give You Life is a deeply human novel about love, forgiveness, redemption, and rediscovering joy when life has lost its flavor.
Fiction Family Life | LGBTQ | Humor [ William Morrow, On Sale: August 4, 2026, Hardcover / e-Book / audiobook, ISBN: 9780063397347 / eISBN: 9780063397385 ]
Buy WHEN LEMONS GIVE YOU LIFE: Amazon.com | Kindle | BN.com | Apple Books | Kobo | Google Play | Books-A-Million | Indie BookShops | Ripped Bodice | Libro.fm | Audible | Walmart.com | Amazon CA | Amazon UK | Amazon DE | Amazon FR
About Anna Johnston
Anna Johnston is a former baby, aspiring octogenarian and emerging Australian author with a love for the heartfelt and hilarious. She grew up in country Victoria before moving to Melbourne where she lives joyously with her husband and daughters by the beach. Anna left an imminent career in medicine to follow her heart into her grandfather’s nursing home where she became the social support coordinator, taking great delight in shaking up the usual program. When injury left her unable to continue working in aged care, she began to write about it, channelling her love for older people onto the page. Anna has enjoyed a lifelong passion for theatre, screenplay, travel, and creative writing.
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