None Of This Is True by Lisa Jewell
Published by Century
Publication Date: 20th July 2023
Book Description:
Celebrating her 45th birthday at her local pub, podcaster Alix Summer crosses paths with an unassuming woman called Josie Fair. Josie is also celebrating her 45th.
A few days later, they bump into each other again, this time outside Alix's children's school. Josie says she thinks she would be an interesting subject for Alix's podcast. She is, she tells Alix, on the cusp of great changes in her life.
Alix agrees to a trial interview and indeed, Josie's life appears to be strange and complicated. Alix finds her unsettling but can't quite resist the temptation to keep digging.
Slowly Alix starts to realise that Josie has been hiding some very dark secrets, and before she knows it Josie has cajoled her way into Alix's life - and into her home.
Soon Alix begins to wonder who is Josie Fair really? And what has she done?
My Thoughts:
This book ranks alongside Gillian McAllister's Wrong Place Wrong Time in my top reads of this year. With a fairly small cast of characters, there are some absolute gems in there who will stir up all kinds of emotions in you from pity to curiosity, right through to some anger and resentment. And then some!
Josie and her husband Walter rarely dine out; however, Josie has received a small inheritance from her grandmother so decides they need to celebrate her birthday in style this year and chooses a nice gastropub in town. It's here she spots a small group of women, one of them also celebrating her birthday and while taking a bathroom break, she bumps into none other than the birthday girl herself, Alix. Totally out of character, she announces to Alix that they are birthday twins and thus discovers that they were actually born in the same hospital, on the same day. The moment passes and the two women return to their separate tables to continue their evening. But for Josie, that's just the start. The following day she finds herself searching online for Alix, keen to find out all she can about her, and it doesn't take long before a dangerous obsession forms.
Wow what a wild ride this book is! The more Alix talks to Josie as the subject of a new podcast she's producing, the less she seems to know about her. Nothing seems to fit together properly, and when she tries chatting to people who've known Josie over the years (including Josie's own mother) further red flags start waving frantically in her head. The story is told from both the women's points of view, which only serves to provide further questions to the reader rather than solving any of the issues raised.
By the end of the book, all I could think is just how brilliant the story telling is and I felt quite shell shocked as I pondered how apt the title is. I do wish I had taken on board the prologue far more than I did, as there are clues in its content which I had clearly not picked up on as I eased myself into the early pages with my cuppa.
A twisty,turny tale with wonderfully horrible characters throughout - or are they??
One of my favourite page turners of the year so far.
About the Author:
LISA JEWELL was born in London in 1968.
Her first novel, Ralph's Party, was the best- selling debut novel of 1999. Since then she has written another twenty novels, most recently a number of dark psychological thrillers, including The Girls, Then She Was Gone, The Family Upstairs, The Family Remains and The Night She Disappeared, all of which were Richard & Judy Book Club picks.
Lisa is a New York Times and Sunday Times number one bestselling author who has been published worldwide in over thirty languages. She lives in north London with her husband and two daughters.
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