“A gripping, ripped-from-headlines tale.” —People
“Spellbinding.” —Megan Abbott, The New York Times Book Review
Tracing the fifteen-year fallout of a toxic high school rumor, a riveting, astonishingly original debut novel about the power of stories—and who gets to tell them
2015. A gifted and reclusive ghostwriter, Alice Lovett makes a living helping other people tell their stories. But she is haunted by the one story she can't tell: the story of, as she puts it, "the things that happened while I was asleep."
1999. Nick Brothers and his lacrosse teammates return for their senior year at their wealthy Maryland high school as the reigning state champions. They're on top of the world—until two of his friends drive a passed-out girl home from of the team's "legendary" parties, and a rumor about what happened in the backseat spreads through the town like wildfire.
The boys deny the allegations, and, eventually, the town moves on. But not everyone can. Nick descends into alcoholism, and Alice builds a life in fits and starts, underestimating herself and placing her trust in the wrong people. When she finally gets the opportunity to confront the past she can't remember—but which has nevertheless shaped her life—will she take it?
An inventive and breathtaking exploration of a woman finding her voice in the wake of trauma, True Story is part psychological thriller, part fever dream, and part timely comment on sexual assault, power, and the very nature of truth. Ingeniously constructed and full of twists and turns that will keep you guessing until the final pages, it marks the debut of a singular and daring new voice in fiction.
“A gripping, ripped-from-headlines tale.” —People
“Spellbinding.” —Megan Abbott, The New York Times Book Review
Tracing the fifteen-year fallout of a toxic high school rumor, a riveting, astonishingly original debut novel about the power of stories—and who gets to tell them
2015. A gifted and reclusive ghostwriter, Alice Lovett makes a living helping other people tell their stories. But she is haunted by the one story she can't tell: the story of, as she puts it, "the things that happened while I was asleep."
1999. Nick Brothers and his lacrosse teammates return for their senior year at their wealthy Maryland high school as the reigning state champions. They're on top of the world—until two of his friends drive a passed-out girl home from of the team's "legendary" parties, and a rumor about what happened in the backseat spreads through the town like wildfire.
The boys deny the allegations, and, eventually, the town moves on. But not everyone can. Nick descends into alcoholism, and Alice builds a life in fits and starts, underestimating herself and placing her trust in the wrong people. When she finally gets the opportunity to confront the past she can't remember—but which has nevertheless shaped her life—will she take it?
An inventive and breathtaking exploration of a woman finding her voice in the wake of trauma, True Story is part psychological thriller, part fever dream, and part timely comment on sexual assault, power, and the very nature of truth. Ingeniously constructed and full of twists and turns that will keep you guessing until the final pages, it marks the debut of a singular and daring new voice in fiction.
Kate Reed Petty has been recognized with a Narrative magazine 30 Below Award, as well as grants and scholarships from the Robert Deutsch Foundation, The Mount, Bloedel Reserve, and the Sewanee Writers Conference. Her short fiction has been published in Electric Literature, American Short Fiction, Blackbird, Ambit, Nat. Brut, and Los Angeles Review of Books, and she has a master of letters from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. She lives in Baltimore.
Longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize
“Spellbinding . . . Petty leaps from genre to genre with dizzying
velocity. . . to show the way trauma works on us, how it shapes our
lived experience. . . tantalizing us with the ‘truth’ about
what really happened to Alice. . . even as the term itself feels
increasingly useless, deceptive.” —Megan Abbott, The New York
Times Book Review (Editors' Choice)
“Unfolds like a mystery, flitting between genres to weave an
inventive tale . . . that keeps you hooked until the very
end.” —BuzzFeed
“Extraordinary . . . Fans of the formal inventiveness and
twisty-turny narratives of Trust Exercise and A
Visit From the Goon Squad will be immediately engrossed.”
—Elle, “The Best Books of 2020 (So Far)”
“True Story [was] able to remind me of the pleasure of reading
when I was certain I had lost it forever . . . [It's] that
surprisingly hard-to-find gem, [one of those] books I will stay up
all night for, books that will make me forget where I am, and yet
the sentences are also nice, and the mind behind them very
sharp.” —Nadja Spiegelman, The Paris Review, "Favorite Books
of 2020"
“[W]ith every page, True Story gets . . . more inventive,
with slow and fast twists that challenge conventional notions of
power, sexual assault, and our understanding of
truth.” —Goop
“[Petty writes] with great skill and intelligence . . . I love a
sense of earned bamboozlement.” —Molly Young, Vulture
“An impressive literary crime novel along the lines of Megan Abbott
and Laura Lippman with great pacing and formal experimentation . .
