Tuesday, December 11, 2007

A Version of the Truth-Jennifer Kaufman and Karen Mack

A Version of the Truth
Jennifer Kaufman and Karen Mack
Delacorte, Dec 26 2007, $24.00
ISBN: 9780385340199

The world is over for thirty years old Cassie Shaw as her husband dies. His no longer living is not the high school drop out’s problem as he was an idiot. Instead he left her with a debt that she cannot pay off and probably never could pay off as she has no skills, no education, no résumé, and her only positive is dyslexia.

Needing work, she lies on a job application to obtain a position as a junior office assistant at a nearby university. Her boss is Professor William Conner, an expert on animal behavior, a topic that Cassie is conformable with. He encourages her to learn and she is motivated to do so as she always loved nature. However, as Cassie and William begin to act on their mutual attraction especially on site visits in Topanga Canyon, her mendacity to cover up her previous fibs grows until she knows he will soon see through her web of deceit.

This sequel to LITERACY AND LONGING IN L.A. provides a nod to politicians as it is the cover-up that gets you and pays strong homage to Thoreau with the musing on nature. The story line is fun to follow as Cassie just gets in deeper with each new lie hiding the previous ones. Trying to keep track of what she said needs a database. Fans will enjoy following Cassie’s truism as she provides loosely speaking A VERSION OF THE TRUTH embellished with fabrication; obviously training for applying for a coaching job or head of a federal regulatory agency.

Harriet Klausner

No comments: