"The two years that we were friends almost made me stop writing for ever.”
This translated French novel was Book-o-Box's pick for October and it took me by surprise. A thriller based on a true story indeed, or is it? Though a slow start, the book starts growing on you like a creeper and before you realize it, you’re caught in the story so tight, it’s hard to escape without tugging and nudging a little.
Delphine, an introvert, is content with the limited group of people around her. She is a successful novelist in Paris, just after the success of her previous novel, as she prepares for her next one she hits a creative roadblock and is struggling to write her next bestseller. During the stretch between novels she meets L., a ghostwriter for the well known. L. is a confident opinionated woman who doesn’t hold back her thoughts and critics on Delphine’s ideas. L. is insistent on Delphine writing about her life, writing about reality because people are more interested in authenticity of the truth than fiction. Soon enough L. becomes an essential part of Delphine’s day-to-day life. She casually slips into the position of a personal aide, a shoulder to cry on for Delphine. Helping around with the home chores, running errands. Leading to a degree where impersonating Delphine at events, seemed like a natural thing to do.
As they draw the line between fiction and reality, they start to discover the reality of their dreadful pasts. Delphine had reached a writer’s block so severe that she couldn’t write the most mundane things such as emails and grocery lists. L. resolves this hitch by slowly taking over completely by moving in with Delphine, of course to help out a friend. Delphine always found herself face to face with L. when least expected. L. always presented herself in all the dire situations Delphine found herself in, almost like she was waiting round the corner, expecting it to happen. Ultimately detaching Delphine from her family and friends.
Based on a true story is narrated as a memoir but I was skeptical about the incidents that took place. Except that is exactly why I enjoyed this book even more. The line between fiction and reality is blurred. The account stands on the basis of these intriguing women entirely; it built up a curiosity in me that kept me going. They have been so well portrayed, revealing a different layer as you go further in the book. It expresses a subtle form of stalking; enough to occasionally give me the chills and make me slightly uneasy. The book had all its elements of a fictional thriller, yet it felt so real. The ending though, left me stumped, got me thinking about the actuality of the complete novel.
“L. was more like a jellyfish, light and transclucent, who settled on part of my soul. That contact left a burn, but it wasn’t visible to the naked eye. Its imprint left me seemingly free in my movements. But it bound her to me so much than I could have imagined.”