Author: Alexandra Andrews
Published by: Little Brown and Company on Mar. 2, 2021
Genres: Mystery/Thriller
Pages: 336
Format: Hardcover
Source: HBG Canada
Book Rating: 9/10
Florence Darrow is a small-town striver who believes that she’s destined to become a celebrated writer. When she stumbles into the opportunity to become the assistant to “Maud Dixon,” a celebrated-but anonymous-novelist (think: Elena Ferrante), she believes that the universe is finally providing her big chance. The arrangement feels idyllic; Helen can be prickly, but she is full of pointed wisdom on both writing and living. She even invites Florence along on a research trip to Morocco, where her new novel is set. Florence has never been out of the country before; maybe, she imagines, she’ll finally have something exciting to write about herself.
But when Florence wakes up in the hospital after a terrible car crash, and Helen is dead, she begins to imagine what it might be like to ‘upgrade’ into not only Helen’s life, but also that of Helen’s bestselling pseudonym, Maud Dixon…
Review:
Chilling, atmospheric, and ominous!
Who Is Maud Dixon? is a character-driven, psychological thrill ride involving the young, ambitious Florence Darrow, who after landing her dream job as an assistant to a famous writer, has no qualms in seizing an opportunity when it presents itself and dabbling in a little identity and literary theft in her ceaseless pursuit to become a world-class, successful writer.
The prose is intense and tight. The characters, including the devious, impulsive protagonist, are consumed, complex, and vulnerable. And the well-crafted, menacing plot builds nicely to create the perfect amount of tension and suspense as it unravels all the manipulative actions, questionable personalities, duplicitous motivations, and parasitic relationships within it.
Who Is Maud Dixon? is a tragic, unsettling, compelling novel by Andrews that with its beautiful Moroccan setting, self-absorbed, unscrupulous characters, and a plot reminiscent of Highsmith’s “The Talented Mr Ripley” is sure to have thriller fans excited and enthralled.
This book is available now.
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Thank you to HBG Canada for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.