Verity

(Book Review By Priya Varma, St. Vincent College,Pune)
Verity Crawford, Jeremy Crawford, and Lowen Ashleigh are the main characters. Verity and Jeremy are married with three children: Crew, and twins Harper and Chastin.
The story revolves around Lowen, a struggling young author facing financial difficulties. Her life takes a dramatic turn when she’s offered a job as a ghostwriter to finish the book of Verity, a notable author who has fallen into a coma. Verity’s husband, Jeremy, proposes the job, which includes moving into their home temporarily. As Lowen settles into Verity’s study, she discovers an unfinished manuscript that appears to be Verity’s autobiography. However, as she reads on, Lowen uncovers Verity’s dark side and the lies Jeremy has been hiding. The autobiography reveals Verity’s obsession with Jeremy and her descent into madness after becoming pregnant. The narrative takes a disturbing turn as Verity attempts to kill her unborn child and after years she succeeds in killing twins. Lowen is shocked and convinced that Jeremy is unaware of Verity’s true nature. She discovers that Verity is faking her coma and confronts Jeremy, who ultimately kills Verity. The story concludes with Lowen and Jeremy getting married and moving away, but returning to the house seven months later. There, Lowen finds a letter from Verity, revealing that the autobiography was just a fictional story, and she had been planning to escape with her son.
Lowen’s discovery sets off a chain of events that ultimately leads to Verity’s demise. However, in a shocking twist, it is revealed that Jeremy knew the truth about Verity’s dark past all along and had been planning to kill Lowen and stage it as a car accident.
The book’s conclusion raises more questions than answers, leaving readers to ponder the true nature of Verity and Jeremy’s relationship. Was Verity a victim of Jeremy’s manipulation, or was she a master manipulator herself?
“This open-ended book leaves the reader questioning: is Verity a cold-blooded murderer or an innocent victim?”