From the Richard & Judy best-selling author of Out of Her Depth comes a thrilling ride about identity, manipulation, and our desperate desire to belong.

You can run, but the past is never far behind…

Once, Beth was a different person, convinced she was living her dream life with the enigmatic wellness group, Elixir. But when that dream became a nightmare, she had no choice but to run, no matter what – or who – stood in her way.

Ten years later, exhausted and struggling with the pressures of motherhood, she receives a mysterious letter bearing only the infinity symbol, and knows immediately it is from them.

The past she’d run from has finally caught up with her, and the secrets she’s tried so hard to hide will soon be uncovered. Can she finally escape them for good, or will her freedom pay the ultimate price?

If wellness is the new religion, what happens when it’s taken too far?

Available now in the UK and in the US and Canada

Q&A with Lizzy Barber

Congratulations, Lizzy, on the publication of Be Mine, your fourth psychological thriller! Can you tell us a bit more about it? What first sparked the idea for the story?

LB: Thank you, Becky – well I couldn’t have done it without you!! Be Mine follows the story of Beth, an exhausted new mother, who finds her past catching up with her – a past inextricably linked to the mysterious San Franciscan wellness brand, Elixir. I often find that my stories are an amalgam of different jumping-off points. I’ve always been fascinated by cults or ‘extremist groups’; what motivates people to join, the love-bombing, the brain washing, the enigmatic leader. But rather than a traditional ‘religious’ cult, with Be Mine, I wanted to explore where we turn to belong in a secular modern world, and was fascinated by the pull of ‘wellness’ – fitness brands like Peleton, or Lululemon, or even Goop, and how they could be said to have a ‘cult following,’ a gravitational pull that gets customers hooked, so that they become total devotees of these brands, thinking like them, acting like them. What happens if that goes too far…?

Beth is facing the challenge of being a new mum in the book, and one of the key themes in the novel is how motherhood intersects with one’s sense of identity. What drew you to explore this theme, and how did you balance what can be quite a poignant topic for many readers with the thriller elements of the story?

LB: Having decided on the Elixir framework for the book, I wanted to think about who the ideal character would be to counteract with this world. We first encounter Beth in the ‘present,’ having left the world of Elixir ten years before. As a new mother, she is already in a heightened state of anxiety, questioning herself and what she knows to be true, which I felt very much resonated with the experience of being pulled into an extreme organisation, where you are very often manipulated into shedding your sense of self or your former belief systems. I liked the way both Beth’s past and present experience paralleled this. As a mother myself, I remember that newborn stage so viscerally, and I knew it was something I wanted to explore on the page – you truly experience the full spectrum of emotions, and I wanted to show both the overwhelming love that Beth has for her daughter and how that intersected with her own, very real fears, both of motherhood and of the past. What I love about writing psychological thrillers is keeping the underlying sense of tension and anxiety underpinning the plot, and Beth’s exhaustion and paranoia as a mother really amplifies this.

Your books always keep me guessing. Did you always know how Be Mine was going to end, or did the ending evolve as you wrote? Are you a planner, a pantser, or a bit of both?

LB: Thank you – I certainly wouldn’t want to be predictable! I’m afraid I am a true pantser; I always have a very, very clear idea of where the book will start and where it will end up, but the path from A to Z is pretty much unclear until I start writing. In Be Mine, there is quite a major plot twist about two thirds into the book that didn’t exist when I set out to write – in fact it came to me in the middle of a gym class and completely reframed how I saw the book!

Was there a particular scene or character that you most enjoyed writing – or found especially compelling (or chilling) to explore?

LB: I actually loved creating Elixir… perhaps a little too much; my copy-editor wondered if I’d in fact started a cult! Without straying too far into the realm of satire, I had a lot of fun researching the very ‘California’ elements, the particular look and feel of the studios, the type of products they would sell, their altheisure look. I took inspiration as much from hardcore fitness groups like Hard75 and SoulCycle as I did from tech companies like WeWork and Google to give it that very San Francisco tech feel, and then dialled up the ‘dark side’ through a deep dive into NIXIVM and the story of Larry Ray, the Sarah Lawrence ‘cult leader’. Tate Larsen, my enigmatic leader, was a brilliant evil genius to create!  

