Impersonation

By Heidi Pitlor

Book Overview

"By turns revealing, hilarious, dishy, and razor-sharp, Impersonation lives in that rarest of sweet spots: the propulsive page-turner for people with high literary standards." --Rebecca Makkai, author of The Great Believers

Allie Lang is a professional ghostwriter and a perpetually broke single mother to a young boy. Years of navigating her own and America's cultural definitions of motherhood have left her a lapsed idealist. Lana Breban is a powerhouse lawyer, economist, and advocate for women's rights with designs on elected office. She also has a son. Lana and her staff have decided she needs help softening her public image and that a memoir about her life as a mother will help.

When Allie lands the job as Lana's ghostwriter, it seems as if things will finally go Allie's way. At last, she thinks, there will be enough money not just to pay her bills but to actually buy a house. After years of working as a ghostwriter for other celebrities, Allie believes she knows the drill: she has learned how to inhabit the lives of others and tell their stories better than they can.

But this time, everything becomes more complicated. Allie's childcare arrangements unravel; she falls behind on her rent; her subject, Lana, is better at critiquing than actually providing material; and Allie's boyfriend decides to go on a road trip toward self-discovery. But as a writer for hire, Allie has gotten too used to being accommodating. At what point will she speak up for all that she deserves?

A satirical, incisive snapshot of how so many of us now live, Impersonation tells a timely, insightful, and bitingly funny story of ambition, motherhood, and class.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1616207914
• ISBN13: 9781616207915
• Release Date: August 2020
• Publisher: Algonquin Books
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.2" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Good Book!

I have to admit, I got this as a early reviewer site. But I had to say I loved this book. It's about a ghost writer that works on books for famous people. This tells the story of all the trials and tribulations of a single mom trying to make a living and a uncooperative client. The book also has a political overtone. If you are a woman who thinks that we as a gender, are starting to maybe loose our rights and feel we should be treated as equals...then this is the book for you! Also hits on stay at home mom and working moms, which Pitlor handles very well. Highly recommend this book! Comes out August 18! Loved it!