The Ghostwriter

The plot behind The Ghostwriter by Alessandra Torre (A.R. Torre) isn't new - author tells life story to writer before their death - but in this author's hand, the trope was an absolute winner!

Helena is a famous and successful romance author who lied about the way her husband and child died four years ago. A cancer diagnosis and news she has just a few months to live has galvanised Helena into action and she plans to reveal all in her last ever book. After embarking on the writing process, her health deteriorates to the point she needs help. Helena reaches out to her nemesis in the romance genre and puts aside their year's long rivalry to ask for professional help finishing the memoir. This is the ghostwriter of the title, although the show more book doesn't focus on them so I'm not clear on the choice of title.

The Ghostwriter is a slow burn mystery and the reader finds out more about Helena's backstory at the same time as the ghostwriter. Chapters of the manuscript are woven into the narrative and we hear from Helena in the first person, her agent Kate and of course the ghostwriter.

Now a gruff and no nonsense woman with no discernible outward warmth, the events which made Helena this way are revealed as she seeks to make peace with her past before her illness claims her. The bond that forms between Helena and the ghostwriter was powerful and left them both changed by the end.

At no time did I have any inkling as to where the story was going, nor was I able to guess at the ending. And wow, what an ending! According to the Author's Note, this is her fourteenth novel and it really shows in the tightness of the plotting and building of suspense.

The Ghostwriter by Alessandra Torre was an expertly crafted domestic thriller and I absolutely loved it. Highly recommended and definitely one of my favourite reads so far this year! show less

I'm completely blown away by this one. I love Alessandra Torre and wow this one is amazing. So many emotions are stirred up while reading The Ghostwriter. At this point I'm a sobbing mess. It's beautiful and yet heart wrenching all at the same time. This is a book that will take you on such an emotional journey that you can't help but scream and cry and just want to hug Helena tight. You feel her anguish, her grief, her acceptance and most of all peace. Helena is making amends not only with herself but with Kate, Mark (Marka) and to an extent in her own way with her mother. It is a beautiful sight to see writing enemies come together. That's what Mark aka Marka and Helena do. They needed each other one to push to be better and the other show more a means to an end. Be prepared to have box of Kleenex on hand because you are so going to need it. These words have touched me in such a way I never knew I needed. I am still in awe of the power The Ghostwriter has. I have read a few books by this author and have to say this is the only one I can say is a must read. show less

I have three months to write the last book of my life. Three months to confess the details of that day, and how it changed everything for me.

My name is Helena Ross. I’ve written fifteen romance novels, ten of which have become international bestsellers. But this one isn't a romance, no Happily Ever After in place. This novel holds only the truth, which I have run away from for four years. The truth, which I have hidden from the police, from my loved ones, from the world.

This final book?

It's my confession.


"A perfect morning. A perfect husband. A perfect daughter. A perfect lie."

The Ghostwriter is Alessandra Torre's latest, and greatest, new release. It's the kind of novel you go into blind and finish a changed person, pushing it on show more your fellow readers and trying desperately to not giveaway the story while still convincing them "they have to read it now." Okay, maybe that's just me. It's an unpredictable novel, with the main character most kindly described as emotionally vacant and mean. The reader gets to know Helena's inner-most thoughts from first person point of view, while also seeing her from the outside perspective of a handful of secondary characters written in third person perspective. Alessandra Torre further adds to the novel by giving us a book within a book, the start of each chapter of Helena's novel providing us glimpses into her past and the events that left her closed off and aloof. We discover she isn't vacant of emotion, rather she's drowning in them and fully aware of the mistakes she's made as a wife and mother.

"Soulmates or Tragedy. And sometimes, both."

I had tears in my eyes 20% in, I was exclaiming out loud by 40% that this was such an amazing book, and at 70% I tweeted that I suspected this had a chance of being my top read of 2017. I never could have predicted the ending, the twists, the past that had turned Helena into the witch the townsfolk never saw. Helena is difficult to like, but she's impossible not to feel for. My heart broke for her, I ached over the life lessons she never should have had to learn, and I hoped so dearly that something positive could come of her terrible prognosis. Helena is a fierce woman and it was incredible to read the book from her perspective. The secondary characters were phenomenal as well; I loved the little bits of gossip that made Helena real, the people who come to her side unwelcome, but necessary, and the constructive change they brought to her bleak world. I felt every emotion as I read The Ghostwriter and I slipped into this book like it was my life too, it was like being a writer myself. It was captivating, heartbreaking, and so profound.

"It's not hard to imagine a happier version of you."

I am a massive fan of Alessandra Torre and I thought I knew what I would be getting out of The Ghostwriter, but it was beyond anything I could have ever imagined. It's a stunning novel that highlights Alessandra Torre's storytelling ability and her strength as a wordsmith. I was held captive by this book from beginning to end, not even tears and the suffocating emotions that the book brought on could stop me from reading. Though it is about a very challenging subject matter, I think the original story line and the pacing of the novel took it from uncomfortable to thought-provoking. The Ghostwriter doesn't read like previous novels from Alessandra Torre, it's an outstanding example of her versatility and will captivate fans of all genres. If I could give it more than 5 stars I would, because The Ghostwriter is absolutely my Top Read of 2017.

