Anna Johnston Books In Order

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Anna Johnston is an Australian published author.

She is known for her debut novel, The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife. She is married and lives in Melbourne along with her daughters and husband.

Anna grew up in country Victoria before relocating to Melbourne. Today she loves living there with her family and they are always close to the beach.

Anna formerly worked in medicine but left her career there behind to go to the nursing home her grandfather was in. There she took on the role of social support coordinator and made a few changes to the regular usual program.

When she was injured and needed to take a break from working in aged care, she started to write about it and put the love that she had for working with older people onto the page. Anna has always had a passion for screenplay, travel, theatre, and aging creatively.

Her debut novel was an international bestseller upon its release and has been optioned by Netflix!

The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife is a 2024 novel written by Anna Johnston. This book was extremely popular with readers all over the world and soon you will be able to watch it too.

Library Journal said that this is a ‘funny, heartfelt story about found family and seeing the silver lining in life’. If you’ve been looking for something new to read and you don’t know where to start, give this book a try in a story that features a case of mistaken identity letting a lonely old man become a part of a family.

Main character Frederick Fife is the type of person who was born naturally to be generous. Taking your car meant that he would give it back not only filled up with gas but washed and sparkling clean too. But now he is 82 years old and even though he has been kind all of his life, there is no one left in his life that he can lean on and depend on and borrow from.

He has gone completely broke and he is about to be evicted from where he lives. But it turns out that life has a surprise in store that he did not see coming. Fred finds that he gets mixed up and taken to be a man named Bernard Greer, who lives at the local nursing home and has been missing. Fred takes this guy’s place and now he is finding that he has somewhere to live and is getting warm meals all of the time.

It’s such a twist of fate and a lucky one too. The only thing to do now is to sit back and hope that Bernard, the man who has actually gone missing, doesn’t come back to reclaim his spot (and the payment keep coming to cover it).

Meanwhile, Denise Simms is a woman who is constantly being disappointed. She is a mother who is middle aged and also a caregiver at Bernard’s facility. Her marriage is not doing well and as that falls apart she not only has to navigate that but her daughter’s health concerns as well. All of it together is making her feel as though she can barely breathe and that her ability to feel the joy of life is being smothered.

On top of that, she has been injured by her husband and gone through a betrayal that makes her view him as impossible to trust. After this deception by her partner, she promises herself that she will never allow a man to do this to her again.

When Fred is walking around as Bernard, he is being kind everywhere that he goes. This makes Denise pay attention, and soon she is suspicious about whether Fred is who he says he is. When the truth comes out, the two of them might just learn something about what it means to have a sense of purpose in this life and how you can restore a broken life back to its prime.

This book has a feel good factor to it that makes it tough to pass up! Covering grief, humor, and what it means to find family, check out The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife and see why it has sold so many copies.

When Lemons Give Your Life is a 2026 novel by author Anna Johnston. Yet another punchy fictional release from an author that people like NYT bestselling author Graeme Simsion are saying is ‘Smart, authentic, and full of heart’.

This story is about second chances, family, and how far we are willing to go for those that we love. Pick up this novel and start turning the pages as you read what author Emma Grey deems a ‘delicious treat of a novel’, with the internationally bestselling author admitting that she ‘adored it’.

Griff Barlow is a retired Michelin-star level chef and even he has lost his appetite at the moment. He is tired and has reached his limit with all of the guilt and the grief that he is going through. To add insult to injury he is having to deal with the beige colored slop that they serve as food at the place he lives– Sunny Glen Aged Care Facility.

He’s gone through six decades of life that have given him plenty of trouble and hard times. After having been given so many lemons, he decides that he’s going to enjoy a final meal and make one last tart. If he has to break into the kitchen at the nursing home to do so, he’s fine with that.

But cooking this tart ends up reigniting the joy of baking in him and he cannot just keep it to one time. Griff continues to sneak into the area at night and even starts sharing what he makes with the residents, who love every single bite. At the same time, Barlow is covering up for a huge lie that could end up taking out the only thing left that he has that is worth protecting.

Griff’s younger sister is Lisa and she is the only visitor that comes to see him, but she is dealing with things of her own like a new love and an ADHD diagnosis late in life. She continues to show up even though they have a broken relationship, but can they forgive each other and get to a good place? Will Griff be able to stay in the home when they find out about his baking? Read When Lemons Give You Life to find out!