“A story about a solitary green notebook that brings together six strangers and leads to unexpected friendship, and even love–think Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine meets Love, Actually.

“Everybody lies about their lives. What would happen if you shared the truth?” This is the question that Julian Jessop, an eccentric, seventy-nine-year-old artist, poses within a pale green exercise book that he labels The Authenticity Project, before leaving it behind in Monica’s Café. When Monica discovers Julian’s abandoned notebook, not only does she add her own story to the book, she is determined to find a way to help Julian feel less lonely.

And so it goes with the others who find the green notebook that will soon contain their deepest selves. It will also knit the group together In Real Life at Monica’s Cafe, where they’ll discover the thrill and sometime-risk of being completely honest–and, for some, find unexpected love.

With a cast of characters who are by turns quirky and funny, heartbreakingly sad and painfully true-to-life, The Authenticity Project is a novel readers will take to their hearts and read with unabashed pleasure.

Out February 2020

368 Pages

MY THOUGHTS:

I received this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

A feel good cozy read by the fireplace on a wintery, stormy day. What an easy quick read. This book came at a good and bad time for me. Covid19 was out, I had to help my mom when she lost her husband, and the world had turned itself upside down.

So this review took a back seat for some time. In the meantime, when I couldn’t sleep, this book was a welcomed friend. Each character was unique and realistic. Each time the book exchanged hands, I was there experiencing the discovery with them and when they each put an entry into the book, I wished I had a pen too. What a great idea to bring a diverse group of strangers together to form friendships. I may begin my own authenticity project.

I recommend this book to anyone wanting to defrazzle, unwind, smile and feel good after a rotten day.

I gave it: