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Abbi Waxman Biography, Books, and Similar Authors

Author Biography  | Interview  | Books by this Author  | Read-Alikes

Abbi Waxman
Photo: Leanna Creel

Abbi Waxman

Abbi Waxman Biography

Born in England, Abbi Waxman worked as a copywriter at various advertising agencies in London and New York. Eventually she quit advertising, had three kids and started writing books, TV shows and screenplays, largely in order to get a moment's peace. Abbi lives in Los Angeles with her husband, three kids, three dogs, three cats, a gecko, two mice and six chickens.

Abbi Waxman's website

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Interview

Abbi Waxman, talks about family, life and her debut novel, The Garden of Small Beginnings

You've said the book is wish fulfillment—both about being a widow and growing tomatoes. Explain.

I started thinking about this book after I'd had one of those stupid arguments where you end up wondering how easy it might be to dispose of your partner. Permanently. It was probably over not putting the milk away, or something equally unimportant, but after a decade or so with someone, the smallest things can trigger irritating meta-arguments very quickly. (Possibly this is just my marriage, but I doubt we're exceptional in any way.) Anyway, as I was pondering my upcoming widowhood, I started thinking more seriously about how that would look, etc., and the story started writing itself. I put the gardening stuff in it because at the time I was still entertaining the notion of becoming a successful gardener, and maybe I thought if I wrote about someone else managing it, I might be able to, also. This self-delusional quality is one of my stand-out characteristics. I can persuade myself of almost anything.

What makes this book so special is your narrator Lili's irreverent and funny voice. Why did you choose gardening as a vehicle for her story?

Because I suck at it, which makes it interesting. I made her ...

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Books by this Author

Books by Abbi Waxman at BookBrowse
One Death at a Time jacket The Bookish Life of Nina Hill jacket Other People's Houses jacket The Garden of Small Beginnings jacket
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Read-Alikes

All the books below are recommended as read-alikes for Abbi Waxman but some maybe more relevant to you than others depending on which books by the author you have read and enjoyed. So look for the suggested read-alikes by title linked on the right.
How we choose read-alikes

We recommend 10 similar authors


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