'Based on a True Story': A creepy, twisty page-turner
Every week, The Thread checks in with booksellers around the country about their favorite books of the moment. This week, we spoke with Morgan Miller, a bookseller at Antigone Books in Tucson, Ariz.
"Based on a True Story," by Delphine de Vigan, is the best book Morgan Miller read in 2017 — and in 2018, so far.
Readers looking for a twisty page-turner should seek this out, stat.
The novel revolves around a writer in France, who has just published a very successful, very autobiographical novel.
Create a More Connected Minnesota
MPR News is your trusted resource for the news you need. With your support, MPR News brings accessible, courageous journalism and authentic conversation to everyone - free of paywalls and barriers. Your gift makes a difference.
"It has catapulted her popularity in France, so she's trying to figure out how to deal with fame and people constantly relating to her, and being vulnerable to the public," Miller explained.
Then, she meets a woman named "L." Just the letter, "L."
"They seem to form this great bond, and get closer and closer — and then the relationship starts to take this strange sinister turn," Miller said. "She even says in the first chapter that the relationship becomes violent, so the whole time you're reading this book, you're wondering how and when and why does this relationship start to go off the rails."
De Vigan mixes lofty literary allusions in with good old-fashioned page-turner techniques, Miller said, making "Based on a True Story" a fascinating and fast read.
"She's clearly working in the tradition of someone like Gillian Flynn or Stephen King," Miller said. "It's both very literary, and also just a really good, creepy, twisty thriller."