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3.24 AVERAGE
3.24 AVERAGE
In Impersonation, Pitlor follows Allie, a ghostwriter, who is tasked with writing the memoir of Lana Brebane, a successful feminist activist, focusing on her role as a mother, and raising a feminist boy. This novel takes place in the shadow of the 2016 election and its repercussions, which informs a lot of Allie’s mental conflict. She is constantly wondering how to be a good mother, earn enough money for her family, yet maintain her liberal, feminist values. Pitlor’s writing captures Allie’s mental hurdles really well, and this novel is a great character study that kept me hooked.
However, I found issue with the representation of feminism throughout the entire book. Lana represents this ideal feminist figure in the story, yet the version of feminism she spouts is one that is all talk, no action, and is not inclusive to race, class, ability, or sexuality. Lana constantly pulls these bizarre stunts in the name of feminism and trots out facts about minority groups, yet seems to do nothing to support these groups. It is a version of feminism that is not inclusive, and feels pretty outdated now. I wanted Allie to rebel against Lana’s vision and power over her, yet Allie constantly rolls over and justifies Lana’s behavior, even when she is blatantly manipulating Allie. Lana really bothered me—she seems to constantly gaslight Allie and take advantage of her in a variety of ways. I am sad that Allie was never given the chance to really own her story and come out from under Lana’s thumb.
I do think there are really interesting discussions of motherhood and success, and how one might define both, throughout this story. The parts I enjoyed the most were when Allie was ruminating on her own goals, and how she wanted to live her life with her son, Cass, and her partner, Kurt. The comparison between Lana and Allie’s versions of motherhood and partnership were stark, and I think this would make great material for a book club discussion. While I did have a big issue with the central message of this book, I’d be curious to see what Pitlor comes out with in the future.
Thanks to Algonquin Books for providing me with an ARC and asking me to participate in the blog tour for this book!
However, I found issue with the representation of feminism throughout the entire book. Lana represents this ideal feminist figure in the story, yet the version of feminism she spouts is one that is all talk, no action, and is not inclusive to race, class, ability, or sexuality. Lana constantly pulls these bizarre stunts in the name of feminism and trots out facts about minority groups, yet seems to do nothing to support these groups. It is a version of feminism that is not inclusive, and feels pretty outdated now. I wanted Allie to rebel against Lana’s vision and power over her, yet Allie constantly rolls over and justifies Lana’s behavior, even when she is blatantly manipulating Allie. Lana really bothered me—she seems to constantly gaslight Allie and take advantage of her in a variety of ways. I am sad that Allie was never given the chance to really own her story and come out from under Lana’s thumb.
I do think there are really interesting discussions of motherhood and success, and how one might define both, throughout this story. The parts I enjoyed the most were when Allie was ruminating on her own goals, and how she wanted to live her life with her son, Cass, and her partner, Kurt. The comparison between Lana and Allie’s versions of motherhood and partnership were stark, and I think this would make great material for a book club discussion. While I did have a big issue with the central message of this book, I’d be curious to see what Pitlor comes out with in the future.
Thanks to Algonquin Books for providing me with an ARC and asking me to participate in the blog tour for this book!
I’m not entirely sure what the message of this book was supposed to be. Allie is a single mom and ghostwriter, working with a feminist, immigrant lawyer to writer her memoir about motherhood. The book does a good job of capturing what 2016 and 2017 - leading up to and coming after the election - felt like for women. But it felt like very surface level political observations, and for a book this tied up in the recent political atmosphere, it just didn’t feel like enough. I couldn’t tell if we were supposed to love Lana or hate her, and not sure if the message was supposed to be one of feminism and empowerment, a critique of feminist ideals as espoused by privileged, white, middle to upper class women, or the more depressing conclusion that power changes hands but ultimately nothing really changes. Allie supposedly craved independent and self-sufficiency but didn’t do much to go after it, and it seemed like she slowly became subsumed by her work more than anything - which also might have been a narrative choice. Three stars for the story that was ultimately engaging enough to keep me reading, but not sure I’m walking away with much.
Thank you Algonquin Books for this free eARC!
Impersonation is about Allie who is a professional ghostwriter among many other jobs she takes on to pay her bills. Allie has complicated relationships with everyone in her life and she’s what some people consider a “hot mess,” but it’s totally relatable. I know what it’s like to be a single mom to a boy so that part of her story really hit home for me.
I really enjoyed this book! Besides being about motherhood, politics, and the publishing world, it weaved in topics like classism, feminism, having a biracial child, and the Me Too movement without them feeling forced. 4.5 stars!
