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People Like Her

Ellery Lloyd (Goodreads Author)

3.37 · Rating details · 4,060 ratings · 826 reviews

A razor-sharp, wickedly smart suspense debut about an ambitious influencer mom whose soaring success threatens her marriage, her morals, and her family’s safety.

Followed by Millions, Watched by One

To her adoring fans, Emmy Jackson, aka @the_mamabare, is the honest “Instamum” who always tells it like it is.

To her skeptical husband, a washed-up novelist who knows just how c ...more

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Hardcover, 288 pages

Published January 12th 2021 by Harper

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Rating details

· 4,060 ratings · 826 reviews

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Nov 19, 2020 Kat rated it it was ok

***ARC provided through NetGalley***

Eh, this was okay. It definitely made me feel kind of queasy at times. There are some uncomfortable truths about how being someone online (influencer or not) can affect a person. On the other hand, it was nearly impossible to root for the characters (I literally only cared if Emmy and Dan made it to the end for the sake of their kids), the writing was sloppy and repetitive, and the overall climax required too much suspension of disbelief for me.

I can definitel ...more

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Nov 28, 2020 Ceecee rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Emmeline Jackson is ‘mamabare’ an Instamum and a huge ‘brand’ with many followers. She is married to Dan, a writer and they have a daughter Coco who is four and a baby boy named Bear who are used in the brand. Their story is told in alternating points of view, interspersed with an as yet unknown person on a revengeful course of destruction.

The story hooks you in immediately, you know something awful is happening and it then backtracks and unfolds well. The alternating perspectives is absolutely ...more

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Dec 15, 2020 Denise rated it really liked it

This was my December BOTM and just so happens to be the second book in a row I've read where the protagonist is a rabid social media influencer, who lives a pretend life with the singular goal of more followers, clicks, and likes. And while it makes for a great storyline, it's also horrifying and despicable.

"Followed by Millions, Watched by One" is the catchy back cover blurb. Emmy Jackson (mamabare), is the "honest" British mum of two young children, who always tells it like it is on Instagram This was my December BOTM and just so happens to be the second book in a row I've read where the protagonist is a rabid social media influencer, who lives a pretend life with the singular goal of more followers, clicks, and likes. And while it makes for a great storyline, it's also horrifying and despicable.

"Followed by Millions, Watched by One" is the catchy back cover blurb. Emmy Jackson (mamabare), is the "honest" British mum of two young children, who always tells it like it is on Instagram. Her husband, Dan (papabare), is a washed-up novelist, who knows just how "creative" Emmy is with her truth; but as she is the breadwinner thanks to all of her endorsement deals and appearances, he goes along with the game, but he is also growing increasingly bitter with his wife and their fake life. If that isn't enough, to one of Emmy’s obsessive followers though, she’s the woman that has everything, but deserves none of it, and this person is determined to make her pay dearly.

In this debut revenge thriller, Lloyd does a chillingly brilliant job at monetizing the intimate details of the Jackson family life, and Emmy's obsession with her social media platform. The story is told by three narrators: Emily, Dan, and the mystery follower, who definitely helps to moves the plot along. You know from their chapters that this person feels deeply hurt by Emmy, but you don’t know exactly who it is or what their motive really is. Through the three narrators, Lloyd probes the dark side of the influencer culture and the perils of living your life wide open to everyone online and how easily it then becomes to lose control of who we let in to our "inner circle." I can't say that I really connected with any of the characters - Emmy and Dan are both self-centered narcissists (I would never follow either one of them on Instagram lol), and they never seem to learn their lesson; however, they are both memorable and make for good protagonists you love to hate.

I did think that the reason behind the obsessive follower was a bit extreme and not overly plausible (although there are a lot of crazies out there), but the eerie cliffhangers kept me reading, and the last few pages had one of those "wtf" moments that I didn't expect.

