Clare Pooley

"A story about a solitary green notebook that brings together six strangers and leads to unexpected friendship, and even love--think Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine meets Love, Actually "Everybody lies about their lives. What would happen if you shared the truth?" This is the question that Julian Jessop, an eccentric, seventy-nine-year-old artist, poses within a pale green exercise book that he labels The Authenticity Project, before leaving it behind in Monica's Café. When Monica discovers Julian's abandoned notebook, not only does she add her own story to the book, she is determined to find a way to help Julian feel less lonely. And so it goes with the others who find the green notebook that will soon contain their deepest selves. It will also knit the group together In Real Life at Monica's Cafe, where they'll discover the thrill and sometime-risk of being completely honest--and, for some, find unexpected love. With a cast of characters who are by turns quirky and funny, heartbreakingly sad and painfully true-to-life, The Authenticity Project is a novel readers will take to their hearts and read with unabashed pleasure"--

The Authenticity Project

"A warm, charming tale about the rewards of revealing oneself, warts and all." --People The story of a solitary green notebook that brings together six strangers and leads to unexpected friendship, and even love Julian Jessop, an eccentric, lonely artist and septuagenarian believes that most people aren't really honest with each other. But what if they were? And so he writes--in a plain, green journal--the truth about his own life and leaves it in his local café. It's run by the incredibly tidy and efficient Monica, who furtively adds her own entry and leaves the book in the wine bar across the street. Before long, the others who find the green notebook add the truths about their own deepest selves--and soon find each other In Real Life at Monica's Café. The Authenticity Project's cast of characters--including Hazard, the charming addict who makes a vow to get sober; Alice, the fabulous mommy Instagrammer whose real life is a lot less perfect than it looks online; and their other new friends--is by turns quirky and funny, heartbreakingly sad and painfully true-to-life. It's a story about being brave and putting your real self forward--and finding out that it's not as scary as it seems. In fact, it looks a lot like happiness. The Authenticity Project is just the tonic for our times that readers are clamoring for--and one they will take to their hearts and read with unabashed pleasure.

A Novel

Rahma Ali

Fun and easy read. The storyline is mostly predictable, but is enjoyable nevertheless.

Andréa Lynch

Sajiya Chaudhary

The heartwarming story of a journal named 'The Authenticity Project' leads to a meeting of eccentric and lonely strangers who find it by chance and tell their truths to it. My favorite of all these characters was Monica. Her cafè reminded me of Fleabag's cafe, where she has "Chatty Wednesdays" Also, Julian was the best character to begin the story and end it too. I kept thinking Steve Martin (his character in 'Only Murders in the Building' is somewhat like Julian) would be a great Julian Jessop and Helen Mirren as Mary. There's a twist at the climax, which I didn't expect, which made the ending bittersweet. 
Clare Pooley writes quite well, the book is fast-paced and doesn't feel boring at any moment.

Ditipriya Acharya

Elisavet Rozaki 

I loved the premise, but the execution was cheesy and artificial :(

I loved seeing the overlapping stories and character development! There is something in each character you can relate to. Had me crying by the end! Loved It! 

Lacee Foutch 

Six strangers with one thing in common: their lives aren't always what they make them out to be. What would happen if they told the truth instead? Julian Jessop is tired of hiding the deep loneliness he feels. So he begins The Authenticity Project - a small green notebook containing the truth about his life. Leaving the notebook on a table in his friendly neighbourhood café, Julian never expects Monica, the owner, to track him down after finding it. Or that she'll be inspired to write down her own story. Little do they realize that such small acts of honesty hold the power to impact all those who discover the notebook and change their lives completely.

Madhuri Kasam

4.5**
Overall,I liked it but there were tiny things that I was a bit disappointed with.It was cosy, heart-warming,feel good and lovely.
I enjoyed the story, throughout there were this suspense moments which kept me hooked to it.I personally love the arc of Hazard and Monica and also the closure of Alice.

I loved this read! It was very thought provoking, and I found it to be extremely relatable. 

The first half of the book was wonderful, the second half didn’t have as strong of an effect on me.  

Personally, I would have liked to see Monica end with Riley. I think he was a misunderstood character that had more depth than he was given credit for. There is nothing wrong with Hazard, but it hurt my romantic’s heart I suppose. 

Julian dying was tough - but again I am a softie. Lol. I am so very happy she added the little tidbit about Keith being looked after, because I would have been riddled with anxiety about that forever. 

Overall, it was a great read. I really enjoyed her writing throughout - and I found myself chuckling out loud throughout the book. I would recommend!   

Tess Martinez

I loved this read! It was very thought provoking, and I found it to be extremely relatable. 

The first half of the book was wonderful, the second half didn’t have as strong of an effect on me.  

Personally, I would have liked to see Monica end with Riley. I think he was a misunderstood character that had more depth than he was given credit for. There is nothing wrong with Hazard, but it hurt my romantic’s heart I suppose. 

