This morning I’m sharing my review for this gorgeous book again. I originally shared my review at the start of April 2020, two weeks into lockdown in the UK – not a good time for a debut novel to be published. So I’m sharing this again as the bookshops in the UK are starting to reopen this week.
Synopsis:
Six strangers with one universal thing in common: their lives aren’t always what they make them out to be.
What would happen if they told the truth instead?
Julian Jessop is tired of hiding the deep loneliness he feels. So he begins The Authenticity Project – a small green notebook containing the truth about his life.
Leaving the notebook on a table in his friendly neighbourhood café, Julian never expects Monica, the owner, to track him down after finding it. Or that she’ll be inspired to write down her own story.
Little do they realize that such small acts of honesty hold the power to impact all those who discover the notebook and change their lives completely.
My thoughts:
Thank you to Transworld Publishers and Random House UK for a digital review copy – my thoughts are my own.
After seeing great reviews for this book, I enjoyed reading my review copy. I read about half one evening and then used our enforced staying at home time to finish the book during the morning. I was desperate to find out what happened but I also didn’t want the story to finish.
I loved the story telling in this book, the way the lives of the strangers become entwined as they each embark on their journeys of self discovery, how they face up to what happened in their past and how they move forward, all aided by The Authenticity Project book.
I would love to be able to go a visit Monica’s cafe, to sit with a hot chocolate in the Library area. The sense of community spirit, helping strangers who then become friends, shines out from this story.
As other reviewers have commented, this would make a good film or TV series. One of my favourite books of 2020 – uplifting and enjoyable. One to look out for when the bookshops reopen.
Clare Pooley:
Clare Pooley graduated from Newnham College, Cambridge and spent twenty years in the heady world of advertising.
When Clare realised that she was drinking way too much, she quit, and started a blog called Mummy was a Secret Drinker, which became a memoir – The Sober Diaries.
The Authenticity Project, Clare’s first novel, was inspired by her experience of telling the truth about her life.
Karen K is reading 