“Everyone lies about their lives. What would happen if you shared the truth instead?” These are the opening lines in the little green notebook Monica finds in the café she owns, lines that will change her life forever, in Clare Pooley’s debut novel, “The Authenticity Project.”
This green notebook, with the words “The Authenticity Project” scrawled across the front, will travel from the little neighborhood of Fulham in London, around the world to Thailand and back. As it does, it is passed into the hands of six strangers, who use the notebook to reveal their true selves. In the process, they are able to connect with people in real life.
Clare Pooley knows exactly what it’s like to hide behind a life that looks perfect from the outside. For twenty years she worked in advertising and also maintained the outward appearance of the perfectly happy wife and mother, all while obscuring the realities of motherhood and her drinking problem.
Pooley admits that sharing her truth with the public was terrifying, but it changed her life for the better, and soon she began to wonder: what would happen if everyone did the same? Thus, the idea for “The Authenticity Project” was born.
Audio book excerpt, read by Anna Cordell:
