The Fake by Zoe Whittall

After the death of her wife, Shelby is suffering from prolonged grief. She's increasingly isolated, irritated by her family's stoicism and her friends' reliance on the toxic positivity of self-help culture. Then, in a grief support group, she meets Cammie, who gives Shelby permission to express her most hopeless, hideous feelings. Cammie is charismatic and unlike anyone Shelby has ever met. She's also recovering from cancer and going through several other calamities. Shelby puts all her energy into helping Cammie thrive until her intuition tells her that something isn't right.

Gibson is fresh from divorce, almost forty, and deeply depressed. Then he falls in love with Cammie. Not only is he having the best sex of his life with a woman so attractive he's stunned she even glanced his way, he feels truly known for the first time in his life. But Gibson's friends are wary of Cammie, and eventually he, too, has to admit that all the drama in Cammie's life can feel a bit over the top.

When Gibson and Shelby meet, they realize Cammie's stories don't always add up. In fact, they're far from the truth. But what kind of a person would lie about having cancer? And what does it say about Shelby and Gibson that they fell for it? From the author ofThe Best Kind of PeopleandThe Spectacularcomes a sharp, emotional novel about lies, liars and the people who love them. (From HarperCollins)

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• What if someone lied to you about having cancer? That's the premise of Zoe Whittall's latest novelThe Fake

Zoe Whittall is a Canadian novelist and screenwriter. Her books includeBottle Rocket Hearts,Holding Still for as Long as Possible,a Lambda Literary Award winner, andThe Best Kind of People,which was a finalist for the 2016 ScotiabankGiller Prize. She's also a writer for the hit CBC comedy seriesBaroness Von Sketch Showand was a story editor on the sitcomSchitt's Creek.The Best Kind of Peopleis being adapted for film by Sarah Polley. Whittall lives in Toronto.

Interviews with Zoe Whittall

Q13:40Zoe Whittall on her new novel The Fake

Author Zoe Whittall on the charm of pathological liars, and her own experience of dating somebody who faked having cancer.

Other books by Zoe Whittall