Synopses & Reviews
“A warm, charming tale about the rewards of revealing oneself, warts and all.”
People
The story of a solitary green notebook that brings together six strangers and leads to unexpected friendship, and even love.
Julian Jessop, an eccentric, lonely artist and septuagenarian believes that most people aren't really honest with each other. But what if they were? And so he writes — in a plain, green journal — the truth about his own life and leaves it in his local café. It's run by the incredibly tidy and efficient Monica, who furtively adds her own entry and leaves the book in the wine bar across the street. Before long, the others who find the green notebook add the truths about their own deepest selves — and soon find each other In Real Life at Monica's Café.
The Authenticity Project's cast of characters — including Hazard, the charming addict who makes a vow to get sober; Alice, the fabulous mommy Instagrammer whose real life is a lot less perfect than it looks online; and their other new friends — is by turns quirky and funny, heartbreakingly sad and painfully true-to-life. It's a story about being brave and putting your real self forward — and finding out that it's not as scary as it seems. In fact, it looks a lot like happiness.
The Authenticity Project is just the tonic for our times that readers are clamoring for — and one they will take to their hearts and read with unabashed pleasure.
Review
“The Authenticity Project is a rich roast of great characters, even better relationships, wonderful entanglements, and a few surprises along the way. If Monica’s Cafe were a real place, I’d stop by every day.” Laurie Frankel, New York Times bestselling author of This Is How It Always Is
Review
“This is a story of love, of community, of found family, and of forgiveness. A beautiful book with a poignant message, perfect for our time.” Jill Santopolo, New York Times bestselling author of The Light We Lost
Review
“The Authenticity Project is an enjoyable read that is cozy — or as its British characters would have it, cosy — in the best sense of the word.” USA Today
About the Author
Clare Pooley spent twenty years in the heady world of advertising before becoming a full-time mother. Pooley writes from her kitchen table in Fulham, London where she lives with her husband, three children, dog and an African pygmy hedgehog.