None of This is True: The new addictive psychological thriller from the #1 Sunday Times bestselling author of The Family Upstairs

Product Information

I think that there is definitely an argument that Walter was a groomer/abuser of Josie. Josie denies this in her June 20 interview, but I think that is a common perception of abuse victims. Lots of short, punchy chapters, interspersed with a Netflix documentary and podcast extracts, all make for a very fast-paced read. You know bad shit has happened from the start, maybe reeeaaaaalllly bad shit, but I didn't have a clue what, exactly, had gone down, and I was desperate to find out. Toward the end of the novel, we get more perspectives on Josie as a character and the truth of what she did—from her children, her mother, Katelyn, and others. With these increased points of view, how do you now see Josie? LJ: Yeah. With this one, it was quite unusual in that I knew what dynamic I wanted to create before I even knew who my characters were going to be, and then I found the characters that fitted into those places. But usually, it is literally a person. Quite often a person I’ve just seen fleetingly on the street or through a window. They get inside my head, and I’m convinced they’ve got a story to share with me, and I need to start writing around them to find out what it is, what their secrets are, what’s happened to them, or what’s about to happen to them. So yes, it is usually a person. Sometimes it’s even a house. Sometimes I’m convinced a house is holding secrets, a bit like Walter and Josie’s flat [in None of This Is True]. I just get this sense that there’s a secret somewhere, and I need to write about the house or the person to find out what it is. Was Josie’s plan to confess to Alix about covering up Brooke’s murder (she does present this idea to Walter, but he rejects the idea. Is this why she kills him?

In fact there is no podcast within the structure of the book. All the interviews between Alix and Josie are written as part of the traditional narrative. Using a scripted podcast format was something I actively wanted to avoid, in fact. The podcast only comes alive as a script when it’s used as part of the Netflix documentary and it was that documentary that really formed the structure of the book, not the podcast itself. It was actually a relatively late addition to the book, when I realized that the tension was building in an incredibly quiet and slow burn way and I realized my readers would need something to make them fear for the outcome, and I suddenly pictured Josie’s neighbor sitting on a chair in a TV studio talking about her impressions of Josie and Walter and realized that that was the way to do it. In 2019, “Birthday Twins” Alix Summers and Josie Fair meet for the first time on their forty–fifth birthday in a pub where they have both come to celebrate- Alix with her husband and friends and Josie with her husband. At the end of a particularly sinister and AMAZING horror movie, I always have that moment where I'm GRATEFUL to leave the theater, blink in the sunlight, and feel part of the less ominous real world. This book took me to that same sort of deep, scary place...and while I did manage to enjoy most of the ride? Alix Summer was celebrating her 45th birthday with a large group of friends at her local Pub, when she meets her birthday twin in the Ladies room-an unassuming woman called Josie Fair, who was quietly celebrating with just one older gentleman. Turns out they were both born on the same day, in the same year at the same hospital. None of This is True is a psychological thriller about two women who, through a chance encounter, learn they are birthday twins. Their unlikely meeting turns into a podcast in which shared confidences become the motive for murder.

Select a format:

This story had me gripped throughout but I feel the ending let the book down a little. It was too contrived, and I failed to appreciate what drove this woman to do the things she did. I also enjoy more analysis when taking on difficult subjects and wanted a better ending for Roxy and Erin. The story behind Walter was left vague for me and didn’t conclude on the various aspects of his life and actions. Did he marry a much younger girl or was he guilty of ‘grooming’ her??. I settled on the former in the absence of any more detail. Even that was weird though.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Atria, and Lisa Jewell for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review! Now available as of 8.8!!** Alix’s head spins. Tequila slammers at midnight. Too much. Nathan is pouring himself a Scotch and the smell of it makes Alix’s head spin even faster. The house is quiet. Sometimes, when they have a high-energy babysitter, the children will still be up when they get home, restless and annoyingly awake. Sometimes the TV will be on full blast. But not tonight. The softly spoken, fifty-something babysitter left half an hour ago and the house is tidy, the dishwasher hums, the cat is pawing its way meaningfully across the long sofa toward Alix, already purring before Alix’s hand has even found her fur. Q: Do you have a birthday twin? What interested you in the idea of connecting the two women this way? However, for the plot as a whole this was excellent and whilst not entirely surprising, it was unpredictable which maintained the tension in the story. To have disliked some of the characters so much means Lisa Jewell did her job well. The suspense was palatable, the sense of danger and thrill was accretive and penetrating. The themes were well chosen. The underlying messages are great although some could have been fleshed out more, and the writing style just works a treat for me.I was engrossed in this story until Walter’s crimes were glossed over. It seems his repeated pedophilia was excusable because he was supposedly a good father. Can a pedo even be a good father? It doesn’t add up. An added treat was Buddy Reading it with my beautiful niece, Lyss. I definitely recommend it for Buddy Reads or Book Clubs. There's a lot to discuss.