Julian dying was tough - but again I am a softie. Lol. I am so very happy she added the little tidbit about Keith being looked after, because I would have been riddled with anxiety about that forever. 

Overall, it was a great read. I really enjoyed her writing throughout - and I found myself chuckling out loud throughout the book. I would recommend!   

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Globe and Mail bestseller Toronto Star bestseller A Washington Post “FEEL-GOOD BOOK guaranteed to lift your spirits” "I loved The Authenticity Project. It's a clever, uplifting book that entertains and makes you think."--Sophie Kinsella, #1 New York Times bestselling author The story of a solitary green notebook that brings together six strangers and leads to unexpected friendship, and even love Julian Jessop, an eccentric, lonely artist and septuagenarian believes that most people aren't really honest with each other. But what if they were? And so he writes--in a plain, green journal--the truth about his own life and leaves it in his local café. It's run by the incredibly tidy and efficient Monica, who furtively adds her own entry and leaves the book in the wine bar across the street. Before long, the others who find the green notebook add the truths about their own deepest selves--and soon find each other In Real Life at Monica's Café. The Authenticity Project's cast of characters--including Hazard, the charming addict who makes a vow to get sober; Alice, the fabulous mommy Instagrammer whose real life is a lot less perfect than it looks online; and their other new friends-is by turns quirky and funny, heartbreakingly sad and painfully true-to-life. It's a story about being brave and putting your real self forward--and finding out that it's not as scary as it seems. In fact, it looks a lot like happiness. The Authenticity Project is just the tonic for our times that readers are clamoring for--and one they will take to their hearts and read with unabashed pleasure.

Jennifer Eggleston 

3.5 stars

Interesting read at times predictable but with a few twists. It also had me thinking on what I would write about myself if I had received the green journal. My favorite character, Betty Wu.

Mikayla r

A warm, feel good book for a snowy day. I enjoyed how this book can be as simple or as complicated as you’d like. Each character is rich and thought provoking, but it reads so easily that it’s hard to put down.

'A joyous, funny read that leaves you all warm inside' Beth Morrey, author of Saving Missy 'Feel-good...full of hope. A quirky cast of characters you can't help but root for'Woman & Home, Book of the Month Read the warm, poignant and uplifting New York Times bestseller and Radio 2 Book Club pick, loved by readers. Six strangers with one thing in common: their lives aren't always what they make them out to be. What would happen if they told the truth instead? Julian Jessop is tired of hiding the deep loneliness he feels. So he begins The Authenticity Project - a small green notebook containing the truth about his life. Leaving the notebook on a table in his friendly neighbourhood café, Julian never expects Monica, the owner, to track him down after finding it. Or that she'll be inspired to write down her own story. Little do they realize that such small acts of honesty hold the power to impact all those who discover the notebook and change their lives completely. -------------- Readers are falling in love with The Authenticity Project: ***** 'A charming, funny and uplifting story.' ***** 'Full of optimism . . . I defy anyone not to pick it up and be both transported and delighted.' ***** 'An absolute gem of a book . . . brings both honesty and the perfect level of escapism to give you a warm fuzzy glow inside.'

The feel-good novel you need right now

Lauren Wright

If you want a quicker read with a heartwarming story and great character development, then this is the book for you! I won’t lie…it is a slow build and probably longer than it needs to be but after you’ve read a few chapters it really becomes a book you can’t put down. I called it my “go to sleep” book because it was a great before bed read. Extremely heartwarming and funny, I gave this 4/5 stars :) 

Swati Raisinghani

If you like A Man Called Ove then you should try out The Authenticity Project.
Same feels with a lot more eccentricity!

Cindy Lieberman

A charming and light story perfect in the run-up to Valentine’s Day. An intriguing notebook dares the anonymous recipient in London to be authentic in its pages and then to pass it on. The notebook connects people in unexpected yet much-needed ways, because of or in spite of their “authentic” selves. No real surprises, but still mostly relatable and, here’s that word again, charming.

Kingston Breton

Summary: 

A green notebook left behind on a table, without much fanfare, at Monica’s cafe. Here we begin “The Authenticity Project,” with a green notebook that asks the folks in the story, “What if we told the truth about our lives?” From here, the notebook finds its way to a cast of seemingly mismatched people ultimately tying their lives and stories together through the hidden stories they write in its pages. 

I Loved:

 “How well do you know the people who live near you?”- the premise of the story was fun! I found myself thinking about how many people I only knew on a surface level and how or if I wanted to deepen those relationships. 

The characters were all relatable, both in their best traits and their faults. You wanted to cheer for them and invite them into your own friend group!

Could Have Been Better:

The jump in narratives took away from the story because you had to stop and think about where each character’s story left off the last time. 

You could never quite get a handle on the time progression between story lines. Has it been days or months?

