SMASH's Debra Messing To Narrate Lisa Genova's New Audiobook, LOVE ANTHONY

Simon & Schuster Audio today announced that Emmy Award-winning actress Debra Messing will narrate Lisa Genova's highly anticipated audiobook LOVE ANTHONY, due out September 25, 2012. The audiobook will be available unabridged in both CD and download formats.

Messing, who won an Emmy Award for her beloved role as Grace on Will & Grace and received an Emmy nomination for her lead role in the miniseries The Starter Wife, currently stars as "Julia Houston" on the NBC musical seriesSMASH.

Lisa Genova is an award-winning author whose first novel, STILL ALICE, debuted at #5 on the New York Times bestseller list where it spent an impressive 42 weeks. In the fall of 2011, Genova's second novel LEFT NEGLECTED was chosen for the Richard and Judy Book Club (the UK equivalent of Oprah's Book Club) and also appeared on the extended bestseller list. Combined, her novels have sold millions of copies, both nationally and internationally in more than 25 markets/languages.

"I'm thrilled to be narrating LOVE ANTHONY," says Messing. "Lisa has written a beautifully compelling story featuring such vibrant and unique characters. As an actress, it's a true pleasure to be able to bring all of them to life for her listeners."

In LOVE ANTHONY, Messing gives voice to Olivia and Beth, two young mothers on the verge of change.  The two meet by accident on a Nantucket beach and are drawn to one another in friendship by their mutual need to make sense of their past, put it behind them, and grow: Olivia is a young mother coping with the loss of her young autistic son while Beth, a stay-at-home mother of three, struggles with the dissolution of her marriage and turns to writing to find her voice again.

Genova remarks, "I was thrilled when I learned that Debra Messing had agreed to narrate the LOVE ANTHONY audiobook. Debra gave a beautiful and authentic voice to all of the characters in this emotional story.  Her narration is captivating and entertaining, and I'm so deeply grateful to her for lending her incredible talent to this book." 

A neuroscientist turned novelist, Genova has a degree in Biopsychology and holds a Ph.D. in neuroscience from Harvard University. She travels worldwide, speaking about the causes, treatments, ways to prevent, and what it feels like to live with Alzheimer's Disease.  LOVE ANTHONY is Genova's third novel.

"When an author and narrator are as finely matched as Lisa and Debra, they create an extraordinary listening experience," says Chris Lynch, Executive Vice President & Publisher of Simon & Schuster Audio. 

For more information on the audiobook, visit: http://pages.simonandschuster.com/love-anthony-audiobook/.