How Allie navigates this impossible job, her financial woes and her relationships with her boyfriend and judgmental mother could make for a grim read. Impersonation is anything but. Pitlor’s voice is witty and brisk, bringing warmth and light to questions of identity, independence and, yes, intellectual property. Who owns your stories? How much are they worth? Allie Lang’s answers are complicated. Watching her reach them is like sitting down with a refreshingly honest friend who skips the part about how great her life is and dives right into the real stuff. We need more friends like this. Authors, too.
Pitlor’s genius is that Impersonation doesn’t resort to pitting two women against each other. One woman’s career is circumscribed by care work, and the other’s career is not. But when Allie laments that “integrity—and real feminism—were clearly for people more financially secure than I,” it’s apparent that the issues between this ghostwriter and her client are emblematic of so much more. Impersonation isn’t just a critique of the 'white feminism' of privileged women who prioritize money and success in existing power structures. It’s also more than a critique of the publishing industry, which only cares that Lana seems “maternal” enough to sell parenting books. Impersonation is a critique of our society’s fragile social safety net for so many vulnerable women, full of satirical humor and a lot of harsh truths.
... has so many rich layers for readers to fold back and appreciate. Writers will find themselves chuckling at many of Pitlor’s observations about the realities of their craft; parents will recognize themselves in Allie’s blend of fierce love and outright exhaustion; and many readers with an eye for politics and social movements will appreciate Allie’s growing confusion and disorientation about finding her place --- and a place for her son --- in this increasingly alienating country. Allie’s bittersweet story offers a nuanced portrait of a woman coming to terms with all different sorts of imperfections --- and learning to relish moments of grace whenever she can find them.
... In this searing and nuanced exploration of identity, Allie slowly includes more of her own stories in Lana’s book, grappling with how much of herself she must give away and setting the stage for a powder keg of revelations should the truth come out.
... breaks every rule doled out in Creative Writing programs around the country, and yet manages to more than make it work ... fun to read. It is heartbreaking and empowering. It is high-brow and down to earth, as if it can’t help wanting to teach you what it can, to give you something you can take with you after the last page is turned ... As a result of this introspection, and of the book within a book device of the novel, Impersonation manages to catalogue every important gaslighting moment of the Trump presidency without being overly political or distracting from the main story, an incredible feat that makes Allie’s story a timeless one, but also one brave enough to break some rules, to show a flawed character gaining awareness of those things she could do better for herself and her son, while also serving as worthy record of this moment in all our lives as women.
In a novel that’s smart, surprising, thought provoking, and bound to set a few readers on edge, making for good book-club debate, Pitlor offers an astute study of what it means to be a woman today.
Pitlor’s third novel is set during the lead-up to and the aftermath of the 2016 election; she dryly and sometimes poignantly channels the zeitgeist through nuanced characters, settings, and just-right details ... Both the story and its resourceful heroine are fresh, intelligent, and charming.
... smart and thought-provoking ... While elements of the plot stretch plausibility, such as Lana’s team signing off on Allie’s embellishments, the sharply observed depictions of how lives are shaped by financial status ring all-too true. Fans of Meg Wolitzer’s The Female Persuasion will want to take a look.
