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A review by hayleybeale
Impersonation by Heidi Pitlor
2.0
Allie ghostwrites memoirs and novels for the quite famous. After her latest project, a well-paying memoir for a sleazy TV producer falls through when it’s revealed he’s sexually assaulted women in his office, Allie’s finances become worryingly stretched. When the opportunity arises she write a “mom-moir” about Lana Breban, a prominent feminist who wants to run for political office but needs her image softening up a little, Allie is thrilled. But Lena gives her so little information about herself and her family, Allie starts to draw from her own life.
I found Allie’s living situation quite stressful: she can barely afford her rent, she has to leave Cass her young son, with an elderly neighbor, and she’s never quite sure of the status of her relationship with her live-in boyfriend Kurt. I found Allie a bit of a limp lettuce leaf - she allows things to happen, she doesn’t stand up for herself, and she has trouble expressing what she wants - and this passivity just grates. She is a single parent and I found her son rather irritatingly whiny. I appreciate he’s not a typical boy or even a typical kid, but like his mother he is very passive and appears to make little effort to make his own life more enjoyable. Quite why easygoing and caring Kurt wants to be part of this family is unclear to me.
One part that did ring true for me is Allie’s mother competitive relationship with her friend Patty. That this leads to catastrophe for Allie has an inevitability to it that works to drive the plot along.
I feel a bit harsh judging the characters like this, but it made the book a bit of a drag to read. Allie’s inability to deal with what life has given her, her lack of gumption to make things better, even her wishy washiness with Kurt just make her a drag. I’m honestly surprised that Lana would actually try and help her and, of course, Allie is a bit lame about that too.
Ghostwriters are such a well-worn plot device and metaphor and I thought this was going to have an interesting twist on that, but i just found Impersonation to be a book that I couldn’t wait to finish for all the wrong reasons.
Thanks to Algonquin Books and Netgalley for the digital review copy.
I found Allie’s living situation quite stressful: she can barely afford her rent, she has to leave Cass her young son, with an elderly neighbor, and she’s never quite sure of the status of her relationship with her live-in boyfriend Kurt. I found Allie a bit of a limp lettuce leaf - she allows things to happen, she doesn’t stand up for herself, and she has trouble expressing what she wants - and this passivity just grates. She is a single parent and I found her son rather irritatingly whiny. I appreciate he’s not a typical boy or even a typical kid, but like his mother he is very passive and appears to make little effort to make his own life more enjoyable. Quite why easygoing and caring Kurt wants to be part of this family is unclear to me.
One part that did ring true for me is Allie’s mother competitive relationship with her friend Patty. That this leads to catastrophe for Allie has an inevitability to it that works to drive the plot along.
I feel a bit harsh judging the characters like this, but it made the book a bit of a drag to read. Allie’s inability to deal with what life has given her, her lack of gumption to make things better, even her wishy washiness with Kurt just make her a drag. I’m honestly surprised that Lana would actually try and help her and, of course, Allie is a bit lame about that too.
Ghostwriters are such a well-worn plot device and metaphor and I thought this was going to have an interesting twist on that, but i just found Impersonation to be a book that I couldn’t wait to finish for all the wrong reasons.
Thanks to Algonquin Books and Netgalley for the digital review copy.