Olivia Fitzgerald is smarting from the critical failure of her second novel, a reimagining of Daphne DuMaurier’s Rebecca, when she receives an offer to ghost write a book for troubled billionaire hunk Henry Asherwood. She is given precious few details about the project, but with her funds dwindling, and a wicked case of writer’s block to boot, she swiftly accepts the offer. She sojourns to Malibu, where Asherwood lives, and learns that she is meant to write the tragic true story of Henry’s grandmother, a story which Henry claims Daphne DuMaurier stole for Rebecca.
It’s an intriguing premise, but things just get a bit too meta. In addition to Olivia’s novel and the story of Henry’s grandmother, there are fragments of a third, anonymous Rebecca-inspired tale scattered throughout the novel. If that weren’t enough, Olivia’s relationship with Henry (whose wife recently died under mysterious circumstances), soon begins to mirror Rebecca as well. I enjoyed the lively pace of the book and there were twists abound, but there was one Rebecca plot too many for my taste.
Currently Reading:
-Physical Book: A Likely Story by Leigh McMullan Abramson
-Audio Book: The Stand by Stephen King