Synopsis

The paths of two women — Alix Summer and Josie Fair — cross when they are out celebrating their birthdays in the same restaurant.

Big coincidence: they are birthday twins; not only this — they were born in the same hospital.

Alix is a journalist and podcaster. Could this be her next subject, she wonders: the story of two women who share the same birthday but whose lives could not be more different. She proposes this to Josie, and they start sharing their stories in Alix’s recording studio.

But slowly Alix starts to realise that Josie has been hiding some very dark secrets, and before she knows it Josie has inveigled her way into Alix’s life — and into her home.

Soon Alix starts to worry that Josie will never leave.

But, as quickly as she arrived, Josie disappears. Only then does Alix discover that Josie has left a terrible and terrifying legacy in her wake, and that her family is in more danger than she ever thought possible…

Review

I may be the only woman in her thirties who doesn’t listen to true crime podcasts. However, that’s not to say that I don’t have a slight fascination with the macabre. I also love an unreliable narrator, as it keeps you guessing until the end, because you just can’t believe a word they say.

Lisa Jewell is an author who gets better and better. The last few books of hers that I’ve read have been outstanding: believable and gripping, without resorting to gruesome deaths to shock readers. Instead we get incredible characters with whom we develop a bond. I don’t know how she does it, but it’s true.

In None of This is True, we meet beautiful, successful Alix and her birthday twin: downtrodden, dowdy Josie. Despite her initial misgivings, Alix offers Josie the chance to tell her story to the world via podcast. And what a story it is…

Combining excerpts from the podcast, Netflix documentary and the women’s accounts, we are drawn into their world, questioning what we think we know and also how far media exploits tales of horror and woe to create entertainment for the masses.

There are themes of grooming, domestic abuse, gaslighting and even murder, yet as we learn more about each family, we do not know what is fact and what is fiction. Josie is obsessive, almost stalking Alix, disgusted by her tolerance of her drunken husband. Alix is exploiting Josie for her story, whilst portraying perfection on the podcast. Yet both women are doing what they think is right for their family.

The ending when it comes is darker than some of Jewell’s previous books, but also ambiguous, asking us what and who we believe… The more I think about it, the more I change my mind, because each option seems worse than the first.

Gripping, shocking and momentous, this book will stay in your head for a long time.

Thanks to Century Books for my proof copy. Opinions my own.

Other books by Lisa Jewell: The Family Remains