Impersonation

So rare to find an intelligent book about a woman with very realistic issues. Even though the gig jobs, single motherhood, undefined boyfriends wasn’t my path, Heidi Pitlor writes so well I felt like it could have been my life. At first I wasn’t sure where the plot was going, but once I realized the writer had no choice but to mingle her life with her subject as a ghostwriter I was rooting for her, until the ending that ties it all together. All the characters, even the writers mother,are complex and very current.

I received an Advance Reader's Copy of this book.

Set in 2016 soon after the presidential election, this story is a sharp commentary on feminism, motherhood, and privilege. Allie is a ghostwriter whose clients are celebrities. She is hired to ghostwrite the memoir of a celebrated feminist, Lana Breban, who wants to tell her story of being an immigrant and a mother. The collaboration, however, doesn't go smoothly, as Lana is too busy to give Allie details for the book. Instead Allie is left with inserting anecdotes from her own life as a single mother into Lana's story. Heidi Pitlor's writing is sharp, smart, and witty. There is a lot to contemplate here. This book would make a great book club book.

This contains a lot of references to the 2016 election so if that might make you emotional, heads-up.

I thought this was so intriguing and clever! Perhaps not the paciest, but fascinating questions of identity and how much of yourself is worth sacrificing for greater causes. A lot of commentary on politics, including a dynamic with a landlord who has differing political views.

Allie is in her early forties working as a ghostwriter, with landscaping jobs in between. She loses a really big job that would have gotten her a better rental for herself and her young son Cassidy who she is raising on her own. Then she lands another job writing for Lana Breban, a high-profile lawyer slash women's rights activist. Lana needs a memoir written about raising her son in order to soften up her image, but she doesn't give Allie much to work with.

Feminism is a strong theme throughout the book, but the execution is not always great. I was getting the idea the author tried too hard, at times feeling forced.
This stops the book from reaching its full potential. There are times later in the book, however, when it's just right; show more when Allie grows as a character.

The ghostwriter plot is an interesting one. I felt engaged during these parts. It felt like a little inside look and made me wonder how many memoirs are ghostwritten and how much of what's in them is true.
Another thing I liked is the relatability of the main character. Allie, like a lot of us, is just trying to get her stuff together and make a good life for herself and her son. There are times when she feels left out and not at all like an adult, times when it seems everyone knows what they're doing except her. I think readers would feel sympathetic toward her and her journey. The relatability of the main character is really where the book shines, and Allie's growth makes it worth the read. show less

This was a very current, topical book. It takes place just before the 2016 election and goes through the 2018 midterm elections. Allie is struggling single mother who ekes out a living as a ghostwriter. When she gets hire to ghostwrite a book about her motherhood to soften the image of feminist lawyer, Lana Breban, she get more than she bargained for. Allie is likable enough but Lana does not come across very well at all. I liked the writing style and how the book covered so many hot topics. I received a ARC from LibraryThing.

A breezy book about some very weighty topics. Ghostwriter Allie, desperate for work after her last celebrity "memoir" is scrapped in the wake of a #MeToo scandal, is hired to write a treatise on motherhood for feminist activist Lana Breban. As a Lana fan, Allie is thrilled. But the book she is writing turns out to be a calculated attempt to smooth over Lana's image so she can enter mainstream politics, and Lana herself proves elusive. As her editors insist on scrapping Lana's progressive beliefs in favor of run-of-the-mill mommy anecdotes that Lana refuses to provide, Allie substitutes incidents from her own life as a struggling single mother, and she grows increasingly uncomfortable with the direction of the entire project.

There's a show more lot of topics touched on in this book, from the commodification of the feminist movement to raising a biracial child to caring for the elderly. Unfortunately the treatment is rather shallow, with a lot of issues raised but not much resolved. Allie's everyday life is the best written part of the book, while Lana is so flat and unrevealing a character that she seems almost a cipher. The ending is particularly unconvincing and abrupt. But then, these are issues that people have yet to resolve in real life. I can see this book as a good book group choice that would lead to a lot of discussion. As a novel, though, it needed the author to take a little more of a stance on what she was writing about. show less

Set in the early days of the Trump presidency and the rise of #MeToo movement, Impersonation explores the intersection between what women are willing to accept and what they need and must learn to demand for themselves.

Allie Lang is the forty-year old single mother of five-year-old Cassie. Her writing career was sidelined back in Dartmouth when she resisted her advisor’s advances. She later left a good job to help her mother care for her ailing step-dad. Now, she cobbles together an income by substitute teaching, landscape work, and ghostwriting memoirs for celebrities of all calibers.

Al has a live-in boyfriend who is a great guy and a wonderful male role model for Cassie. But, he is also a recovering capitalist whose divorce spurred show more him to seek a more meaningful life. Between odd jobs, he travels across country. Al is afraid to demand more of his time, knowing he needs to find himself. She also resists becoming dependent on any one.

When a lucrative book deal falls through after the celebrity is named in the #MeToo movement, Al is given the job of writing a memoir about motherhood for a nationally known feminist. It should be a dream job, especially after the smarmy stories the last guy wanted to tell her. Except, Al can’t get Lana to talk about her life and has to, well, basically, make up stories.

Al struggles with the basic needs of putting a roof over their heads and raising a son and dealing with her parents and here-and-gone again lover. And, of course, trying to pin down her celebrity so she can finish the book and get paid.

The purpose of the memoir becomes apparent as Lana decides for a political career. Al’s purpose is to make an intelligent, powerful feminist appealing to Middle-American women–an anti-Hillary. As Al impersonates Lana, in the memoir Lana is impersonating the typical American mother and housewife. Al has not recourse but to plumb her own life for insights and stories.

The lesson Al must learn is that being independent does not mean a woman can’t ask for what she needs, like a better salary and a committed relationship and help in juggling job and motherhood.

I was pleased with the competent writing, the humor that had me laughing out loud, and the realistic portrayal of motherhood. Al works from home, and the challenges will resonate with many women who had to work from home with kids in the house during the pandemic. Best of all, Al is a mirror to the many ways women are more worried about taking care of other people than we are ourselves. When Al empowers herself, a happy ending ensues and she and Lana become a powerful team.

I received a free galley through NetGalley from the publisher. My review is fair and unbiased. show less