Unbecoming: A Novel
Jan 2015 · Penguin
3.8star
56 reviewsreport
Ebook
320
Pages
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About this ebook
EDGAR AWARD NOMINEE FOR BEST FIRST NOVEL
“Startlingly inventive.” —The New York Times Book Review
“A sheer delight to read . . . I had no idea what was going to happen from one page to the next.” —Kate Atkinson
On the grubby outskirts of Paris, Grace restores bric-a-brac, mends teapots, re-sets gems. She calls herself Julie, says she’s from California, and slips back to a rented room at night. Regularly, furtively, she checks the hometown paper on the Internet. Home is Garland, Tennessee, and there, two young men have just been paroled. One, she married; the other, she’s in love with. Both were jailed for a crime that Grace herself planned in exacting detail. The heist went bad—but not before she was on a plane to Prague with a stolen canvas rolled in her bag. And so, in Paris, begins a cat-and-mouse waiting game as Grace’s web of deception and lies unravels—and she becomes another young woman entirely.
Unbecoming is an intricately plotted and psychologically nuanced heist novel that turns on suspense and slippery identity. With echoes of Alfred Hitchcock and Patricia Highsmith, Rebecca Scherm’s mesmerizing debut is sure to entrance fans of Gillian Flynn, Marisha Pessl, and Donna Tartt.
“Startlingly inventive.” —The New York Times Book Review
“A sheer delight to read . . . I had no idea what was going to happen from one page to the next.” —Kate Atkinson
On the grubby outskirts of Paris, Grace restores bric-a-brac, mends teapots, re-sets gems. She calls herself Julie, says she’s from California, and slips back to a rented room at night. Regularly, furtively, she checks the hometown paper on the Internet. Home is Garland, Tennessee, and there, two young men have just been paroled. One, she married; the other, she’s in love with. Both were jailed for a crime that Grace herself planned in exacting detail. The heist went bad—but not before she was on a plane to Prague with a stolen canvas rolled in her bag. And so, in Paris, begins a cat-and-mouse waiting game as Grace’s web of deception and lies unravels—and she becomes another young woman entirely.
Unbecoming is an intricately plotted and psychologically nuanced heist novel that turns on suspense and slippery identity. With echoes of Alfred Hitchcock and Patricia Highsmith, Rebecca Scherm’s mesmerizing debut is sure to entrance fans of Gillian Flynn, Marisha Pessl, and Donna Tartt.
Ratings and reviews
3.8
56 reviews
Brianna Christina
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May 14, 2019
The plot is very slow. There are certain parts where I thought the plot was building and I was finally meeting the individual that the protagonist feared so much, then I realized that Scherm enjoys playing with readers' emotions. The writing and the style of the writing is beautiful though.
A Google user
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February 21, 2018
Really enjoyed it, BUT I almost want a different ending. There's not a whole lot of closure, maybe we need a sequel. Rebecca has an awesome writing style mind.
Tarah Clark
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May 12, 2015
Fun exciting and honest
3 people found this review helpful
About the author
Rebecca Scherm is the critically acclaimed author of the novel Unbecoming. A graduate of New York University and the Helen Zell Writers' Program at the University of Michigan, Scherm has written for The New York Times, Jezebel, and The Toast. She lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
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