Allie Lang, a single mother, lives contract to contract in her work as a celebrity ghostwriter. After her last project was scrapped due to the #metoo proclivities of its subject, she’s excited for her next assignment: a book on motherhood by emerging feminist icon Lana Breban. So begins Impersonation by Heidi Pitlor.
As the weeks pass, Lana refuses to share any personal
memories of raising her son Norton. So Allie
begins drawing from her own experiences with breastfeeding, toddler tantrums,
and thwarting gender stereotypes to pad the narrative. Lana is thrilled with
these stories even as she continues to brush off Allie’s inquiries into her own
mothering style.
While Lana has the luxury of stretching out the
project, Allie struggles to make her rent, pay for a broken filling without
insurance, and find a reliable babysitter she can afford. Even though she signed a confidentiality
agreement, Allie tells her mother about her latest project. Her mother, in
turn, brags to a friend who ends up tweeting out her identity after the book is
published.
Although she feels betrayed by Lana’s response to the brouhaha
that ensues, Allie learns she must fight for the right to tell her own story.
Not anyone else’s.
Fans of Pitlor’s The Daylight Marriage will relish the way similar themes of
parenthood and codependency play out in a much happier ending.
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