Verity by Colleen Hoover
The story starts with struggling writer, Lowen, who was hired to complete the remaining books of successful writer, Verity, who cannot communicate and is confined to her bed due to an “accident”. She is invited to stay with Verity and her husband, Jeremy, at their creepy mansion, so she can get into the headspace of the famous writer.
She stumbles upon a hidden memoir written by Verity about her life as a wife and mother. She details a life of vile child abuse and pain inflicted on her children. During her pregnancy, she drank alcohol, popped pills and used a hanger to try to abort her twin babies. After they were born, she would turn off the baby monitor and ignore them so she could sleep and write. The twins ultimately die one by one from a “peanut allergy” accident and then from a suspicious boating “accident”.
Then, strange things are happening in the house and Lowen sees Verity moving around, which is impossible since she’s immobile, or is she?
Lowen then finds a letter written by Verity to Jeremy where she defends the villainous mother depicted in her memoir as simply an evil character she invented to enhance her writing and not her actual behavior.
So, you, the reader can decide…did Verity try to kill her children or was she simply a dedicated author trying to hone her craft? Is Jeremy as innocent as he seems?
Wild, vivid imaginations can consume us and we never really know when they blur with reality.
Reviewed by Julie Potter
Butman-Fish Library
