The Irish crime novelist gave a glimpse to the process of adapting a book, her opinions on BookTok, and what’s next for her.
Crime and thriller enthusiasts were at the edge of their seats this fall with the release of All Her Fault – a star-studded and twisted drama about a mom whose life is turned upside down when her young son vanishes.
Author Andrea Mara, who wrote the book of the same name from which the show was adapted and was an associate producer on the series, gave some insight into the process while speaking with TooFab at the Power Women Summit.
Adapting a book into a television series can take years. When asked what her favorite part about her journey with All Her Fault, Mara first gushed about attending the premiere.
“I think my favorite part was going to the premiere in New York and sitting in the theater, just sitting opposite Dakota [Fanning] and Sarah [Snook] and Abby [Elliot] and Jake [Lacy] and watching them watching that first episode,” she exclaimed. “And I had already seen it, so I could just kind of soak up the moment of watching them watching.”
Adaptations have dominated screens in 2025. The world became impassioned with Team Conrad vs. Team Jeremiah in The Summer I Turned Pretty, Netflix subscribers raced to watch The Woman in Cabin 10, and Hunger Games fans are already preparing for 2026’s prequel, The Sunrise of the Reaping, which filmed earlier this year. However, with every adaptation comes the inevitable – and sometimes heated – discussion about changes made from the book.
When asked what she thinks people would be most surprised about when it comes to translating a piece of writing into a visual medium, Mara told TooFab, “What I love, and is surprising I suppose, is that it can be different but equally as good.”
Understanding that bookworms can feel loyal to the original art, she added, “And by that I mean people often feel like they need to express a preference for the book or the TV. But I think they are two different mediums and it’s good if they’re different and equally enjoyable … and I think that’s something I’ve learned from watching other adaptations over the years as well.”
Now that Mara is a pro at adaptation, TooFab asked her what stories she thinks are still underrepresented in Hollywood, with the author talking about how All Her Fault broke glass ceilings without her initially realizing it.
“It was really interesting for me listening to the chatter about All Her Fault because a lot of people talked about the emotional labor of parenting, the division of labor, the moms versus the dads. And I heard a lot of people saying this hadn’t been seen before,” she explained.
She then reflected on the differences in representation on screen vs. the written word, saying she believes those topics are covered in books “a lot.”
“A lot of my friends and I were writing books where this is part of the story,” she added. “But maybe there’s not been enough of it on TV so far.”
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While Mara can add associate producer to her resume, she has no plans on ditching her writing career for Hollywood.
In fact, her 2026 book is done, her 2027 book is almost done, and now she is searching for ideas for her 2028 book, cheekily telling TooFab, “And I’m hoping maybe I’ll get inspired while I’m here in Hollywood.”
As for her 2026 book, the work is entitled Such a Nice Girl, and Mara described as, “about two women whose adult daughters are best friends, or so they think. until they realize one is trying to kill the other.”
BookTok, a TikTok community surrounding reading, is patiently waiting for Mara’s new works — and the Irish novelist had nothing but kind things to say about the online space, often credited with saving book stores and giving novels the hype to catch attention of studio execs.
“I love that BookTok has got people back to reading in a way that I don’t think anything else has done,” Mara shared. “When you walk into a bookstore, you see all these shelves of books saying, you know, BookTok made me buy it and all of that. And it’s just amazing that it’s getting younger people especially reading.”
All Her Fault is now available for streaming on both Peacock and Prime Video, and Andrea Mara’s books are available for purchase at all major bookstores and editorial retailers.
