None of This is True by Lisa Jewell

Starting a novel with a title such as this puts the reader on guard from the beginning: if nothing is true, what do you believe?

​In London, a  chance meeting of two women who share the same birthday turns into a very dark tale. One woman runs a very successful podcast with links to a television series, the other is an odd, introverted seamstress who is obsessed with wearing denim. The plan is to make a documentary about overcoming abuse and trauma. The question is whose tragedy it is.

Jewell is a skillful writer. Using short, snappy chapters to progress the pace and tension, and haunting scene reenactments, the story considers grooming, mental health, parenting, trauma and coercive control. The writing is timeless and cliche-free although very modern in terms of the media involved in the tale, and the studio in the garden is very contemporary in the post-pandemic society.

All the characters are interesting, the weakest being the podcaster's husband who sometimes appears to be not quite credible, especially near the end, although the idea of perception could be at play. The mystery of the absent characters at the beginning of the book is enthralling and it is fascinating to see them unfurl against the expectations as the story develops.

Dark and disturbing, the core theme is truth, perception and the concept of victimhood. An excellent thriller in the 'unreliable narrator' mode.

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Published by Penguin on 20 July 2023.
​Advance review copy supplied by the publisher.

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