The Greatest Lie of All by Jillian Cantor (Half Life; The Hours Count; The Lost Letter) is a propulsively paced story of intrigue, romance, and suspense starring two women a generation apart navigating family, love, secrets, and art.
Readers meet the young, up-and-coming actress Amelia Grant just after the death of her beloved mother, and in the moment when she discovers her actor boyfriend in bed with his costar. At this low, Amelia is primed to accept her biggest role yet: to play the fabulously successful romance author Gloria Diamond in a biopic. Gloria had been Amelia's mother's favorite; it feels like a sign and a way to be close to the mother she's lost.
Heartbroken but determined, Amelia travels to Gloria's remote Seattle-area home to get to know her subject before filming begins. But "the Gloria Diamond" is distinctly unfriendly, cold, and dismissive. Gloria's career was built on her famous, brief romance with her late husband. But the more Amelia learns, the less convincing that story is. As she pursues the history of the author, Amelia begins to wonder about her own role in the drama unfolding before her.
In chapters that shift between Amelia's perspective and that of the young Gloria, The Greatest Lie of All shines in its plot twists and surprises, and, most of all, its pacing, which accelerates from a slow burn to a heart-thumping momentum. The tension increases, stakes rising as the two women must reckon with their pasts to chart their shared present. Cantor's experienced hand shows in this classically crafted thriller, which will keep its readers tautly engaged to the final scene. --Julia Kastner, blogger at pagesofjulia