Overall, an addictive, quick read that comes with a warning label about technology, social media influencers, and the way we live our real and virtual lives. I look forward to what Ellery Lloyd will come up with next. 4 stars!
...more

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Dec 31, 2020 Frank Phillips rated it it was amazing

First of all, let me put it out there that I think social media is incredibly silly, and influencers are not professionals in any way, except maybe in the art of illusion, so I believe any advice an influencer gives should be taken with a grain of salt. With that being said, I was apprehensive to pick up another book about an Instastar (Instagram Star), but I'd heard and seen so many great things and it was also a December BOTM selection, so I decided to give it a shot, which I am so glad I did! First of all, let me put it out there that I think social media is incredibly silly, and influencers are not professionals in any way, except maybe in the art of illusion, so I believe any advice an influencer gives should be taken with a grain of salt. With that being said, I was apprehensive to pick up another book about an Instastar (Instagram Star), but I'd heard and seen so many great things and it was also a December BOTM selection, so I decided to give it a shot, which I am so glad I did!! What a sinister, wickedly well-crafted tale this was about the potential harm influencers can cause with idle words and just how dangerous it can be to have complete strangers like, and even worse, follow your every move. This was most likely my favorite thriller of 2020, and I absolutely recommend anyone looking for dark, edge-of-your-seat entertainment, go out and get this ASAP! I was literally enthralled and stayed up until the wee hours of the morning New Year's day reading this to completion. That's saying A LOT, because I love my beauty rest!!
The perspectives provided came from our protagonist Emmy Jackson, aka @the_mamabare, a #1 Instamum influencer with millions of followers. At the beginning of this novel, the perspectives alternate between her and her struggling novelist husband Dan, illustrating how envy can creep up in a marriage when one spouse, especially the wife, succeeds and the other spouse flails (or fails, you decide). After a few chapters of thinking this would be about what was once a happy marriage, and has now become a toxic and negative one, we are introduced to a third and unidentified perspective. This is when things picked up, and all hell broke loose and I became enthralled. This perspective is definitely not a fan of Emmy's and is actually an obsessed stalker, with vengeance planned, but we aren't told why or how until the last quarter of the book, and at that point I was in for the long haul! This was the most intense read I read in 2020, because there was just no telling how events would transpire, which had me hooked! I love it when I know that the good guy might very well perish unexpectedly, it adds an element of surprise that I crave! That's one can probably imagine, I went through a wide range of emotions while reading this, which is always a sign of great storytelling, IMO, and I was blown away with the final reveal and how events unraveled. I especially enjoyed the slight hint of perhaps a follow-up story at the end, fingers crossed!! Bravo Ellery Lloyd, you have gained a steadfast fan, and I simply can't wait to read more of your work!! ...more

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Dec 15, 2020 Amanda rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

WOW I was completely hooked from the first to the final page and nothing could drag me away from this book!!

I’m not a fan of Instagram and have never paid influencers much notice, but this book opened my eyes to the horrors of social media.

Emmeline Jackson an instamum has many followers, she is married to Dan and has 2 children, Coco who is 4 and baby Bear. Dan is not keen on his children’s pictures being online but knows his wife’s career is important to her. But someone is out there in the bac ...more

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Dec 13, 2020 Jennifer rated it did not like it

Another waste of a BotM pick.

This sounded good, but isn't. First of all, I don't know who added to this, but they need a new job. I actually, for the first time in my life, felt the need to highlight all of the errors in the first 50 pages before I gave up on this book. Here are some examples:

1. In the first Dan chapter, he says, "I am not calling my wife a liar." Then he goes on in the next paragraph to explain how she goes about lying to her fans. He says there's a difference between bullshit Another waste of a BotM pick.

This sounded good, but isn't. First of all, I don't know who added to this, but they need a new job. I actually, for the first time in my life, felt the need to highlight all of the errors in the first 50 pages before I gave up on this book. Here are some examples:

1. In the first Dan chapter, he says, "I am not calling my wife a liar." Then he goes on in the next paragraph to explain how she goes about lying to her fans. He says there's a difference between bullshitting and ly ing, and gives examples of both, which are both lying. There is no difference. She is flat out lying to everyone the way he puts it. In pages that follow, at least the ones I read, she continuously lies to everybody.

2. The first time you find yourself reading from the stalker's point of view, there is no header, and they start talking in the middle of a Dan chapter. Legit, the header says Dan, so you expect it to be Dan's POV, and it all of a sudden starts this small section in all italics for absolutely no reason, and with no explanation of what just happened. Sure, I'm smart, I can figure it out eventually, but why is this in a Dan section? I don't care what you have to title it, but you title it something and don't put it in someone else's POV section.

3. This one made me very confused: "an evening so hot that most people were standing outside on the pavement."
......... Wait it's so hot outside that these people are all standing outside in the heat, on the pavement, which is no doubt putting off probably the most heat compared to, I don't know standing inside where the air conditioning was? Or in the shade on the grass? Wtf is this?!

