Sometimes the journey is what really matters; the destination, not so much. That’s the case in Based on a True Story, by Sarah Vaughn. Set in the gorgeous environs of Cornwall in England, where preparations for a lavish 70th birthday party for Dame Eleanor Kingman, a beloved children’s book author are underway.
And, yes, (not) shockingly, the old battle ax has a secret. (And she’s rather bossy, chilly and self-absorbed.) In fact, numerous secrets waft over the faux convivial atmosphere surrounding the large crowd, particularly her son-in-law, Tom, a doctor with a crushing gambling debt, and Eleanor’s youngest daughter, the devious Delia.
Some of the other invitees and family members include her three daughters, Gilly, Rachel, and the aforementioned Delia. From Eleanor’s professional life: Aiysha, the artist for her most recent smash bestseller, a BBC crew there to document the bash, a former agent, a current agent – it’s a large cast. There’s a dog, too. To her credit, Vaughn, who starts chapters with a character’s name, expertly creates unique personalities that move the story rapidly forward, keeping us on our toes – because someone has been sending threatening emails to Eleanor telling her they know her secret and it’s coming out at her party! Intrigue abounds!
Unsurprisingly, many of Eleanor’s family need money. And who has that money available? Yes, dear mumsy, who unfortunately has a well-earned rep as being “close to a pound.”
Poor Tom, who seems to have the personality of a limp rag, has somehow hooked up with a loan shark type of thug whom he’s borrowed from on the worst terms – the amount due keeps doubling. Does he tell Rachel, his wife? No. Does he go to the police? No. He is also getting email threats. He’s been followed by a mysterious car and has an unnerving encounter with one of the loan shark’s enforcers.
Delia, youngest of the sisters, an influencer, sober after years of addictions of various kinds, has hatched a sneaky plan to shake up the dynamic of the family. Secrets, past transgressions, and who are those two seemingly shady, apparent outsiders? also make the party, invited or not. A whole lotta moving parts.
The typical threats against Eleanor also point the way for the reader to guess the basic nature of her secret.
“Perhaps it’s time, though, that the truth came out,” reads one. “A party would be a great time for that to happen. Because while you’ve been sustaining your greatest fiction … some of us know the truth.”
“Everyone has their secrets,” thinks Eleanor. “And [she] has absolutely no intention of hers spilling out, or turning up and, for all the wrong reasons, making this a far more memorable occasion than she ever intended it to be.”
What Vaughn excels at in Based on a True Story is the undeniable subtext of the novel. Can a person completely reinvent themselves? Of course not, but does that stop them from trying? Desperation reigns. Almost every character in the story is mired in denial, fueled by self- delusion. Nobody is genuinely happy, content in their lives.
Eventually details of Eleanor’s hidden past emerge. It’s not that scandalous, really, and feels like an overblown device. And why is Tom so unwilling to seek help from the police? We never learn a plausible reason.
So that journey: a fine time along the way. But in her attempt to tie up all the loose ends, several of Vaughn’s characters suddenly make implausible choices, become kind and reasonable, and generous with that dough, (all of a sudden!) doing 180 degree turns away from their previous personalities. To this reader it felt much too tidy. After all the angst, dysfunction and familial strife, everyone is sitting pretty, successfully reinvented, as though we’ve been reading a fairytale instead of a crime novel.
Peter Handel has been writing about crime fiction since the early 1990s. His reviews, interviews, and profiles have appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, the Portland Oregonian, Pages Magazine, