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A review by ablondebooknerd
Impersonation by Heidi Pitlor
3.0
“No human being can be a mother and save the world at the same time. Our expectations of women are, as always, absurd.”
I’ve been reading more memoirs lately and so the concept of a book told from a ghostwriter’s perspective was fascinating to me. Unfortunately I had a hard time with Allie. She was a chameleon who gets into the heads of her clients in order to write as them. But it feels as if because she’s done this so many times, she no longer has a clear voice and can’t seem to stand up for herself at all. It wasn’t that I didn’t like her, I just felt indifferent at times. Also she doesn’t like dogs....
However, the book is set in the months leading up to the 2016 presidential election and the year following it really anchored the story. The author did an excellent job of bringing back first the hope, joy and optimism that many women felt thinking that finally we’d have our first female president and then the pain, frustration, and sickening feeling when we realized we still live in a misogynistic world that belittles us. I felt those emotions so strongly while reading and remembering my experiences during that time.
The mental gymnastics that Allie would do to defend Lana’s actions felt so familiar. I think most women probably do this at some time or another for a family member, boss, friend, or politician. Overall, it’s a book that I will need to continue to think about and digest in the coming days.
Thank you to Algonquin Books and Heidi Pitlor for the #gifted ARC of IMPERSONATION in exchange for an honest review.
I’ve been reading more memoirs lately and so the concept of a book told from a ghostwriter’s perspective was fascinating to me. Unfortunately I had a hard time with Allie. She was a chameleon who gets into the heads of her clients in order to write as them. But it feels as if because she’s done this so many times, she no longer has a clear voice and can’t seem to stand up for herself at all. It wasn’t that I didn’t like her, I just felt indifferent at times. Also she doesn’t like dogs....
However, the book is set in the months leading up to the 2016 presidential election and the year following it really anchored the story. The author did an excellent job of bringing back first the hope, joy and optimism that many women felt thinking that finally we’d have our first female president and then the pain, frustration, and sickening feeling when we realized we still live in a misogynistic world that belittles us. I felt those emotions so strongly while reading and remembering my experiences during that time.
The mental gymnastics that Allie would do to defend Lana’s actions felt so familiar. I think most women probably do this at some time or another for a family member, boss, friend, or politician. Overall, it’s a book that I will need to continue to think about and digest in the coming days.
Thank you to Algonquin Books and Heidi Pitlor for the #gifted ARC of IMPERSONATION in exchange for an honest review.