Pretty Is by Maggie Mitchell

Pretty Is by Maggie Mitchell



This haunting debut novel by American Maggie Mitchell comes with a cover emblazoned with “Perfect for fans of The Girl on the Train”, which might sell a few copies but does great disservice to a book that is a highly original piece of work in its own right.

The story centres on two women who, when they were 12, were abducted by a mysterious man and held captive until they were found and ‘saved’ a few weeks later. Now, as grown women, Chloe (who has changed her name from Carly-May) is a fading actress who drinks too much; Lois is a professor of literature with a student who seems in some way concerned with her past.

They no longer know each other but are both still troubled by what happened all those years ago. Lois has written a book based on the kidnap (under a pen name - there’s a lot of hiding of identities going on) and, when it’s adapted for a film, the screenplay finds its way to Chloe, who realises it is based on her own background.

This novel is dense and unsettling, with a structure more akin to a literary novel than a straightforward crime story (the author is a university English teacher). There are alternating viewpoints, between Chloe and Lois, and a section which is a lengthy extract from Lois’s novel, and the result is multilayered and memorable.