The Takeaway:

For sure, the book isn’t a deep read. It doesn’t want to dive into the social commentary of why we all have this nagging feeling that it's hard to be ourselves, but it does give us relatable characters, and I found myself so often laughing, cringing, or moved by the actions and thoughts of the characters. For me, the first half of the book was better in terms of character development and plot progression, but once Pooley’s full cast of characters was introduced I felt as if she rushed to bring all their disparate threads together. Although it doesn’t read horribly, you get the feeling that all of sudden we are sitting back at surface level instead of investing deeper into each character’s actions and motivations. Overall, if you accept that a book of 352 pages can only do so much, any disappointment is tempered. More than anything I think I loved them all so much that I would have wanted to spend more time with them.

The end came as a surprise, and while it gets you in the feels- BIG TIME-it seemed fitting. I couldn’t help but love this book. While mostly entertaining, Pooley’s take on the personalities of her characters give you enough to think about, and encourages us to take a look at our own lives and ask why we are afraid to show up with authenticity. TAP wonders on whether or not we have lost the ability to make meaningful connections, and answers in a delightful way. We leave the story cheering and believing that realness doesn’t have to be lost in the never ending highlight reels we see come across our feeds.

Sharon Steinman

Thanks NetGalley for an advanced reader’s copy of the book. I really enjoyed the book and the characters in the book and the premise of the notebook travelling and the introduction of new characters.

Renee Blankenship

Thank you to Viking Books for the free copy! 

I loved The Authenticity Project! It hit all the marks for me in terms of what makes a great, easy and readable story. Depth, quirky characters, honesty and real life situations all were present. It was one of those stories that as I was going about my day, I was still thinking about. A cast of very flawed and honest characters who are all searching for a more "real" way of living their lives (even if some of them don't realize it yet!). Love lost and found in new and surprising ways, friendships made over the course of the story all because of a little green book entitled The Authenticity Project. This was such a clever premise for a story and it had me right from the start wondering what my own "authentic" story would be, if I was adding to the book. I highly recommend this one if you like stories that involves multiple characters woven together, stories about finding your way in life with the help of others and a little bit of humor thrown in!

Ashley Dellefave

Really enjoyed this one. Cute with enjoyable characters.

Jessica 

Blog | Twitter | Instagram | Tik Tok | You can find my review here.


  As always, a copy of this book was provided by the publisher or author in exchange for my honest review. This does not effect my opinion in any way.


It's ALWAYS a pleasant surprise going into a book with some expectations and then the book exceeds said expectations. There's something about The Authenticity Project that charmed the heck out of me. Reading it was very enjoyable and an absolutely wonderful way to wind down this week. Further, it was just plain inspirational. Clare Pooley really hit the spot when it comes to a story that I needed--sometimes, we need fiction to remind us to live our lives and this definitely sparked something within me for that reason.

The Authenticity Project felt like a revitalization to my own mind. It was very much like a new take on the idea behind Post Secret. (Anybody remember those?) In other words: I genuinely loved this story and the message behind it. Live. Your. Life. Authentically.

After-all, we all know we only have one life. Yet, sometimes, it feels like this fact gets lost in a sea of our own thoughts. When I'd decided to read The Authenticity Project I had expected it to be one of those novels that was a great one-time read, filled with cuteness and easy-going storylines that leave an impression. This wasn't the case: The Authenticity Project feels much larger than that and I've got the feeling I'll be revisiting this one in the near-future.

My emotions were already on high when I finally got around to reading this. It was a couple of days after my birthday. I'd just found out that someone I knew in high school was very, very ill and it struck me fairly hard. (As life often does.) Something about The Authenticity Project felt very on-time with my current mood, and the slip of anxiety that kind of hit me suddenly, and definitely served as a reminder.

Ultimately, I went into this novel not knowing how much it would give me a mood boost. Pooley was quick to capture my heart with her magnetic, sweet, and honest, prose. The Authenticity Project was a wonderfully bright spot and truly hit all the right marks for me. It reminded me of many things, and it was just a beautiful read.

A WASHINGTON POST “FEEL-GOOD BOOK guaranteed to lift your spirits” “A warm, charming tale about the rewards of revealing oneself, warts and all.” —People The story of a solitary green notebook that brings together six strangers and leads to unexpected friendship, and even love Julian Jessop, an eccentric, lonely artist and septuagenarian believes that most people aren't really honest with each other. But what if they were? And so he writes—in a plain, green journal—the truth about his own life and leaves it in his local café. It's run by the incredibly tidy and efficient Monica, who furtively adds her own entry and leaves the book in the wine bar across the street. Before long, the others who find the green notebook add the truths about their own deepest selves—and soon find each other In Real Life at Monica's Café. The Authenticity Project's cast of characters—including Hazard, the charming addict who makes a vow to get sober; Alice, the fabulous mommy Instagrammer whose real life is a lot less perfect than it looks online; and their other new friends—is by turns quirky and funny, heartbreakingly sad and painfully true-to-life. It's a story about being brave and putting your real self forward—and finding out that it's not as scary as it seems. In fact, it looks a lot like happiness. The Authenticity Project is just the tonic for our times that readers are clamoring for—and one they will take to their hearts and read with unabashed pleasure.

The Authenticity Project

Reviews