She'd bet the day's takings, not something to do lightly given her economic circumstances, on that being the one. After 15 years on his own mourning the loss of his beloved wife, he begins the project with the aim that whoever finds the little volume when he leaves it in a cafe will share their true self with their own entry and then pass the volume on to a stranger. The book also suffers from the same problem as a lot of others on the market at the moment -- it’s about 100 pages too long. The only real criticism I have is I thought the second half wasn't quite as good as the first half of the book. And what did she actually know about them, with the exception of whether they liked milk in their coffee or sugar with their tea?

Her plan is to weasel him out of his cave by advertising for an artist to teach drawing at her café.JB bases his entire artistic career on painting portraits of his friends, while Malcolm takes care of them by designing their apartments and houses. The Authenticity Project reads like a gorgeous box of chocolates: sweet, surprising and impossible not to love.

With that ripple effect, I loved how this novel interwove and connected each character and their story to each other. Clare's dark but hilarious memoir, The Sober Diaries , has helped thousands of people around the world to quit drinking. This is not the first book I have read by this author,I loved the last one and I loved this one more, such a clever story with so much heart and also a powerful message,I cried at the end because it was so warm and thoughtful,sometimes you read a book that stays with you and this one definitely will. Beautifully written, thought provoking and uplifting, The Authenticity Project is a warm and endearing tale about truth, friendship and the power of connection. Each character has their own imperfections and they are each relatable in their own way, no matter the age difference.

The Authenticity Project cracks the facades that people present to the world and shows what happens when you're willing to share your true self. But nearing his 80th birthday and still mourning the loss of his wife, he barely talks to or sees anyone for days at a time. Monica thought of Mary, exhausted after a long shift delivering other women's babies, wondering where her husband had gone. Still, this definitely was a unique story with characters you couldn’t help but root for – and then, some twists and turns along the way. Monica stood for a while, enveloped in the silence of the cemetery, imagining a group of beautiful young people, with Beatles haircuts, miniskirts, and bell-bottom trousers, arguing and joking with one another, and suddenly felt rather alone.

The Authenticity Project, Clare's debut novel, was a BBC Radio 2 bookclub pick, a New York Times bestseller, the winner of the RNA debut novel award and a Babelio award.

And one person’s disapproval of a character who is accidentally outed is quickly is overcome by a scene that could be from Mickey Mouse! She’s looked him up online and discovered he’s a once famous artist, and a minor celebrity in his day. This was a personal story, for author Claire Pooley, so she had a few of the characters in the book, (Alice, Hazard, and Julian-see the acknowledgements page) face the challenges that she faced, and come out ahead! Through these very different characters we get to know them all better as well as this group of people all starting to become friends. Grateful for once for the slow-moving traffic, Monica tried to work out which of the houses was Julian's.