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- Expected Mar 2, 2021
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A "stylish and sharp" character-driven suspense novel, "with wicked hairpin turns," about a famous novelist and a small-town striver locked in a struggle for fortune and fame. (Maria Semple, author of Where’d You Go, Bernadette?)

Florence Darrow is a low-level publishing employee who believes that she's destined to be a famous writer. When she stumbles into a job the assistant to the brilliant, enigmatic novelist known as Maud Dixon — whose true identity is a secret — it appears that the universe is finally providing Florence’s big chance.

The arrangement seems perfect. Maud Dixon (whose real name, Florence discovers, is Helen Wilcox) can be prickly, but she is full of pointed wisdom -- not only on how to write, but also on how to live. Florence quickly falls under Helen’s spell and eagerly accompanies her to Morocco, where Helen’s new novel is set. Amidst the colorful streets of Marrakesh and the wind-swept beaches of the coast, Florence’s life at last feels interesting enough to inspire a novel of her own.

But when Florence wakes up in the hospital after a terrible car accident, with no memory of the previous night — and no sign of Helen — she’s tempted to take a shortcut. Instead of hiding in Helen’s shadow, why not upgrade into Helen's life? Not to mention her bestselling pseudonym . . .

Taut, twisty, and viciously entertaining, Who is Maud Dixon is a stylish psychological thriller about how far into the darkness you’re willing to go to claim the life you always wanted.

One of the Most Anticipated Books of 2021
GoodReads * LitHub * CrimeReads * Town & Country * New York Post * Wall Street Journal

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY DEC 21, 2020

When aspiring novelist Florence Darrow, the protagonist of Andrews's devilishly plotted debut, gets fired from her dogsbody job at a Manhattan publishing house, she faces the prospect that she might not be destined for greatness after all. Then fate intervenes an offer to become the live-in writing assistant to a literary supernova who uses the pseudonym Maud Dixon. Initially, all goes swimmingly as Florence's charismatic new boss real name Helen Wilcox, and at 32 only a few years her senior seems keen on mentoring Florence. But when the pair embark on a research trip to Morocco, things become considerably more complicated. Especially after Florence wakes up in the hospital following a car crash to find no trace of Helen, but instead a gendarme insistent that she is in fact Helen, an understandable error given the name on the car rental paperwork as well as Helen's soggy ID. And with that the game truly is afoot as Florence scrambles to figure out the nature of what will prove to be Helen's fiendish master plot, barreling full-speed towards a breathtaking series of Highsmith-style twists and a stunning conclusion. This darkly comic take on contemporary publishing may well leave readers asking, "Who is Alexandra Andrews?" \n

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