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The Authenticity Project: The feel-good novel you need right now

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The Authentic Little do they realise that such small acts of honesty hold the power to impact all those who discover the notebook and change their lives completely. This one has a quirky set of characters that somehow come together for new friendship, love, and happiness in London. One of the main characters is Monica. She’s finally gone out on her own to open Monica’s Café, but she’s struggling to keep the doors open and the money flowing. One day a mysterious green notebook is left behind in her café and the journey begins! Everyone lies about their lives. What would happen if you shared the truth instead? The one thing that defines you, makes everything else about you fall into place? Not, on the internet, but with those real people around you? I don't have many books that I couldn't finish, but there have been a few. This one now rests among their number.

And don’t get me started on the Australian character who Pooley uses as a dumb blond ignoramus which, for obvious reasons, made me mad. (Note to everyone who reads this, the only people to call toilets a dunny would be over 60 and everyone in Aus knows who Nigella and Jamie Oliver are. *hmph*) Monica, the cafe’s owner, is a little dubious about unburdening herself in a notebook that will be read by strangers, but she has feelings she can’t express to anyone else. In addition to telling her secrets and leaving the notebook for someone else to find, she sets out to try and make a difference in Julian’s life.The story is told from the POV of the six characters who wrote in the green notebook. They are all looking for change in their lives. Through their actions and encounters, we see the effect facing their truths has on their own lives as well as others'.

So The Authenticity Project, what is it? Well, Julian is an elderly man who has kept to himself for a very long time. He thinks people aren't honest with one another so he decides to write the truth about himself in a green notebook and he leaves it in a local cafe for someone to find. The owner of the cafe, Monica, comes across the notebook and decides to write about some of the things she is most vulnerable about in her life and then she leaves the notebook in a bar so another person can have their chance to spill their guts. And eventually some of the people who have written in the notebook get a chance to meet, and you'll just have to read the book to find out what happens next.Clare’s second novel - The People on Platform 5 (titled Iona Iverson’s Rules for Commuting in the USA/Canada) is published in Spring 2022. Clare Pooley graduated from Newnham College, Cambridge and spent twenty years in the heady world of advertising, before becoming a full-time writer. The notebook contains a story – an authentic story – of one person who admits he’s very lonely – Julian, an artist who used to be quite famous. Julian challenges the person who has found the notebook to add their story. Of course, Monica can’t resist adding her story and she wants to help Julian be less lonely. The notebook journey continues, drawing more people into the circle. Along the way, there is social media, some hurt feelings and sadness, and ultimately contentment for most of the characters.

I feel bad for criticising the believability because at the end, the author says she was a Mummy blogger with a drink problem, in the same part of west London. She’s sober now, and has written and given a TED talk about her experience to help others. Nevertheless, I don’t think the old advice to “write what you know” worked.

Success!

Julian Jessop, an eccentric, lonely artist and septuagenarian believes that most people aren’t really honest with one another. 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 other thing that annoyed me was the reference to Koala bears. When are people going to realise there is no such thing? They are simply koalas. No relation to a bear at all. With the internet these days, it is not that hard to get facts right. I loved how realistic and raw this story is. Each character has their own imperfections and they are each relatable in their own way, no matter the age difference.My favorite parts were reading the personal entries, penned in the notebook, and shared without worry about who might read their words when the book is next found.

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