Where to Start Reading Annabel Lyon
For most readers, the absolute best place to start is with The Golden Mean (2009). This award-winning historical novel represents Annabel Lyon at the height of her powers, blending rigorous classical philosophy with an incredibly immediate, human, and modern voice. It serves as the perfect introduction to her unique writing style: sparse, emotionally resonant, and intellectually engaging.
If you prefer contemporary family drama over historical fiction, you should start with her modern novel, Consent (2020), which shifts the focus to modern-day Vancouver and explores intense moral dilemmas regarding duty, sisterhood, and caregiving.
The Alexander Duology (Ancient Greece)
Lyon is most famous for her companion novels set in 4th-century BCE Greece. Together, they form a loose duology exploring the lives of the famous philosopher Aristotle and his family. While they are technically companion pieces that can stand on their own, we highly recommend reading them in publication order to appreciate the shifting perspectives and narrative continuity.
- The Golden Mean (2009) – Focuses on Aristotle as he reluctantly takes on the task of tutoring a young, intense, and ambitious Alexander the Great. It explores the philosophical concept of the "golden mean" (the desirable middle between two extremes) as both tutor and student struggle with their own internal extremes.
- The Sweet Girl (2012) – Serves as a follow-up companion novel. It centers on Aristotle's daughter, Pythias, who finds herself suddenly vulnerable and navigating a hostile, male-dominated world in the wake of her father's death. It provides a crucial feminine perspective on the ancient world established in the first book.
The Edie Series (Middle-Grade & Young Adult)
Before achieving widespread acclaim for her historical fiction, Lyon wrote for younger readers. Her "Edie" books follow a bright, relatable young girl named Edie Jasmine Snow as she grows up and handles real-life family challenges. These should be read in chronological order:
- All-Season Edie (2008) – Introduces 11-year-old Edie as she deals with the loss of her grandfather and navigates the complexities of her family.
- Encore Edie (2011) – Follows Edie at age 13 as she enters high school, faces peer pressure, and navigates her relationship with her cousin Merry, who has Down syndrome.
Standalone Novels, Novellas, and Short Stories
Outside of her historical and YA series, Lyon has written powerful contemporary fiction that showcases her versatility as a storyteller. These works can be read in any order:
- Oxygen (2000) – Lyon's debut publication, a sharp and acclaimed collection of contemporary short stories that put her on the literary map.
- The Best Thing for You (2004) – A collection of three long novellas ("No Fun," "The Goldberg Metronome," and the title novella) set in Vancouver that deal with domestic tension, moral ambiguity, and family secrets.
- Consent (2020) – Her most recent full-length novel. Set in Vancouver, it weaves together the lives of two sets of sisters, exploring the heavy burdens of familial responsibility and the ethics of care.
Lectures, Anthologies, and Database Oddities
If you are looking to collect every piece of Lyon's writing, there are a few non-fiction pieces and anthologies to keep in mind, along with a couple of common cataloging errors you might run into online:
- Imagining Ancient Women (2012) – This short book preserves the text of Lyon's 2011 lecture for the prestigious Henry Kreisel Memorial Lecture Series. In it, she details her research process and the unique challenges of writing historical fiction.
- Sasquatch at Home (2011) – Note: Many book databases list this under Annabel Lyon's profile because it is part of the same Henry Kreisel Memorial Lecture Series. However, this lecture was actually written and delivered by acclaimed Canadian author Eden Robinson.
- Finding the Words (2011) – A fundraising anthology for PEN Canada edited by Jared Bland. Lyon is a contributor, sharing an essay about her creative writing process.
- Margaret Atwood Presents: Stories by Canada’s Best New Women Writers (2006) – This audio compilation features emerging short fiction narrated by actors like Sandra Oh. Note: Some online bookstores and databases mistakenly list the publication year of this audiobook as 1987 due to a metadata glitch. Because Lyon was born in 1971, the 2006 release date is the correct historical year.
What to Know Before You Start
Lyon's writing is highly praised for its "economy"—she does not waste words on overly elaborate descriptions or romanticized historical fluff. Instead, her historical fiction makes ancient Greece feel startlingly modern, down-to-earth, and dirty, avoiding the formal, stilted language often found in the genre. Readers should expect complex, often flawed characters, dry humor, and a focus on philosophical questions applied to everyday human struggles.