There's more, buy I want to get to the more important issue at hand: neither, I repeat neither, MC is likable. The authors spend SO MUCH TIME telling us why Dan and Emmy are terrible people. She flat out lies to her child. During an interview he stands aside and reads his own book and chuckles randomly. Even in the story of when they first met, she lies about being single and he finds out she's been dating someone else for three years and she just kind of goes oh, oh well, I just hadn't gotten around to telling him we broke up yet. How is that not a huge red flag for Dan?

Lastly, and then I'll be done with my rant on this horrible book, the prologue is unnecessary and pointless because we can just figure out on our own that there is a stalker coming. And speaking of the stalker, at least the parts I read, her parts are unnecessary as well. The book can go through from Emmy and Dan's point of view and still have readers understand there's a stalker without their point of view.

This is a terrible book, and I'm starting to really question the choices book of the month makes. If I strike out a third time like this with an awful book I've had to spend money on, I'm going to stop subscribing. That's how bad this book was: I want to quit the place that gave it to me. ...more

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Oct 20, 2020 Resh (The Book Satchel) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2021-releases

LOVED it!! I have already found what will definitely be a favourite book of 2021. Writing about social media and making it a convincing piece of work is surely difficult and Ellery Lloyd duo have certainly pulled it off. Also what a clever play of words on the title! People Like Her.

What to expect?
Emmy is an Insta-mom. She is famous, has a million followers, and a group of Insta-pod friends—fellow influencer mommies. Her husband Dan is a writer and not v keen on the children’s pics being on soc ...more

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Dec 15, 2020 Maximilian Birner rated it really liked it

Shelves: botm-pick, four-star-books-2020

Surprisingly one of the more creepy thrillers I have read this year, People Like Her really leans into the paranoias of being a parent. It also has some really interesting conversations involving the ethicality of being an "Instamum" and the cons to constantly documenting your children online.

I first found this book really hard to get into, mostly because of the constant use of the hashtags and these very cringey influencer terms like "blogger mommy". But in that way, I definitely think it was ...more

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Nov 14, 2020 Nenia ✨️ Socially Awkward Trash Panda ✨️ Campbell marked it as to-read

Influencers Wrecking Their Own Lives with Crazy Influencer Shenanigans appears to be the new hit subgenre in popular fiction and I am here for it.

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Jan 04, 2021 Mark rated it it was amazing

I was beginning to think I wasn’t going to be able to settle to a book after Christmas as this was my 4th I had tried ( the other 3 just weren’t interesting or captivating enough tbh )
But it was worth the few frustrating days as my first full read of 2021 was this, and it’s brill
Emmy is an Instagrammer, an ‘InstaMum’ the most popular one in the UK with over a million followers and she is ‘oh so perfect’ but, of course, she isen’t, everything is choreographed and rehearsed and while her loyal fan ...more

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Dec 25, 2020 Mandy White (mandylovestoread) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: publisher-arcs, z-read-in-2020

"Followed by millions, stalked by one" really does sum this book up so well. I had heard such great things about this book and I couldn't wait to dive in. The hype is real people, this is one book that you do not want to miss. It is a clever story, told from multiple points of view that ramped up the suspense.

Emmy Jackson is an "Instamum" with over a million followers. She is married to Dan, a writer , and they have 2 small children. She has built up a following with her "real" struggles as a mo ...more

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Dec 28, 2020 MeMe rated it liked it

This was a completely different read for me. It was enjoyable and an easy read. Although in my opinion, it did not own up to the thriller hype. Basically, it’s just about a typical mom who's a social media influencer whose husband writes books and has two kids. The daily life of parents, the milky shirts messy house, etc. overall I enjoyed being taken into a social influencer life and how there humans too. ...more

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Dec 07, 2020 Mandie rated it liked it

I’m annoyed.

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Jun 21, 2020 Shalini rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Whoa!! A thrilling debut which kept enraptured from the beginning. Social media and its dangers were completely explored in this book.

Emmy was a successful influencer with her own brand. Her husband Dan did not like the children's pics on social media, but couldn't do much in the force of Emmy's personality. Entered the darkness which soon followed Emmy and laid down its claws on to her. Destruction was the forgone conclusion.

Having read many books in this genre, it was wonderful how the autho ...more

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Dec 21, 2020 Indieflower rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I got immediately hooked on this addictive revenge thriller about the dangers of sharing every aspect of one's life on social media. Emmy is an Insta-mum influencer and shares everything on Instagram, from her photogenic husband and kids to her "struggles" with motherhood, she portrays her life as messy so as to be relatable to her thousands of followers but in reality is completely in control, ultra organised and totally manipulative. I really enjoyed this story, it kept me on my toes, and thou ...more

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Oct 04, 2020 Vanessa Menezes rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: netgalley

Amazing debut!

