Eliza Maxwell

Every writer has a story. Some are deadlier than others. Aspiring author Graye Templeton will do anything to escape the horrific childhood crime that haunts her. After a life lived in shadows, she's accepted a new job as protégé to Laura West, influential book blogger and wife of an acclaimed novelist. Laura's connections could make Graye's publishing dreams a reality. But there's more to Laura than meets the eye. Behind the veneer of a charmed life, Laura's marriage is collapsing. Her once-lauded husband is descending into alcoholism and ruin and bringing Laura nearer to the edge. As the two women form a bond that seems meant to be, long-buried secrets claw their way into the present, and the line between friendship and obsession begins to blur, forcing each to decide where her loyalties lie. Running from the past is a dangerous game, and the loser could end up dead.

The Shadow Writer

Lamia Hajani

The Shadow Writer follows Graye Templeton formerly known as Grace Thacker, a little girl who witnessed her sister and her sister’s boyfriend murder her mother. After the trial is over, Grace is taken under the wing of Sister Margaret. Today, Grace is Graye and a graduate student at Cornell University. 

The novel starts with the meeting of Graye and Laura West, wife of David West, a famous author and the faculty member that Graye TA’s for. They become fast friends and Graye eventually is hired as Laura’s assistant. 

From here, questions arise. Graye feels eyes on her everywhere and Sister Margaret warns her of someone dangerous possibly stalking her. Maxwell does a great job of making the fear palpable to the reader. Many, many questions arise, and Maxwell answers all of them in a very climactic ending at which point it is impossible to put the book down. You just want to keep reading to get all the answers. 

I found Maxwell’s writing of deeply flawed yet realistic characters to be refreshing from the many perfect characters we read in other books. For every terrible thing a person does in the book, we also sympathize with some of the circumstances that led them to this point. To me, that is innately human, and something Maxwell does a good job of writing. 

The story itself is very good. It keeps you reading and it moves quickly so you never feel like the book is in a lull.

I could see this one day becoming a feature film, and I really hope it does - it’s a great book.

Thank you to #NetGalley, Lake Union Publishing and Eliza Maxwell for providing me a copy of #TheShadowWriter in exchange for my free and honest opinion.

The Shadow Writer

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