None of This is True: A Gripping Psychological Thriller by Lisa Jewell

None of This is True is a psychological thriller revolving around two women, Alix and Josie, who happen to be birthday twins. They were born on the same day, in the same place, but to different mothers.

Alix is a successful journalist who is married and has two kids. Josie is a seamstress who is also married and has two kids, albeit her two daughters are much older than Alix’s kids. The two don’t know each other until they cross paths in a pub on their forty-fifth birthday and realize they share their birthdays and birthplaces. This creates an interesting connection between the two.

Alix forgets about it until a few weeks later when she bumps into Josie outside her children’s school. This encounter gets them talking. Alix hosts a popular podcast, and the idea hits her that she could start a new podcast series with Josie as the subject. Josie is more than willing and quite excited at the prospect. At this point, little does Alix know that getting to know more about Josie and bringing her closer to her life would lead to significant, long-lasting changes and unsavoury experiences in her life.

Quite unsuspectingly, Alix starts the recording. With each session, she starts getting to know Josie a bit more. She learns about Josie’s past, including her troubled childhood with her mom, her marriage to a man much older than her, her difficult children, and much more. But these are Josie’s version of her life. Initially, Alix believes in whatever Josie says; however strange and inexplicable, she may find some things. But, as the sessions progress, Alix realises there is more to the story than what meets the eye. Slowly it becomes clear to Alix that Josie has some dark secrets.

But now, it’s too late for Alix to just break all commitments and call it quits. She is too deeply involved. Whatever Alix does, she cannot let herself out of Josie’s life. She still thinks of quickly winding up the interviews, bringing a logical end to it, and then forgetting Josie forever. But it’s just too late. Josie has not only found a way into Ali’x’s house and her personal life but has taken control of it. Now, it’s not just about what Alix wants. It’s also about what Josie desires.

Before Alix realizes it, Josie disappears. Josie leaves Alix’s life as quickly and suddenly as she had arrived. But along with her, Josie has taken away something quite precious to Alix. Alix realizes too late that she has made a huge personal loss and in the process, become the subject of her true crime podcast!

None of this is True is quite an intriguing book and a sure page-turner. The characters are well-researched, and the author has cleverly worked on each of them, developing them fully. The story is narrated in two ways. Alix’s part is narrated in the third person, while Josie narrates her part. Based on the book’s title, the reader is bound to expect everything narrated by Josie to be false until the unexpected twist in the end, which leaves the reader dumbfounded. I found the book intriguing and the story scintillating, with each chapter leaving you on tenterhooks.