You described being in “crisis mode” when you reached out about Be Mine. What elements of the manuscript were giving you grief at that point, and what advice do you have for authors who face similar struggles when battling that first draft?

LB: You would think that by the time you write your fourth book, it is plain sailing, but unfortunately every book comes with its own unique rhythm and set of challenges. My previous three books have erred more on the side of ‘slow burn’, but with Be Mine, I really wanted to ramp things up. As a serial ‘pantser’, I have historically never planned my books, but for some crazy foolish reason, I decided that this would be the book I planned and got very overexcited about the Save the Cat method. Becky, this was not a good idea. I got myself in a complete tizzy about the plot to the point of which I couldn’t make head or tail of what was working. You absolutely set me on the right course just by providing a guiding light and some common sense, but for other authors I would say, do not ignore your natural instincts! Everyone writes differently – even within the plotter/pantser divide I have never met two authors who have drafted the same way, and I think the important thing for getting yourself over the line is doing what works for you and ignoring the noise of everyone else! I’m saying this as I currently pants my way through book five…

Do not ignore your natural instincts! Everyone writes differently … the important thing for getting yourself over the line is doing what works for you and ignoring the noise of everyone else!

It was a total pleasure to work with you on Be Mine book as you were revising your drafts. What part of the editorial process did you find most helpful or surprising?

LB: Thank you, Becky – I can’t tell you how delighted I was to work with you again after our ‘previous life’ working with you on my debut, My Name is Anna! I don’t know if you remember, but one of the things I was struggling with was whether to sequence my past and present narratives chapter by chapter or in three halves, so present then past then back to the present. Plot has always been the element of writing I’ve struggled with the most, and you really helped me enter the head of the reader to see what would be most engaging for them. Your experience and expertise in commercial fiction was also invaluable in this process for ensuring the plot ticked along and didn’t lag!

A number of your other books are set in far-flung places and have such a vivid sense of place – Tuscany, Florida, and now San Francisco in Be Mine. I remember that on My Name is Anna, you did much of your research via Google Maps, having never visited the location. How did the research process compare for Be Mine? And is there anywhere you want to take your characters next?

LB: Funnily enough, it was back to good old Google Maps for Be Mine! I find it such a helpful way to situate myself, particularly in a vast country like the States. One of the things that I remember with My Name is Anna is that, having thought of Florida as ‘sunshine and beaches’, the location I chose was actually more open country and marshes, so drilling down a setting – even if you then fictionalise the specifics – is a really helpful starting point.

I picked San Francisco largely because my husband was actually working there in 2012, so I was familiar with exactly the place and time, but one of the main locations – a mansion house known as ‘The Jungle’ – I set right on the tip of Marin County to an area called Point Reyes, and was surprised as to how different it looked from the palm trees and golden sand of other parts of California – far more natural and wild.

Setting is so important to me for immersing both myself and the reader, so along with trusty Google Maps I watched a lot of Youtube videos, and read and watched anything I could find set in the area.  

It’s actually back to North America for me for book five, although this time I have the added challenge of setting something historically, as I’m looking at 90s small-town Philadelphia. My American friends are currently on speed dial as I transpose my own childhood memories to the States!

Each of your books has tackled different themes – identity, obsession, power. Where do you think Be Mine sits in relation to your earlier novels? Is there a through-line that connects them for you?

LB: I’ve been thinking a lot about what connects my books recently actually, as I think I’m quite itinerant within the psychological genre – I’m not domestic noir, or destination thriller, or any of the other sub genres that fit nice and neatly into a box! But I think I am generally interested in women and women’s issues – female identity, friendship, our relationships with our family, and increasingly over the years (as I’ve had children of my own) motherhood and mother/daughter bonds, which is why it was important for me for Beth, my lead character in Be Mine, to be situated in the newborn trenches.

