The latest literary sensation ... It has people in a word-of-mouth frenzy I've not seen since Gone Girl ... De Vigan's description of a close female friendship is a compulsive but agonising read * Celia Walden, Daily Telegraph *
This is that rare beast - a fine thriller and a potential literary sensation. Patricia Highsmith would have been proud. Don't miss it * Daily Mail *
All writing is constructed on shifting sands, but I've never read a book that makes the complex relationship between reality and fiction both as visible, and at the same time so opaque, as here. I was captivated. Combining the allure of Gone Girl with the sophistication of literary fiction, Based on a True Story is a creepy but unapologetically clever psychological thriller that also aces the Bechdel test * Independent *
If Simone de Beauvoir had written Single White Female with nods to Marguerite Duras, the result might be something like this latest Gallic grip-lit sensation * Joanna Briscoe, Guardian *
A wonderful literary trompe l'ceil: a book about friendship, writing and the boundary between reality and fantasy ... Dark, smart, strange, compelling * Harriet Lane, bestselling author of Her *
A sophisticated modern take on an old trope (a film adaptation by Roman Polanski and Oliver Assayas is planned) ... An unlikely mash-up of thriller and conte philosophique, Based on a True Story insists on the author's right to blur the lines * Evening Standard *
A superior identity-theft thriller on the same spectrum as The Talented Mr Ripley, or Single White Female ... De Vigan has produced a concept thriller with a lavish dash of theorising about the status of fiction and reality * Sunday Times *
The novel casts a spell of enchantment: there's always some new anxiety or fear to make the mind wonder - just what the hell is going on? ... Just don't peek ahead! The very last word will make you rethink everything you've just read. Utterly brilliant * Spectator *
An incredible true story of obsessive female friendship that grips until the very last mark on the very last page * Denise Mina, bestselling author of The Long Drop *
This is an unnerving picture of a toxic relationship and it's no surprise de Vigan's study of betrayal is to be filmed by a specialist in this dark territory, Roman Polanski * Financial Times *
A suspenseful look inside the mind of a writer, as Delphine escapes her writer's block with an alluring new woman * Grazia *
A masterclass in manipulation ... An uneasy blend of fact and fiction, this psychological thriller will keep you gripped * Psychologies *
A story that keeps the reader guessing until - and beyond - the very end ... A story of memory and friendship, a cracking page-turner and a journey into what the essence of fiction, and indeed autobiography, might be. Excellent * Nicholas Searle, author of The Good Liar, shortlisted for the 2016 CWA New Blood Dagger *
This is an addictive read. Clever, compulsive and deft. De Vigan kept me guessing to the point where I even began to question the reality of the pages in my hand. Fantastic * Ann Morgan, author of Beside Myself *
A chilling tale of obsessive female friendship that keeps you guessing until the last page. What is reality? What is fantasy? * Tatler *
Based on a True Story hit the exact right note: frighteningly honest, precise and thrilling * Julie Myerson, Observer *
Very well written and translated * Literary Review *
Dangerously deceptive ... A brilliant and terrifying blurring of reality * Sainsbury's Magazine *
In this captivating story of imprisonment ... Delphine de Vigan intelligently questions the place of the writer in our society of imitation * Le Figaro *
An excellent novel: malign, Machiavellian, manipulative ... This new book is a struggle to put down * Parisien *
A dizzying, psychoanalytical story within a story ... Fascinating * Le Point *
Delphine de Vigan teases her readers' desire for truth, and plays with the grey area between reality and fiction ... Highly convincing * Le Monde *
Enthralling, not only brilliant in its construction - chilling, worthy of the best thrillers - but also it has a rare finesse in its constant questioning of the act of writing * Page *
If Simone de Beauvoir had written Single White Female with nods to Marguerite Duras, the result might be something like this Gallic grip-lit sensation ... [de Vigan] plays with the tropes of the psychological thriller, but her work is steeped in philosophical ruminations -- Joanna Briscoe * Guardian *