I found the premise interesting and unique. And once I started reading it I was hooked.

The plot is well written and it is so current. The main character Emmy, who is an influencer, and her husband, Dan, a novelist are both unlikable in a good way. It aptly covers the benefits and dangers of social media.

It actually got me thinking about the lifestyle of the various social influencers that exist. What seems like a simple job actually requires quite a lot of planning and detailing. A ...more

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Aug 16, 2020 Samantha Downing rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Social media has never been so dark or so compelling! A disturbing peek into the world of influencers and how it affects their families, this novel had me hooked right up to the jaw-dropping end.

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Jul 10, 2020 Liz Barnsley rated it really liked it · review of another edition

An excellently addictive commercial thriller that explores the dangers of internet fame and being an influencer in the social media world.

Stalkers and adorers you are never quite sure and in this well written and beautifully plotted story our main protagonists live life in the Instagram spotlight. There's some clever insights and this is very often ironically humerous - overall a really great read and I hope it does well upon it's release next year when I will write a fuller review.

One to watch ...more

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Dec 08, 2020 Laurie Flynn rated it it was amazing

Razor-sharp and thrilling, with such smart, insightful social commentary on motherhood, Instamom culture, and the perils of a public life. I couldn't put this one down, and I read the last few chapters with my heart in my throat. Chilling, disturbing, and thought-provoking, PEOPLE LIKE HER would be a perfect book club read to provoke some very interesting discussions. I don't want to say much more because it's best going into this propulsive story without knowing what to expect, but brace yourse ...more

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Aug 31, 2020 Debbie rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

WOW! This was sensational!!
Is it because the narratives were written by different people, therefore making them so incredibly believable? While that certainly added to the story, there were so many things I enjoyed about it. The suspense, the push and pull of the relationship, the family dynamics, the blogger tales, which I always find so entertaining and the obsessive follower that we find out more about as we go along. It was hilarious in places and also terrifying. Definitely one I recommend. ...more

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Jan 04, 2021 Nnenna rated it really liked it

Shelves: physical-tbr

3.5 stars

Thank you to the publisher for giving me a free copy of this book! All opinions are my own.

After reading several romances in a row, I felt like breaking things up by switching genres, and this suspense novel did not disappoint. It’s told in alternating perspectives from a husband and wife, plus a mysterious third narrator that we slowly learn more about. Emmy is a wildly successful Instagram influencer and her husband, Dan, is a writer. Emmy has become famous for her super relatable mom 3.5 stars

Thank you to the publisher for giving me a free copy of this book! All opinions are my own.

After reading several romances in a row, I felt like breaking things up by switching genres, and this suspense novel did not disappoint. It’s told in alternating perspectives from a husband and wife, plus a mysterious third narrator that we slowly learn more about. Emmy is a wildly successful Instagram influencer and her husband, Dan, is a writer. Emmy has become famous for her super relatable mom content, as she shares all sorts of details about their family life on her account, Mamabare. She has thousands of people that love and adore her, but one follower in particular thinks that Emmy doesn’t deserve or appreciate what she has.

I find influencer culture so fascinating and it’s inclusion in this story is one of the main reasons that I wanted to pick this book up. When I think about it, I realized that there are some bloggers/vloggers/content creators that I’ve been following online for years and years. When you follow someone online for that long, watching them grow, getting peeks at their daily life and important milestones, you can’t help but feel like you know them a little. But this book shows how easy it is to curate that online persona/brand and how you’ll never really know what’s going on beneath the surface.

The author (who is actually a husband and wife duo IRL) explored the themes of technology and social media, and how sharing so much of their personal life online affected this family. It makes you think about the safety around sharing personal details online. About posting pictures of your children online that are viewed by thousands of strangers, not to mention wondering how your children might feel about those pictures down the line when they’re old enough to understand what they are.

I thought this was twisted and suspenseful, and I definitely wanted to keep reading to see what happened. Although Emmy’s actions may seem extreme, it does make you think about what’s going on beyond the perfectly curated photos we see on Instagram. Although I feel many influencers are nothing like Emmy, it’s ones like her that give influencers a bad rap.

