The Authenticity Project: A Novel
A New York Times bestseller
A WASHINGTON POST “FEEL-GOOD BOOK guaranteed to lift your spirits”
“A warm, charming tale about the rewards of revealing oneself, warts and all.”
—People
The story of a solitary green notebook that brings together six strangers and leads to unexpected friendship, and even love
Julian Jessop, an eccentric, lonely artist and septuagenarian believes that most people aren't really honest with one another. But what if they were? And so he writes—in a plain, green journal—the truth about his own life and leaves it in his local café. It's run by the incredibly tidy and efficient Monica, who furtively adds her own entry and leaves the book in the wine bar across the street. Before long, the others who find the green notebook add the truths about their own deepest selves—and soon find each other In Real Life at Monica's Café.
The Authenticity Project's cast of characters—including Hazard, the charming addict who makes a vow to get sober; Alice, the fabulous mommy Instagrammer whose real life is a lot less perfect than it looks online; and their other new friends—is by turns quirky and funny, heartbreakingly sad and painfully true-to-life. It's a story about being brave and putting your real self forward—and finding out that it's not as scary as it seems. In fact, it looks a lot like happiness.
The Authenticity Project is just the tonic for our times that readers are clamoring for—and one they will take to their hearts and read with unabashed pleasure.
A WASHINGTON POST “FEEL-GOOD BOOK guaranteed to lift your spirits”
“A warm, charming tale about the rewards of revealing oneself, warts and all.”
—People
The story of a solitary green notebook that brings together six strangers and leads to unexpected friendship, and even love
Julian Jessop, an eccentric, lonely artist and septuagenarian believes that most people aren't really honest with one another. But what if they were? And so he writes—in a plain, green journal—the truth about his own life and leaves it in his local café. It's run by the incredibly tidy and efficient Monica, who furtively adds her own entry and leaves the book in the wine bar across the street. Before long, the others who find the green notebook add the truths about their own deepest selves—and soon find each other In Real Life at Monica's Café.
The Authenticity Project's cast of characters—including Hazard, the charming addict who makes a vow to get sober; Alice, the fabulous mommy Instagrammer whose real life is a lot less perfect than it looks online; and their other new friends—is by turns quirky and funny, heartbreakingly sad and painfully true-to-life. It's a story about being brave and putting your real self forward—and finding out that it's not as scary as it seems. In fact, it looks a lot like happiness.
The Authenticity Project is just the tonic for our times that readers are clamoring for—and one they will take to their hearts and read with unabashed pleasure.
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Community Reviews
I enjoyed the characters and their development, and I became interested in their fates. While the premise of the "authenticity project" as introduced in the first chapter probably wouldn't play out that way in today's real world, I do appreciate how the author used the tool to bring the character's truths out in the open and then use that for the development of both the plot and the relationships among the individuals.
At its heart, this story is about the importance of routine and structure, especially after trauma, how small, ordinary rhythms can anchor us when life has knocked us off balance. It’s also a beautiful reminder of how interconnected our lives truly are, even when we don’t see it yet. One honest moment, one shared truth, one notebook passed along, and suddenly everything shifts.
I loved how the book explores our tendency to wish for what others have, without knowing the weight they’re carrying behind the scenes. Everyone looks put together from the outside, but this story gently peels back those layers and reminds us that comparison almost always misses the truth.
And Monica, can she please come clean my house?! I adored her. Honestly, I’d happily hang out in her shop all day. The entire cast is a bit of a motley crew, but that’s the point. Each character needed something, and each had something to give. Their differences weren’t losses, they were opportunities to gain understanding, connection, and healing. (I actually wrote this exact thought down… only to discover the book makes the same point a few pages later. Great minds 😄)
I also appreciated the book’s wisdom around openness with boundaries, being authentic while still making people earn access to your inner world. That balance felt so real and earned.
The one thing I struggled with? Turning Julian into an Instagram presence. It felt like all the uneasy truths about social media playing out on the page, the distortion, the performance, the way authenticity can be packaged and consumed. Intentional, yes… but uncomfortable.
Still, this is a deeply kind, hopeful book about honesty, community, and the quiet ways we save each other sometimes without even realizing it. If you love stories about flawed people finding their footing together, this one is an absolute gem. 💛📖
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