A featured conversation between author Zoe Whittall and Martha Bátiz about Zoe’s new novel, The Fake.
Event Details
A featured conversation between author Zoe Whittall and Martha Bátiz about Zoe’s new novel, The Fake.
The Fake by Zoe Whittall Random House Canada
After the death of her wife, Shelby feels more alone than ever—until she meets Cammie, a charismatic woman unafraid of what anyone else thinks and whose own history of trauma draws Shelby close. When Cammie is fired from her job and admits she is in treatment for kidney cancer, Shelby devotes all her time to helping Cammie thrive. But Shelby’s intuition tells her there are things about Cammie’s past that don’t add up. Could the realest thing about Cammie be that she’s actually a scammer?
Gibson is almost forty, fresh from a divorce and deeply depressed. Then he meets and falls in love with Cammie. Suddenly, he’s having the best sex of his life with a woman so attractive he’s stunned she even glanced his way, and for the first time ever he feels truly known. This is the kind of desire and passion that musicians have been writing love songs about for centuries. But Gibson’s friends are wary of Cammie, and eventually he too has to admit that Cammie’s dramatic life can feel a bit over the top.
When Shelby and Gibson find out Cammie is a pathological liar, they struggle to understand what they really want from her—sometimes they want to help her heal from whatever causes her to invent reality, and sometimes they want revenge. But the biggest question of all is: how honest can Shelby and Gibson be about their own characters?
Speakers for this event
Martha Bátiz
Martha Bátiz
Moderator
Mexican-Canadian author of the award-winning novella Boca de lobo/ Damiana’s Reprieve (Exile, 2018), and the short-story collections Plaza Requiem: Stories at the Edge of Ordinary Lives (Exile, 2017) and No Stars in the Sky (House of Anansi, 2022). She has been named one of the 10 Most Successful Mexicans in Canada and the Top 10 Most Influential Hispanic-Canadians.
Moderator
Zoe Whittall
Zoe Whittall
Zoe Whittall’s latest book is the short story collection Wild Failure (Harpercollins, 24). Her fifth bestselling novel The Fake was longlisted for the 2023 Toronto Book Award. The New York Times called her fourth novel The Spectacular “a highly readable testament to the strength of the maternal bond” and The Toronto Star called it “a singularly impressive piece of fiction.” Her third novel The Best Kind of People was published in 2017 by Penguin Random House U.S., was shortlisted for The Scotiabank Giller Prize, named Indigo’s #1 Book of 2016. She won a Lamda literary award for her second novel Holding Still for as Long as Possible, and the Writers Trust Dayne Ogilvie prize for her debut, Bottle Rocket Hearts. She is also a Canadian Screen Award winning TV writer. Her fourth book of poetry, No Credit River, will be out in October 2024. She lives in Prince Edward County, Ontario.