Book Review – None of This is True by Lisa Jewell

This novel follows Josie and Alix as they have a chance meeting at a restaurant. They shared the same birthday, both in day and year. They were even born at the same hospital. Josie seeks Alix out later on when she realizes that the woman has a successful podcast about women who overcome hardships. Alix sees this as a new opportunity to do something new so she agrees to start interviewing Josie.

Alix discovers that Josie was the victim of grooming. Her husband was 42 when they met. Josie was only 16. They have two grown daughters but one is estranged from them and the other refuses to come out of her room and spends her time gaming. This is where their lives differ. Alix has a husband her own age and two small children. While Alix hates that her husband is alcoholic, she sees that her marriage has something that Josie’s doesn’t. Love.

I’ll not give you the whole story because what follows what I have described is something that needs to be experienced when you read the book. Lisa Jewell’s writing could be a case study on gaslighting for that is what she does. She gaslights the reader into believing one woman is the heroine of the story and then flips the story on its head. She makes you believe that one person is an innocent victim when they are really a murderer. And the most interesting part of this is that the characters gaslight too. Unreliable narrators abound in this book. Each character is imperfect, so you never know if what they are saying is a lie meant to manipulate.

This book also has something to say about believing a woman when she says that she has been abused. While one woman wants to believe, she also witnesses the other woman’s behavior that makes believing a bit harder. How does one rectify that, because as a society, we tend to blame women for their own behavior before we will believe they are a victim. The easiest way is to get both sides of the story. With Alix and Josie, it is not so simple because everyone is being dishonest. It only takes one false accusation to ruin a life, and it makes people more unwilling to believe accusations in the future even if they are real. The conundrum of our time.

I never know where Lisa Jewell is going to take her stories and this is what makes her writing so impressive. I’ve come to expect the, “what did I just read,” after I close the book upon finishing it. As far as compliments go, this is something this author should be proud of. I am always shocked and never bored. This book is no exception.

4.5 out of 5 stars.