A Likely Story

  

I received a copy of this release from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Title: A Likely Story 

Author: Leigh McMullan Abramson 

Publisher: Atria 

Release Date: 3.14.23

Publisher’s Summary 

The only child of an iconic American novelist discovers a shocking tangle of family secrets that upends everything she thought she knew about her parents, her gilded childhood, and her own stalled writing career.

Growing up in the nineties in New York City as the only child of famous parents was both a blessing and a curse for Isabelle Manning. Her beautiful society hostess mother, Claire, and New York Times bestselling author father, Ward, were the city’s intellectual It couple. Ward’s glamorous obligations often took him away from Isabelle, but Claire made sure her childhood was always filled with magic and love.

Now an adult, all Isabelle wants is to be a successful writer like her father but after many false starts and the unexpected death of her mother, she faces her upcoming thirty-fifth birthday alone and on the verge of a breakdown. Her anxiety only skyrockets when she uncovers some shocking truths about her parents and begins wondering if everything she knew about her family was all based on an elaborate lie.

Wry, wise, and propulsive, A Likely Story is punctuated with fragments of a compulsively readable book-within-a-book about a woman determined to steal back the spotlight from a man who has cheated his way to the top. The characters seem eerily familiar but is the plot based on fact? And more importantly, who is the author?

My Review

This is another example of a book I initially passed on, gave a 2nd chance, and ended up loving. Deb @lonestarwords put it back on my radar after her review (that's been happening a lot recently.) I received a physical ARC in the mail, decided to read the first few pages to make my final decision, and proceeded to devour the entire story in a single day. 

I loved this book and felt like it was a perfect mashup of some of my other favorite books (The Plot, The Resurrection of Joan Ashby, and Who Is Maud Dixon?) I wanted to underline so many passages, especially regarding Claire and Ward's marriage. Debut author Leigh McMullan Abramson weaves infuriating details of egomaniac writer Ward's perceived superiority and his long-suffering wife's complaints and complicities into a much larger story about artistic creation and public perception. From the microcosm of a small family to the entire publishing and reading world, this book just works on so many levels.

I do have one little nagging thought about the title. Now as a Gen X music lover, I sing No Doubt's "Spiderwebs" every time I see the title, which is fun, but that song has nothing to do with the book. The phrase "A Likely Story" feels too vague. It's not catchy or strong enough. I think a better fit would have been "The Cheat."