Claire Pooley writes a book. Now I should mention she does have a blog also. Mummy was a Secret Drinker is how she got started in writing. I have not read the blog, but in case you’re interested, I wanted to make that known. The Authenticity Project is her first novel. Normally, I tell you whether to spend your money or borrow it from the library. Although, in all reality, most libraries are closed. Don’t you hate that. But I do want to point out, I downloaded this book from my local library’s E- catalog. I heard about the author and book from Goodreads. Love them by the way.
About the book. Pooley’s novel is about six strangers, who are having not so satisfying lives, connecting by way of a journal started by Julian he aptly titled The Authenticity Project. He intentionally leaves it in a coffee shop, after writing an entry, for the next person to add their true life embarrassing or dismal tale. Pooley does a fantastic job of giving each character a distinctive voice with their own cast of troubles. These are everyday people with real problems they don’t know how to solve, or are not ready to solve, or are oblivious to the fact they have problems to solve in the first place.
With this many characters, you would think it gets confusing at times. Not at all. You can clearly tell who’s who in this novel. Her characters range in age, life experience, class, education, and so on. This is one of the first books I’ve read in a long time that knows how to distinguish between characters. They are funny, high- strung, aloof at the wrong times, serious at the right times to poor reception. You will identify with at least one of them.
Anyway, it is a great read that keeps you in the story all the way until the end. I would say this is book is worth buying. It is one of those books I see myself reading often. It’s so entertaining. If I’m bored or tired of T.V., I can go to this book and not be so anal about starting from the beginning. I can just start from any character and get right back into the book. That’s how good I would say it is. Most books, I absolutely must start from the beginning to remind myself what’s happening. However, this story would not leave me for quite some time. The only downside I would say is the epilogue. One of the character’s dies, which I felt should have been a main part of the story if they she going to write that. I don’t get prologues or epilogues. I’ve never been a fan of either one.
Tameka Fleming 