"We all have a Happily Ever After, each story just needs to pick the right time to claim it."

ARC provided via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. show less

*Trigger warning, this book has explicit content that may be unsuitable for some people*

This is a heavy, heavy book. It has a lot of weight and sadness and anger and vengeance and remorse and conflict... and forgiveness. This was so beautifully written. Heartbreakingly honest and brutally transparent. When we are first introduced to Helena, we see a successful, controlling, assertive woman who is used to getting what she wants and who does not hesitate to keep every ounce of human interaction at arms length. She is purposefully cruel enough that people don’t want to get to know or spend time with her. Helena is such a dynamic, complicated, complex and sincerely brave character. She is smart; alarmingly so. She has a razor sharp wit show more that will cut you to the core and an ability to make even the slightest comments hurt. She is fiercely protective, loyal and scared. The transformation her character takes across these pages is so incredible. She takes herself from victim to hero, she takes the power back for those who didn’t get the opportunity. She is an advocate, a force to be reckoned with.
Mark was such a necessary and appropriate character, and he was just what Helena needed in her final novel. Their unconventional friendship starts out as competing authors and ends with the two of them having such a powerful understanding of each other’s pain. The support they give to each other, and the amount of weight they remove from each other is tragically beautiful.
The last few chapters of Helena (and Mark’s) final novel contain a massive revelation and a twist that I did not see coming... and that nothing could have prepared me for. The last several chapters of this book will make you angry, sad, and they will make you cry. Helena is humanized to us in the final pages of this book... which is something you will find yourself yearning for throughout majority of this novel... but when it finally happens, when we finally get Helena to take down her walls... your heart will break. Again, and again, and again.
Beautifully written, dynamically put together, and a truly wonderful story. Alessandra Torre writes about very heavy and hard topics with such a delicate touch, but she gives the respect to those who deserve it. I absolutely recommend this book. This is my first Alessandra Torre novel, and I can assure you that it will not be my last. This book came to me via a recommendation from Tarryn Fisher through her Instagram stories, and I am so glad I chose to read this novel. These words, this journey, the ups and downs, the twists and turns... the emotions creates are truly wonderful. This book is #katyapproved. I give this book 5 out of 5 stars. show less

I had previously read Hollywood Dirt by Alessandra Torre. It was a light, funny romance. I was expecting the same for this book. Boy, was I surprised. This book is a sad, painful read – not in a bad way but in the way that makes you feel the pain that the characters are going through. Right from the start you know this is a story that is going to make you feel – you can’t help it. It makes you wonder – if I had only 3 months to live what would I want to do. Helena doesn’t want to work through a bucket list or spend time with friends (if she had any). She only wants to write the story of her life. To do this, she needs help and reaches out to her arch-nemesis Marka Vantly. I won’t include any spoilers but when we meet Marka show more it is a surprise.
As Helena works through her story, we feel her pain and desperation as she moves to the inevitable end of the story. I read the last few chapters through tears as we finally see what Helena has not been able to say until then. This isn’t a book for the faint of heart but it is a book that will touch your heart and remain there. show less

Helena Ross, is a successful author who finds out she has terminal cancer. In her last few months she wants to write her final book, but this one will tell the real story about her marriage, and what happened to her husband and their child. To get the book completed on time, Helena needs a ghostwriter and decides that it will be her biggest rival, Marka Vantly. Helena is about to find out that she is not the only one keeping secrets.

I read this one via Kindle Unlimited and wasn't really expecting much, but it was an absolute gem. Helena is what I would call a 'brittle' character, she's standoffish and I can understand why some reviewers failed to warm to her, but you do begin to understand her more as the book progresses. I thought the show more book walked the line between sentimentality and pathos very adroitly. Originally I expected it was going to be your run-of-the-mill 'woman finds out her husband is cheating and takes revenge' plot line but it takes a complete left turn out of nowhere. I thought it was a brilliant read that kept me guessing and that's no easy feat.

TW: terminal illness, grief, mention of suicide, brief description of sexual assault. show less

4.5 Helena lives alone, though this was not always the case. She is a well known romance writer, and she has just had some terrible news. She has also had a horrible event in her life, with both things combined, she decides she needs to make her story known. Not sure she is capable of writing her story, doing it justice, she asks her agent to get her a ghostwriter.

This book was utterly fantastic. So much more than a thriller, it is more like an inside view of the disintegration of a life, a person. Because Helena is no longer who she was, no longer has any control over what has happened, or is happening in her life. The story is told by Helena herself, alternating with that of her agent, and the person who becomes the chosen show more ghostwriter. Who this person is was a big surprise. It is wonderfully written, with bits and pieces revealed at a time, small clues strewn here and there, leading to many guesses by this reader. The story leads you where the author wants to take you, in her own time, and the big reveal, was just that, big. This is a book that sucks one in and doesn't let go, the tension, the suspense created, made this an a book that was for me impossible to put down.

This was a sister's read with all of us just stunned at the end, a big WOW was the general consensus. The epilogue, brilliant and impactful in it's simplicity. show less