. A dazzling puzzle.” —CrimeReads
“[I] found a lot of comfort in the recognition (and awe!) I felt
while reading True Story.” —Tavi Gevinson, The Huffington
Post
“Part thriller, part social commentary . . . a masterclass in
creative form . . . [True Story] underscores the way trauma
reverberates through decades.” —Good Housekeeping
“Among the best [books] I've read this year. It's an exhilarating
read…and the twist at the end all but requires you to go back to
page one.” —Perrie Samotin, Glamour
“Blurring genres and subverting structure, Petty examines the ways
narratives are woven and take root while trying to untangle the
truth.” —The Millions
“Extend[s] the legacy of Speak.” —Bitch
"A powerful and thought-provoking examination of how the
manipulation of stories can shape whole lives." —The Guardian
“Electrifying . . . [Petty] melds genres, narrators and narrative
style with such ease and confidence, you’d swear she’d been at it
for years . . . Each section is a vignette on its own right—but
together they form a sly commentary on the nature of trauma and the
question of agency when telling a story. Like any good horror romp,
this one has a delicious twist . . . Ultimately, however, the true
terrors come from within—our own demons, our own memories, our own
dissonance between fiction and reality.” —PureWow
“[S]imultaneously scratched all my favorite itches: thrillers,
movie nerddom, and literary fiction, and done so innovatively and
ambitiously but also never stopped being a page
turner.” —Brightest Young Things
“[An] innovative, genre-busting debut . . . Readers will be unable
to put it down.” —Booklist (Starred Review)
“Fast-paced, gripping, and unforgettable.” —Debutiful
“Captivating . . . Petty’s page-turner is as sly and devastating as
the nature of truth.” —Publishers Weekly
“A genre-skipping, shape-shifting drama . . . the year’s most
unheralded gem.” —NJ.com
“I literally cannot believe this book exists. A mind-blowing,
page-turning, un-put-downable, heartwarming, empathetic, formally
inventive horror suspense thriller, with a life-affirming and
timely feminist message? What? This would be an amazing fifteenth
novel for a person to have written and it is Kate Reed Petty's
first one. What an incredible talent!” —Elif Batuman, author
of The Idiot
“Kate Reed Petty is such a gifted writer that she can make even a
college application essay feel utterly heartbreaking. And in True
Story, she has given us a riveting and totally innovative novel
about the power of lies to shape the truth, a book built like an
elaborate jigsaw puzzle whose picture becomes thrillingly clear
only after you’ve locked in the very last piece.” —Nathan Hill,
author of The Nix
“Brilliant—a darkly gripping enigma of a book. Petty boldly plays
with genre and voice to tell the story of an assault and a rumor
that shapes the trajectory of a woman's life. The result is a
beautifully prismatic and profound meditation on victims and
perpetrators, lies and truth, and above all the dangers and powers
of storytelling and what it means to finally claim your
voice.” —Mona Awad, author of Bunny
“True Story is a spectacular first novel—innovative,
convincing, daring, suspenseful, heart-wrenching, and altogether
astonishing. Kate Reed Petty is a force. What a beautifully
unified, richly imagined, and skillfully composed work of literary
art. I hope it wins the prizes Petty deserves.” —Tim O'Brien,
author of The Things They Carried
“True Story is a brilliant achievement—original, powerful, and
playful, flipping formats like a kaleidoscope whose fractals
rearrange with each twist until the truth comes into final focus.
But beyond its formal daring and assurance, it's a thoroughly
engrossing read. I may have held my breath through the whole thing,
and I will think about it for a long time. This is a shapeshifting,
sneak attack of a novel that leaves a permanent imprint.” —Lauren
Acampora, author of The Paper Wasp
“I loved it. Such a smart, powerful, ambitious book, very high
concept and so effectively realised. Definitely one to look out for
this summer.” —Daisy Buchanan, author of How to Be a Grown-Up, via
Twitter
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