It was interesting to get a look at another corner of the internet, the mom community. I’m more familiar with the bookstagram corner, or the beauty/fashion influencers, but I don’t follow many mom influencers, so it was fascinating to read about Emmy and her world. I’m not sure that the author is saying anything new about the perils of social media, but it will likely get you thinking about your own online presence.

I’d be curious to hear what someone who considers themselves to be an influencer would think of this book! And also wondering how someone with children would feel about this story. If you’re interested in an exploration of the more extreme side of influencer culture, then you might just like this book.

CW: abortion, miscarriage, death of a child, suicide
...more

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Jan 03, 2021 Aissata Amadou rated it it was ok

Realistically this book is a 1.75 stars out of five stars.
There are a lot of problematic elements about this book and I was overal really disappointed because the premise had so much potential. Even just from reading the prologue it started off so well but it quckly went down hill from chapter one. The way the authors describe the role of an ‘influencer’ is just so out of touch with reality. It’s clear they have no idea what it’s like to be an influencer and the whole thing feel disingenuous. I’ ...more

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Nov 30, 2020 Laura Hankin rated it it was amazing

Why I Loved It for Book of the Month:

Recently, I fell into a mom influencer hole. (For book research! But also because I became obsessed!) These beautiful women with their well-behaved children were obviously presenting their lives as more perfect than they actually were, I decided. Then People Like Her by Ellery Lloyd came along to thrillingly upend my assumptions, through the twisty story of a mother who makes herself more of a mess to rake in the followers and the chilling consequences that f ...more

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Dec 24, 2020 Mary Jackson _TheMaryReader rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2020

This was really slow but the ending turned out well. I was hoping for more of a thriller. But I am happy to read another book by Lloyd.

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Dec 20, 2020 Kayla rated it it was ok

I had high hopes for this one. Fell flat for me. It definitely did pick up towards the end which I enjoyed. Definitely liked Dan's character most. ...more

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Dec 11, 2020 rebecca rated it did not like it

I don’t even know if there was ever a time when I gave a book one star. This is was painfully hard to get through. The premise was interesting enough. Influencer who has a family and something goes wrong. But the problem is that it was just boring, not in the least bit plausible and just a waste of my time. I am shocked this was a BOTMC!

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Dec 12, 2020 Brittany rated it it was ok

Shelves: 2020

Is this considered a thriller? I don’t know. If it is, it shouldn’t be. The first 200 pages were so boring. All this build up. All this suspicion. Betrayal. Emmy sucked. Straight up sucked. And Dan hated her for it. But then once he can use it for his advantage to be the breadwinner, he turns into everything he hates? And the break in/photo scam had nothing to do with the abduction? Eh. Why even put that in there. It serves no purpose. You’re also telling me Dan and Irene solved this crime in 10 ...more

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Jul 25, 2020 Vikki Patis rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

People Like Her is one of those books that gripped me from the very first page. The two main narrators, Emmy and Dan, are immediately engaging, and although Emmy is quite frustrating and obnoxious at times, she is still very relatable. The humour is dark and on point, delivered with razor sharp accuracy, and beneath it all, it is a cautionary tale about the modern age, where social media rules.

The pace of this book is very fast, and my one niggle is that I would have liked slightly more in the ...more

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Dec 22, 2020 Erin Cataldi rated it liked it

Shelves: 2020, book-of-the-month

I was anticipating a lot more from this "thriller." I liked the story-building, the descriptions of the influencing business, and the portrait of the family on the brink but the thriller aspect was buried and partially nonsensical. People Like Her shows the ugly side of what really goes on behind the camera in influencer's life and shows the strains in a couple's relationship as they try to manage two young children, Mamabare's perfect online persona, and her millions of followers. One of their ...more

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Jan 03, 2021 Chelsey rated it liked it

3 stars not necessarily because it was a bad book, but because the story, for me, was so hard to read as a mother - it was just terrifying. The writing and story were good... it's just going to be hard for me to sleep tonight.

"In this deeply addictive tale of psychological suspense, Ellery Lloyd raises important questions about technology, social media celebrity, and the way we live today. Probing the dark side of influencer culture and the perils of parenting online, People Like Her explores o ...more

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About Ellery Lloyd

Ellery Lloyd

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Ellery Lloyd is the pseudonym for London-based husband-and-wife writing team Collette Lyons and Paul Vlitos.

Collette is a journalist and editor, the former content director of Elle (UK) and editorial director at Soho House. She has written for The Guardian, The Telegraph, and the Sunday Times.

Paul is the author of two previous novels, Welcome to the Working Week and Every Day is Like Sunday. He ...more