A COMPLETE FICTION

A writer’s accusation of plagiarism turns lives upside down and spawns plenty of discourse.

P.J. Larkin is a 35-year-old rideshare driver in Colorado who fears the sun is setting on her life goal: to become a published novelist. P.J.’s agent has been with her through multiple books that have failed to sell, but P.J. has high hopes for her latest, Halls of Power. The novel is “loosely based on the sexual assault of her sister, Mia, by the state senator she’d interned for while in college.” That loosely is debatable and will get P.J. in a whole lot of trouble, especially with her family. When P.J. sees an announcement that a novel called Up the Hill has sold for $1 million, she’s furious, not only because this book has similarities to hers, but also because the author, George Dunn, is an editor at a small press who'd rejected P.J.’s own book more than a year ago. P.J. posts a “nibble” on social media site Crave accusing George of stealing her book, which sets off a cascade of speculation, frozen contracts, protests, renewed interest in P.J.’s book, and, of course, social media backlash. George’s book is based on his own assault by a female senator while working as a page when he was a teenager. His parents did not believe him, and he told no one else, though attacks on his credibility now force him to reconsider his silence; his long-delayed journey to processing his assault is poignant despite his flaws. Author Maizes aims for biting commentary on the state of the publishing industry, #MeToo, power imbalances (particularly between men and women), and who has the right to tell a story. Unfortunately, the prose is too wooden and heavy-handed to adequately address these topics. P.J. is an unlikable and profoundly selfish protagonist, and while these traits in a main character can sometimes make for successful satire, this book can’t handle that challenge.

An unsuccessful attempt at skewering the lives and dramas of writers.