Based on a True Story

 

Based on a True Story by Sarah Vaughan
6/9/26; 416 pages
HarperCollins 

Based on a True Story by Sarah Vaughan is a recommended domestic drama following a series of secrets and lies. 

Children's author, Dame Eleanor Kingman, is holding a seventieth birthday party at her fourth home, an estate near the cliffs off the Cornish coast in Cornwall. She has invited her family and friends to celebrate that and her recent best seller. There is also a film crew there who is making a documentary about her. What she doesn't tell anyone is that she has been receiving emails threatening to expose her secrets and lies. What she doesn't know is who is threatening her over what secret. There are several candidates and secrets. Her daughters arrive with their own secrets and sibling rivalry.

Oldest daughter, Gilly, is unmarried and works for her mother, coordinating everything. What she really wants is the ability to actually take a vacation and time for herself. Rachel is married with two children and is her mother's accountant. Rachel needs to ask her mother for a loan due to her husband's financial irresponsibility. He is being threatened by a loan shark. Both older daughter are underappreciated and underpaid. The youngest daughter Delia is an influencer and the apple of their mother's eye. Delia inspired a character in Eleanor's books, which she now resents, but she always has their mother's support, along with her demanding expectations. The older two daughters, who are often taken to task by the exacting Eleanor, certainly have cause for resentment.

The quality of the writing is very good and descriptive while the plot is complex as each character adds to a mass accumulation of various concerns.  Every single one of the characters readers will encounter in this novel have secrets, flaws, and none of them are especially likeable, but their reactions can be understandable. The narrative unfolds from the different point-of-view of multiple characters so you will get all the various perspectives along with all of their individual problems. 

After slowly introducing the reader to the cast of characters and the various secrets, points of contention, lies, and intrigue, the pace continued to inch along at a glacially slow pace. I kept thinking okay, here we go, time to take off and bring on the action we know is coming based on the opening foreshadowing of a body on the beach, among other things, and... the measure pace continued. The final denouement, when all the accumulated secrets, lies, and intrigue are revealed, is actually satisfying.

Ultimately some of the secrets and lies from characters could have been left out of the plot which would have made the ending more impactful. Also, one of the big secrets ultimately seemed pointless. Additionally, although this isn't Vaughan's responsibility, I have read a whole streak of one book after another with men behaving badly or irresponsibly, especially financially, and I really want to know why their partners aren't paying attention to their finances. Actually, this novel could make for a lively book club discussion.

Based on a True Story would be a good choice for readers who enjoy an even-paced, detailed family drama. Thanks to HarperCollins for providing me with an advance reader's copy via Edelweiss. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.