Review: 'Anna' by Sammy H.K. Smith

 By the time I started reading Anna I had forgotten the blurb, which means that everything on the first few pages surprised me. And after those pages I was completely engrossed and couldn't put the novel down. While Anna is not an easy read, it is an amazing one nonetheless. Thanks to Rebellion, Solaris and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Pub. Date: 5/25/2021
Publisher: Rebellion; Solaris

A chilling feminist novel set in a near-future dystopia, Anna explores the conflicts between selfhood and expectations, safety and control, and the sacrifices we make for the sake of protection.

Beaten. Branded. Defiant.

Anna is a possession. She is owned by the man named Will, shielded from the world of struggles by his care. He loves her, protects her, and then breaks her. Anna is obedient, dutiful, and compliant. Anna does not know her place in the world.

When she falls pregnant, Anna leaves her name behind, and finds the strength to run. But the past - and Will - catch up with her in an idyllic town with a dark secret, and this time, it’s not just Anna who is at risk.

Anna isn't an easy book. Sammy H.K. Smith takes us deep into the mind of a woman who is being abused and gaslit. Set in a dystopian world that has clear overtones of our own current political and social predicaments, Smith tells us of a woman on the run, a woman in chains, a woman who tries to hold on to hope. Split into three parts, Smith tries to show the depths of trauma and PTSD, as well as the long road of recovery. She doesn't take any short cuts and especially the first part of Anna is hard to read, as her main character is captured and abused. The scenes are frequently explicit and seeing a woman beaten down to a shadow is difficult and can be triggering. I believe it is important to read about these things, however. It never feels as if Smith is angling for Sensationalism or looking to purely shock. Rather, she tries to show the intricate ways in which abusers work, the way in which they slowly chip away at your identity.

Anna has been caught. She was being so careful but now she is in the possession of Will, branded and dominated. Part I of Anna is full of horrors, with only the smallest points of hope. As she is physically weakened, Anna does her best to remain mentally strong, to hold on to herself and to what she knows is real. Part II shows us her escape and new life in a seemingly safe community. There is water, food, protection, and kindness. But it is still a rough world and as Anna recovers, she begins to notice things. The second part of Anna strikes a drastically different tone to the first part. It is meant, I believe, to feel odd and too calm, the way it does to Anna, whose hackles are consistently raised. The third part is best left undiscussed since it is one of the most riveting finales I have sat through. Anna was so close to my heart at that point that everything struck home. Alongside that, there are some beautiful contemplative moments, descriptions of nature, moments of realizations that had me pause. I wouldn't want to say more than this, since the rest of the plot needs to be experienced individually.

Sammy H.K. Smith has written one hell of a book. In the tradition of The Handmaid's Tale, Anna is an unflinching look at a dystopian world whose worst elements are already present in our own. Smith works as a police detective specializing in domestic abuse and sexual offenses (Source: Interview at Civilian Reader) and her experiences really shine through in all aspects of Anna. It is not just that the abuse inflicted on Anna is terrifyingly realistic, it is also that Smith shows her awareness of and respect for the hard road of recovery. It is not something that happens automatically, it is not something that people will immediately understand, and there will be setbacks amid the progress. There were a few details here and there that felt a little disconnected, like Anna's previous life with her husband, but they never took away from my overall experience with the book. To a certain extent this disconnectedness with her past also made sense, since the disaster of the world and her own experiences has cut her loose from who she used to be. While Anna will not be equally accessible to every reader, due to its brutal honesty, I do think that it is a necessary read. 

I give this book...

5 Universes!

Anna is a heart-breaking, riveting novel that never hides but also never glorifies the cruelties of our world. At its core, it is a novel of strength, of perseverance, and hope.