Tatiana de Rosnay's The Other Story takes readers into a microcosm of dark family secrets and the quest for an individual's identity, with a look at how modern technology can isolate a person rather than creating stronger connections.
Nicholas Duhamel--internationally bestselling author, media sensation and 29-year-old heartthrob--takes a luxury vacation at a Tuscan resort, where he plans to spend time with his gorgeous girlfriend and work on his eagerly awaited second novel. Said girlfriend, however, has grown increasingly sullen and jealous--and the novel doesn't even exist, despite his assurances to his editor that it's well underway. Though his blockbuster debut came to him in a flash, Nicholas has no inspiration for another story. Instead of writing, he revels in his celebrity, obsesses over his social media presence and sexts a provocative fan in Berlin.
As he rests on his laurels, Nicholas slowly comes to the realization that his most important relationships are crumbling due to his self-absorption. His current girlfriend is merely a rebound from his lover Delphine, who left him because of his growing vanity. An unknown photographer begins posting photos of Nicholas to his Facebook page, leaving him feeling violated and exposed. As his life begins to spin out of control and the weight of his lies grows, Nicholas thinks back to the journey that inspired his life-altering book, a trip to Russia to search for the truth about his father, whom he lost under mysterious circumstances when he was a boy.
De Rosnay (The House I Loved; Sarah's Key) never shrinks from allowing Nicholas to make mistakes with his loved ones, get caught up in his own hype or choose the darker end of a morally gray area. At times, his vanity and poor decisions may make readers wince. However, de Rosnay also skillfully plays up the effect of growing up without his father, underscoring that Nicholas is a young man making a young man's mistakes, engaged in the quarter-life crisis many of us face in early adulthood--intensified in his case by unexpected fame and success. The tension of Nicholas's unsustainable half-truths and the gradual parceling out of his father's secrets will keep readers in de Rosnay's thrall, hoping redemption will come. Readers in real life should anticipate de Rosnay's latest with all the fervor Nicholas's fans show in awaiting his. --Jaclyn Fulwood
Shelf Talker: De Rosnay's knack for exploring the effects of secrets adds complexity to the story of a young, first-time novelist's sudden rise to fame and fortune.