I definitely recommend checking out Impersonation especially if you ever struggle with asking for what you deserve.
Impersonation is about Allie who is a professional ghostwriter among many other jobs she takes on to pay her bills. Allie has complicated relationships with everyone in her life and she’s what some people consider a “hot mess,” but it’s totally relatable. I know what it’s like to be a single mom to a boy so that part of her story really hit home for me.
I really enjoyed this book! Besides being about motherhood, politics, and the publishing world, it weaved in topics like classism, feminism, having a biracial child, and the Me Too movement without them feeling forced. 4.5 stars!
I definitely recommend checking out Impersonation especially if you ever struggle with asking for what you deserve.
As Heidi said during Day of Dialog “idealism is not available to everyone” Parenting is hard and careers are fickle. What’s a mother to do? This book exposes the still raw truth that life is complicated and children see it clearly. I suffered with both the mother and the celebrity. I also chuckled a few times.
challenging
tense
fast-paced
(Received from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.)
This was such an intriguing story. I was at first drawn in because I was so fascinated by Allie’s ghostwriting and seeing what that writing process was like.
This was also a complex story encompassing relationships, politics, parenting, and feminism. While Allie was raising her son as a single parent, at times depending on friends and neighbours to help look after him, Lana was making speeches and getting media attention for her bold feminism and policies purported to help mothers, like Allie. Yet as the work on the book progressed, it became more and more clear to me that Allie was not getting any helpful, informative input from Lana, and she began to include parts of her own life in her sample chapters.
One aspect of the book that really made an impression on me was the difference between the resources available to Allie and to Lana as parents. This quote from the author Heidi Pitlor, taken from the press release provided by the publisher, really illustrates it for me:
The last line of that quote, in particular, gets at something that I was thinking about while reading this book but couldn’t quite put into words. For example, I was uncomfortable and frustrated that Allie was struggling to find safe and affordable childcare while Lana appeared to have full-time, live-in help – and Lana was the one who’s name would be on the book about motherhood, a book which seemed more and more to be taking the shape of Allie’s memories and stories.
This feeling of disconnect between Allie and Lana took hold early on for me and the more Allie drew on her own experiences while writing the book, the more nervous I became, because I was certain that things were somehow going to come to a head. I was so tense leading up to the end!
But there are no easy answers or tidy solutions in this book, which was both frustrating and real. And given the current political climate, I think this was an especially timely, thought-provoking read.
My mind has wandered back to Impersonation several times since I finished. Recommended.
This was such an intriguing story. I was at first drawn in because I was so fascinated by Allie’s ghostwriting and seeing what that writing process was like.
This was also a complex story encompassing relationships, politics, parenting, and feminism. While Allie was raising her son as a single parent, at times depending on friends and neighbours to help look after him, Lana was making speeches and getting media attention for her bold feminism and policies purported to help mothers, like Allie. Yet as the work on the book progressed, it became more and more clear to me that Allie was not getting any helpful, informative input from Lana, and she began to include parts of her own life in her sample chapters.
One aspect of the book that really made an impression on me was the difference between the resources available to Allie and to Lana as parents. This quote from the author Heidi Pitlor, taken from the press release provided by the publisher, really illustrates it for me:
“When I was first an acquiring editor and later a part-time freelance editor with young twins and a teacher husband, things got pretty tight for us. I found myself shuttling between some fabulous work lunch at the Four Seasons with a well-known writer and a dinner of Kraft mac n’ cheese with my family. Twin diapers and daycare do not come cheap. When some more financially comfortable friend mentioned an upcoming eco-conscious vacation or their locally made toys, I grew frankly jealous, well aware that this was a first-world trouble. Still, I began to wonder if living according to certain ideals was only possible for the economically privileged.”
The last line of that quote, in particular, gets at something that I was thinking about while reading this book but couldn’t quite put into words. For example, I was uncomfortable and frustrated that Allie was struggling to find safe and affordable childcare while Lana appeared to have full-time, live-in help – and Lana was the one who’s name would be on the book about motherhood, a book which seemed more and more to be taking the shape of Allie’s memories and stories.
This feeling of disconnect between Allie and Lana took hold early on for me and the more Allie drew on her own experiences while writing the book, the more nervous I became, because I was certain that things were somehow going to come to a head. I was so tense leading up to the end!
But there are no easy answers or tidy solutions in this book, which was both frustrating and real. And given the current political climate, I think this was an especially timely, thought-provoking read.
My mind has wandered back to Impersonation several times since I finished. Recommended.