Longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize
“Spellbinding . . . Petty leaps from genre to genre with dizzying velocity. . . to show the way trauma works on us, how it shapes our lived experience. . . tantalizing us with the ‘truth’ about what really happened to Alice. . . even as the term itself feels increasingly useless, deceptive.” —Megan Abbott, The New York Times Book Review (Editors’ Choice)
“Unfolds like a mystery, flitting between genres to weave an inventive tale . . . that keeps you hooked until the very end.” —BuzzFeed
“Extraordinary . . . Fans of the formal inventiveness and twisty-turny narratives of Trust Exercise and A Visit From the Goon Squad will be immediately engrossed.” —Elle, “The Best Books of 2020 (So Far)”
“True Story [was] able to remind me of the pleasure of reading when I was certain I had lost it forever . . . [It’s] that surprisingly hard-to-find gem, [one of those] books I will stay up all night for, books that will make me forget where I am, and yet the sentences are also nice, and the mind behind them very sharp.” —Nadja Spiegelman, The Paris Review, “Favorite Books of 2020″
“[W]ith every page, True Story gets . . . more inventive, with slow and fast twists that challenge conventional notions of power, sexual assault, and our understanding of truth.” —Goop
“[Petty writes] with great skill and intelligence . . . I love a sense of earned bamboozlement.” —Molly Young, Vulture
“An impressive literary crime novel along the lines of Megan Abbott and Laura Lippman with great pacing and formal experimentation . . . A dazzling puzzle.” —CrimeReads
“[I] found a lot of comfort in the recognition (and awe!) I felt while reading True Story.” —Tavi Gevinson, The Huffington Post
“Part thriller, part social commentary . . . a masterclass in creative form . . . [True Story] underscores the way trauma reverberates through decades.” —Good Housekeeping
“Among the best [books] I’ve read this year. It’s an exhilarating read…and the twist at the end all but requires you to go back to page one.” —Perrie Samotin, Glamour
“Blurring genres and subverting structure, Petty examines the ways narratives are woven and take root while trying to untangle the truth.” —The Millions
“Extend[s] the legacy of Speak.” —Bitch
“A powerful and thought-provoking examination of how the manipulation of stories can shape whole lives.” —The Guardian
“Electrifying . . . [Petty] melds genres, narrators and narrative style with such ease and confidence, you’d swear she’d been at it for years . . . Each section is a vignette on its own right—but together they form a sly commentary on the nature of trauma and the question of agency when telling a story. Like any good horror romp, this one has a delicious twist . . . Ultimately, however, the true terrors come from within—our own demons, our own memories, our own dissonance between fiction and reality.” —PureWow
“[S]imultaneously scratched all my favorite itches: thrillers, movie nerddom, and literary fiction, and done so innovatively and ambitiously but also never stopped being a page turner.” —Brightest Young Things
“[An] innovative, genre-busting debut . . . Readers will be unable to put it down.” —Booklist (Starred Review)
“Fast-paced, gripping, and unforgettable.” —Debutiful
“Captivating . . . Petty’s page-turner is as sly and devastating as the nature of truth.” —Publishers Weekly
“A genre-skipping, shape-shifting drama . . . the year’s most unheralded gem.” —NJ.com
“I literally cannot believe this book exists. A mind-blowing, page-turning, un-put-downable, heartwarming, empathetic, formally inventive horror suspense thriller, with a life-affirming and timely feminist message? What? This would be an amazing fifteenth novel for a person to have written and it is Kate Reed Petty’s first one. What an incredible talent!” —Elif Batuman, author of The Idiot
“Kate Reed Petty is such a gifted writer that she can make even a college application essay feel utterly heartbreaking. And in True Story, she has given us a riveting and totally innovative novel about the power of lies to shape the truth, a book built like an elaborate jigsaw puzzle whose picture becomes thrillingly clear only after you’ve locked in the very last piece.” —Nathan Hill, author of The Nix
“Brilliant—a darkly gripping enigma of a book. Petty boldly plays with genre and voice to tell the story of an assault and a rumor that shapes the trajectory of a woman’s life. The result is a beautifully prismatic and profound meditation on victims and perpetrators, lies and truth, and above all the dangers and powers of storytelling and what it means to finally claim your voice.” —Mona Awad, author of Bunny
“True Story is a spectacular first novel—innovative, convincing, daring, suspenseful, heart-wrenching, and altogether astonishing. Kate Reed Petty is a force. What a beautifully unified, richly imagined, and skillfully composed work of literary art. I hope it wins the prizes Petty deserves.” —Tim O’Brien, author of The Things They Carried
“True Story is a brilliant achievement—original, powerful, and playful, flipping formats like a kaleidoscope whose fractals rearrange with each twist until the truth comes into final focus. But beyond its formal daring and assurance, it’s a thoroughly engrossing read. I may have held my breath through the whole thing, and I will think about it for a long time. This is a shapeshifting, sneak attack of a novel that leaves a permanent imprint.” —Lauren Acampora, author of The Paper Wasp
“I loved it. Such a smart, powerful, ambitious book, very high concept and so effectively realised. Definitely one to look out for this summer.” —Daisy Buchanan, author of How to Be a Grown-Up, via Twitter
QUICK VIEW
