Krasnoyarsk writer Anna Jane turned out to be the main character of the literary year 2023 – the total circulation of her books exceeded 874 thousand copies.
The novel “Your Heart Will Be Broken” outsold Pelevin’s novelty and took 8th place on the bestseller list. And the heart has something to break from – Anna Potapkina, known under the pseudonym Jane, died a year before her triumph, on February 1, 2023. On World Book Day, “Prima City” tells who the Krasnoyarsk writer was, what she wrote about, and where to start getting acquainted with her work.
Who is Anna Jane
Although Anna was our contemporary, little is known about her. The real name of the writer is Anna Potapkina. She was born on January 14, 1988 in Krasnoyarsk. After school, she entered Krasnoyarsk State University (later Siberian Federal University) at the Faculty of Philology and Journalism. “Prima City” talked to classmate and colleague Potapkina to find out what kind of person our heroine was. Ekaterina Bushina shared that everyone at the philology department loved Anna.
— There are people with whom you want to be friends or at least just communicate well. That’s how Anya was. It seems to me that she was already writing then, but few people knew about it. We started communicating closely when we worked together.
In 2010, Anna Potapkina received a diploma, and for the next three years she worked as an editor in the journal “Vedomosti of the Supreme Bodies of State Power of the Krasnoyarsk Territory.”
— There we worked together. There were busy days, and there were times when you sat and drank tea. We all had personal laptops, and in our free time we usually watched movies or surfed social networks. Only Anya always wrote. She constantly Googled facts for her novels and joked that if anyone saw her search history, they would think she was a maniac.
Colleagues at the magazine asked Anna what she was writing about, but the girl brushed it off and said that they “wouldn’t be interested.” But even then Potapkina began publishing literary experiments online under the pseudonym Jane.
— Anya was very modest about her novels. The girls literally begged her for books. I didn’t read it (I was on detox from the philology department at the time, I was sick of reading), but later, when Anya released “My Ideal Tornado,” we worked as a large team on the cover. In the book, on the first pages there are words of gratitude, and my name is mentioned there.
In parallel with her work in the editorial office, Potapkina received a psychological education. In 2013, she left the magazine and got a job as a psychologist in a kindergarten.
— She was always an attentive and empathic listener, but she spoke out, apparently, on paper. I’m pretty sure she based many of the characters on real people. She was observant and had an opinion about everyone and everything. At the same time, I never openly conflicted, I never heard her raise her voice.
Anna Jane’s online publications gradually gained popularity; the aspiring writer was noticed by the publishing house AST and in 2014 published the book “Musical Love Spell.” Three years later, Jane’s personal series launched in AST with the novel “Nightmare Dreams, Darling.” And in September 2018, Anna’s novel “#LoveHate” opened a series of Russian-language authors at the Clever publishing house. Her books have twice been shortlisted for the LiveLib Readers’ Choice Awards.
On February 1, 2023, the writer died due to health problems. Her assistant and aunt reported the death to the official fan community. Anna Potapkina was buried at the Badalyk cemetery in Krasnoyarsk.
Now there are 55 thousand people in the community dedicated to Jane’s work. They actively share their impressions and memes, create illustrations for their favorite books and are preparing to hold a big Jane-fest in Moscow at the end of May.
How many books does she have?
If you count online and paper publications, Anna Jane has published 29 books. Most are combined into di- and trilogies and form 13 cycles.
The genre of the novels is contemporary romance and urban fantasy. The main characters, Jane, are sincere and bright girls whom you want, if not to imitate, then certainly to sympathize with. For the sake of love, they are capable of crazy things, but the ending will always be happy.
According to the Russian Book Chamber, in 2023, Anna Jane surpassed such classics as Fyodor Dostoevsky (858 thousand copies), Agatha Christie (628 thousand), Erich Maria Remarque (594 thousand) and Mikhail Bulgakov ( 522.8 thousand). At the same time, a year earlier Jane was not even among the top 20 most published authors.
Where to start reading Anna Jane
To help make sense of Anna Jane’s extensive bibliography, City of Prima asked members of the fan community to name their favorite books. Based on the responses, we selected the most frequently mentioned novels and accompanied them with quotes from the publisher’s annotations. Top 5 books by Anna Jane according to readers.
Wish me good luck. I conquer a man with an iron heart, stone shoulders and a terrible character. I don’t know what I want more – to strangle him or hug him.
I didn’t think that our paths would cross, but one day he saved me from my classmates who decided to turn my life into hell. And he said that I was his girlfriend. And he also stole my first kiss in front of everyone!
As children, we were inseparable – a sweet couple DashaDanya . Then we grew up and our sworn friend turned into our best enemy. But does LoveHate ever end? Wherever I find myself, fate constantly pits me against Danya, giving us a chance to change everything.
The guy she secretly adored at university has found a girlfriend. And what should the unhappy girl do now – fight for personal happiness!
The best friend of the main character Katrina decided to bewitch the rock star. The ritual worked, but not the way I wanted. And now Katya will have to choose between the idol of millions and the mysterious student.
Why do they read and love Anna Jane’s books?
— For deeply developed characters, so similar to ordinary people that everyone can see their thoughts or actions reflected. For the emotions that these stories give. Because even after many years, having read her books again, you will find something new for yourself, notice something that you had not paid attention to before. And also… all Anna’s stories give hope. Even heroes whose souls are dark can find light. She always provided a choice and believed in every hero.
Irina Pribytova
— There is no short and precise answer here. After all, if you are asked why you love your parents or friends, you will probably answer “for everything.” That’s how it is with Anya’s books. I love them for everything. Because for me it’s more than books. This is a separate world into which you are immersed. You feel bad – read Anya’s books, and you will find a way out and a solution, as well as consolation and peace of mind, as if you asked a friend for advice. You feel good and you are happy – read Anya’s books, you will feel even better. You will laugh out loud and forget where you are: in the subway, at work, on the street. The characters will become alive for you, and you will experience their situations with them. It is simply impossible to do otherwise.
Katya Yakovenko
— For me, Anna Jane’s books are primarily about love. No author writes like Anya did. In each of her books you can find a completely different hypostasis of this feeling. In general, it’s the same in life, it’s different for everyone, but if it’s real, it’s incredibly strong and strong, such that it can withstand any test. A long time ago, when “My Ideal Tornado” was just coming out, one quote stuck in my soul: “There is no point in loving if you do not intend to make this love eternal.” The phrase has become my credo in life, and I am incredibly glad that I manage to stick to it.
Elizaveta Semyonova
— Anna Jane’s universe is beautiful. It is so comfortable that, immersing yourself in this or that book, you forget about all the problems and hardships. You find yourself in an ideal world where you are calm and joyful. The characters created by Anna are so lively, simple and relatable that I even recognize myself in some of them.
Tatiana Stavtseva
— Anna Jane’s books are a world for me in which I can be a different person. Every time I read her books, I easily imagine myself in the place of the main character. After all, the writer describes the world so clearly and in detail that you begin to believe that Tatyana Vedmina or Polina Tumanova really exists somewhere. These are the first books that made me cry and laugh at the same time, worry and sincerely rejoice for the characters, and feel like part of a larger universe.
Valeria Savonchik
photo: vk.com/annajane; book covers: labirint.ru, ozon.ru
