This book is introduced as a "fairy tale" of what might have happened if Princess Diana hadn't died that August night in Paris. It imagines the kind of life Diana might have had if, fed up with the paparazzi, she faked her death and disappeared into an anonymous life in obscurity.

So here we have the story of Lydia, a British woman living in a small midwestern (American) town. She lives a quiet life, volunteering at an animal shelter. She has a small group of friends and even a boyfriend. She mostly dresses in jeans and a tee shirt. She is reticent about her past, and most people who know her assume she has escaped from an abusive ex-spouse or relationship.

When I learned what the book was about I wanted to read it to see whether Ali could make Diana's decision to fake her death plausible and whether her afterlife felt real. While to a certain extent I enjoyed reading about the simple life Ali invented for Diana, I can't say she was successful in making Diana's decision to go this route plausible or credible. We all know (or think we do based on what we read in the media) how much Diana adored her boys and doted on then. The book did not make me believe that Diana would have taken this step after which she would never again see or communicate with her boys, a step in which they would believe she had died and she could never tell them she was still alive. (Or even imagine what the boys would feel if in later life they learned she really wasn't dead, it was just a ruse, she abandoned them.)

And then there is the implausible coincidence of a paparazzi who had stalked Diana for years stopping by this small midwestern town, and recognizing a streak in one of her eyes (she had had plastic surgery on her other features). Again, I couldn't accept it. Nor could I accept how it all ended.

So, not a book to recommend.

2 stars

First line: "Some stories are never meant to be told. Some can only be told as fairy tales."
Last line: "She plunged in and swam in the dark, and she was swimming away and toward and she saw Lawrence in the rowboat, the dream of his bald head, bobbing up and down and she raised an arm and waved at him, and he disappeared but she swam on." ( )

Imagine if Princess Diana had not died in a car crash in Paris, but had instead faked her death, changed her appearance and escaped to small-town America, to live a life free from the glare of publicity and gossip. That is the premise of Monica Ali’s novel untold story and as preposterous as it sounds, it is told in a way which makes it feasible.

Lydia Snaresbrook is a British woman living in a quiet town in America. She has made a small but close circle of friends, she has a job at a local dog rescue centre, and she has even started a relationship with a lovely man. However, she is never quite able to relax for fear that someone will find out her true identity, and she will once again become the focus of publicity. Only one person knew the truth about her death and that was her private secretary Lawrence. But then a face from the past comes to town and spots Lydia – and he thinks there is something very familiar about her indeed…

The story is told in chapters which alternate between Lydia’s point of view, and the point of view of a significant other character (no spoilers though) – both told in the third person. There are also a few chapters which are excerpts from her private secretary’s diary, which give insight into the state of mind which Lydia was in before, during and shortly after her disappearing act.

I really enjoyed the first 80%-ish of this book. Monica Ali writes beautifully and brings all her characters to life. She captures both the freedom and the fear of exposure that Lydia feels – freedom to finally live her life as she chooses, but all the while worrying about threats to that freedom. Bravely she portrays Lydia as a complicated woman, sometimes high-maintenance and difficult to deal with, but also having had to deal with tremendous pressure.

However, I did feel that the story took a strange turn towards the end and I was slightly disappointed in how it turned out. But I was interested throughout and I always enjoy when the same scene is shown from different points of view, which happens here several times.

Overall an enjoyable reading experience, and I would definitely read more by Monica Ali. ( )

Felt a bit cheated by the set up. (I thought the book was an alternate reality where Diana survived the car crash through a conspiracy. It was slightly different.) ( )

I thought this was interesting. It was a novel based on the premise that Princess Diana had lived and what her life would be like. It kind of made me wonder if something like this really could happen if someone famous wanted it to.

This is a unique storyline of what if Princess Diana faked her own death. The author doesn't straight out call her Princess Diana, she drops hints that makes you come to this conclusion. From what I have read over the years, I can't imagine her ever never having contact with her sons to get out of the limelight. I don't really care for the way the book ended and it was okay but not one of my favorite books. ( )