Your first book, My Name is Anna, was the winning entry in the inaugural Daily Mail First Novel Competition (I remember those thousands of submissions all too well!). What would you say has changed the most in how you approach writing a novel since then? And what’s stayed the same?

LB: Well, I would say – after temporarily veering off course – I am firmly remaining within the pants plotting camp! I think this is how I feel truly immersed in the story and get the best out of my writing, as it allows my imagination to run free and ‘play’. However, the more books you write, the more you are aware of the ‘business of writing’, for better or for worse, and so I have definitely approached each book more considerate of a potential reader. This makes me far more aware of when something is absolutely tanking, but hopefully it is also a useful smoke signal that I need to put it right!

What advice would you give to aspiring authors who are just starting out – especially those entering competitions or navigating the path to publication for the first time?

One of the biggest realisations I’ve had about writing as a career is that it’s totally non-linear. Every draft, every book, and every publication is totally different. It is maddening for someone who is admittedly Type A and likes to see things laid out nice and neatly, but I also think it’s an important thing to recognise in terms of being kind to yourself, and for recognising that the problem isn’t necessarily you or your writing, but a vast number of other elements which are outside of your control.

Be Mine came out on 13 May in the UK and 27 May in the US/Canada. What does publication day look like for you? Any rituals or ways you like to celebrate?

LB: It’s crazy to think back to my first publication day in 2019 (not least because I was ten days away from giving birth to my son!) and how I had no idea I would be here six years later publishing my fourth book! I don’t have any specific rituals, as all my publications have been so different (I was in Italy on holiday for my last one), but if I had to pick my dream celebration, it would just be going out with my husband – my favourite person – starting with a margarita or a martini before dinner somewhere we love like Western’s Laundry in Islington or Brawn in London Fields (afraid we’re dyed-in-the-wool north-east Londoners). Either that or karaoke at Bao in Borough with our closest friends – watch this space!

What’s next for you? Are you already working on your next book, or are you taking a well-earned breather?

I’m afraid I’m not really one to rest on my laurels, so I am already about a third of the way through my next book! In truth, I thought I would be finished a draft this spring, but a load of personal happenings have collided (including my daughter arriving a month earlier than we had intended and crash landing into the maternity leave I had set aside to blast through a draft!), meaning I am more behind than I would imagine. I am making peace with the fact that it’s taking me longer than I had hoped, though, and I am really excited about the premise of this one, so I would rather take more time to pull together something I’m really proud of.

And most important question – as I know you’re a bit of a foodie, what’s your favourite writing snack?

LB: You know, this is going to sound disappointing, because I am indeed a foodie, but when I’m totally in the zone, it’s like I am inside the computer and barely stop to do anything but write, so my go-to is usually coffee – particularly as I like to write in coffee shops. But with kids, we do have cupboards stuffed with snacks, so if I’m home, I will usually steal something crunchy from there to do away with my nervous energy – Marmite rice cakes are a big fave!

If you can’t resist diving into

BE MINE is available now from your favourite bookseller!

About the Author

Lizzy Barber is a London-based, Richard & Judy best-selling author of psychologial thrillers. She studied English at Corpus Christ College, Cambridge University before dabbling in acting and film development, after which she spent 14 years working in restaurant branding and marketing with her older brother, restauranteur Jamie Barber.

Her debut novel, MY NAME IS ANNA, is the winner of the Daily Mail First Novel Competition, and was published in 2019 in the UK by Penguin Random House, by Mira/Harper Collins in the US and by Albatros in Slovakia.

OUT OF HER DEPTH was published in 2022 by Pan Macmillan in the UK and Harper Collins in the US and was a Richard & Judy Book Club pick. TV rights have been optioned by Eleventh Hour Films.

NANNY WANTED was published in 2023 by Pan Macmillan.

BE MINE will be published in the US and UK in May 2025 by Datura Books, with foreign editions coming to Ukraine and India.

Lizzy lives in London with her husband, George, their son Marlowe and daughter Juniper.

Find out more at Lizzy’s website, or follow her on social media.

• www.lizzybarber.com
• www.instagram.com/bylizzybarber

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