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A Novel
by Sarah Vaughan
A compelling novel about power, money and lies from the author of Anatomy of a Scandal.
All families have secrets. But it's the lies that can kill.
A lavish seventieth birthday party. A body found on a storm-lashed beach. And a secret that someone is dying to tell... .
Famed children's author Dame Eleanor Kingman has summoned her family and friends to her exquisite manor house on the cliffs. They're celebrating her birthday—and her latest number one bestseller in her series of books based on a mother fox and her cubs.
But the night before the party, Eleanor receives an email that threatens to expose the lie she's kept up for over half a century.
Someone knows her secret. Is it her estranged literary agent? Is it her ex-husband, to whom she no longer speaks? Is it the nanny she fired all those years ago, who always did have a knack for storytelling? Or is it one of her three daughters, all of whom have a stake in the publishing empire she has built...
With a television crew arriving to film a documentary of her life, Eleanor needs to find out who sent the email—and preserve her legacy and multimillion-pound career.
But when push comes to shove, and it's time to tell the truth will anyone actually believe her?
"[An] enthralling thriller… Vaughan elegantly toys with readers' expectations as she parcels out details about Eleanor's family and relationships and explores themes of class, power, and the magpie-like nature of authorship. The result is a canny, suspenseful tale with more on its mind than entertainment." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Vaughan, who has centered top-notch thrillers on the dark sides of fame (e.g., Anatomy of a Scandal, 2018) cleverly weaves elements of King Lear and Golden Age mysteries into this dysfunctional family exposé." —Booklist
"This is a character-driven, carefully paced thriller that engages readers with the why of things more than the who. For fans of Sophie Hannah and Jane Casey." —Library Journal
"A flawlessly constructed thriller, perfectly paced and filled with smart reveals. This is a read-in-one-sitting delight of a novel!" —Lucy Clarke, internationally bestselling author of The Surf House and The Hike
"Wholly absorbing and utterly addictive, with that perfect blend of twisty plot and stunning prose that readers have come to expect from Sarah Vaughan. One of my favorite books of the year." —Andrea Mara, internationally bestselling author of It Should Have Been You and All Her Fault
This information about Based on a True Story was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Sarah Vaughan is the Sunday Times and international bestselling author of Anatomy of a Scandal, Little Disasters and Reputation, plus two earlier novels. Translated into 26 languages, Anatomy of a Scandal became a Richard & Judy Book of the Decade and a global number one Netflix limited series. Little Disasters became a number one Paramount Plus series, while Reputation is being developed for TV. Before writing fiction, Sarah spent 15 years as a journalist, including 11 at the Guardian as a political correspondent and news reporter. Brought up in Devon, she lives near Cambridge, England with her family.
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