Impersonation

By: Heidi Pitlor

Narrated by: Dylan Moore

Length: 11 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's summary

“By turns revealing, hilarious, dishy, and razor-sharp, Impersonation lives in that rarest of sweet spots: the propulsive page-turner for people with high literary standards.”—Rebecca Makkai, author of The Great Believers

Allie Lang is a professional ghostwriter and a perpetually broke single mother to a young boy. Years of navigating her own and America’s cultural definitions of motherhood have left her a lapsed idealist. Lana Breban is a powerhouse lawyer, economist, and advocate for women’s rights with designs on elected office. She also has a son. Lana and her staff have decided she needs help softening her public image and that a memoir about her life as a mother will help.

When Allie lands the job as Lana’s ghostwriter, it seems as if things will finally go Allie’s way. At last, she thinks, there will be enough money not just to pay her bills but to actually buy a house. After years of working as a ghostwriter for other celebrities, Allie believes she knows the drill: she has learned how to inhabit the lives of others and tell their stories better than they can.

But this time, everything becomes more complicated. Allie’s childcare arrangements unravel; she falls behind on her rent; her subject, Lana, is better at critiquing than actually providing material; and Allie’s boyfriend decides to go on a road trip toward self-discovery. But as a writer for hire, Allie has gotten too used to being accommodating. At what point will she speak up for all that she deserves?

A satirical, incisive snapshot of how so many of us now live, Impersonation tells a timely, insightful, and bitingly funny story of ambition, motherhood, and class.

©2020 Heidi Pitlor (P)2022 Algonquin Books

Critic reviews

“Looking for a book that fires up the synapses? Check out Heidi Pitlor’s Impersonation . . . Pitlor’s voice is witty and brisk, bringing warmth and light to questions of identity, independence and, yes, intellectual property. Who owns your stories? How much are they worth? Allie Lang’s answers are complicated. Watching her reach them is like sitting down with a refreshingly honest friend who skips the part about how great her life is and dives right into the real stuff. We need more friends like this. Authors, too.”—The New York Times Book Review

“Both the story and its resourceful heroine are fresh, intelligent, and charming."—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

“In a novel that’s smart, surprising, thought provoking . . . Pitlor offers an astute study of what it means to be a woman today."—Library Journal

Wonderful narration

There is a lot going on in this story- the author explores single motherhood, only childhood, difficult relationships, loss, and the career struggles of a ghost writer. Feminist themes play out against a backdrop of our most recent political climate giving the story a very contemporary feel, from a progressive point of view.
Dylan Moore does an excellent job narrating the story— changing her delivery with each character. I enjoyed listening and rooting for the main character Ally to overcome her challenges and improve her circumstances.

So timely

Listening to this book felt like being part of a fun, gossipy, juicy conversation about how feminism is truly lived vs how feminist policy is created. Great characters - loved the moments where I wanted to hug them AND the moments where I wanted to shake some sense into them!