Book Club April 2020- The Authenticity Project
By: Clare Pooley
Published Year: 2020
Publisher: Pamela Dorman Books
Pages: 368
Summary (Provided by Goodreads): "Everybody lies about their lives. What would happen if you shared the truth?" This is the question that Julian Jessop, an eccentric, seventy-nine-year-old artist, poses within a pale green exercise book that he labels The Authenticity Project, before leaving it behind in Monica's Café. When Monica discovers Julian's abandoned notebook, not only does she add her own story to the book, she is determined to find a way to help Julian feel less lonely.
And so it goes with the others who find the green notebook that will soon contain their deepest selves. It will also knit the group together In Real Life at Monica's Cafe, where they'll discover the thrill and sometime-risk of being completely honest--and, for some, find unexpected love.
With a cast of characters who are by turns quirky and funny, heartbreakingly sad and painfully true-to-life, The Authenticity Project is a novel readers will take to their hearts and read with unabashed pleasure.
What I thought
This month was my book club pick. I read about this book a while ago and immediately knew it would be my choice. It seemed like just the type of book my book club enjoys. In these crazy corona times, we did have a virtual book club.
Monica finds a notebook in her café titled The Authenticity Project. When she opens it up, she reads Julian’s story encouraging the sharing of ones authentic self and then passing the notebook on. This book the finds Hazard and moves onward, touching a bunch of people’s lives and changing them in ways they never saw.
I loved the idea of people’s innermost truths being written into a notebook and then shared with strangers. I am a sucker for fate and serendipity and this book revolves around a lot of that. The characters aren’t necessarily the most likeable of people. They are highly flawed, but for some reason that ended up making me like them. But I could see this turning some people off. There is a lot of character growth though which I always appreciate.
The chapters switch between all of the characters with mostly Monica and Julian being the story tellers. There are different characters added as each new person gets the notebook. Each person is different but they are all struggling with their own inner demons. The changes that happen in their lives just based off of putting their truths out there was touching.
I enjoyed everything about this book. The characters felt so real and I got so invested in their lives. I want to text and check up on them because I feel like they’ve really become a part of my life. This is one of those books that I don’t want to say too much about because I want you to experience it the way I did. Just know that this book is exactly what it says it is. It lived up to my expectations and it is easily one of my favorite books I’ve read this year.
What Book Club Thought
This was a winner! Everyone loved it. A few members had a little bit of a harder time getting into it initially, but in the end everyone really liked it. There was a lot to discuss and we talked a lot about the characters and how we would’ve handled stumbling upon The Authenticity Project. I highly recommend this book as a whole but also as a book club book.