In Tom Rachman's cunning The Imposters, his fifth book, an aging novelist reevaluates her mediocre career, and ponders those who have played roles in her personal or professional life. As she composes her final work, the intriguing question is whether life follows art--or vice versa. Rachman (The Italian Teacher) returns to the linked short story format of his debut, The Imperfectionists. The novel opens and closes with "The novelist," Dutch 70-something Dora Frenhofer, who now lives in London. In between, seven chapters depict people whose lives intersected with hers. There's her missing brother, Theo, who traveled in India in the 1970s; her estranged daughter, Beck, a comedy writer in California; her last remaining friend, Morgan, whose two children were murdered; and a former lover. But there are also characters who crossed paths with her only briefly, such as a fellow writer at a literary festival and a deliveryman.
The close third-person segments are rich in detail and characterization. Passages from Dora's diary, ranging from December 2019 to September 2021, reflect on these personal connections--and reveal her incipient dementia. The last line of each entry is then repeated as the first line of the next story; what with that and the final chapter's revelations, readers are invited to consider whether Dora is documenting what actually happened or masterminding it for a fictional plot--with an ending of her choice. In this wry, incisive novel, Rachman revisits his trademark themes of creativity, loss, and failure, and comments on pandemic-era existence. --Rebecca Foster, freelance reviewer, proofreader and blogger at Bookish Beck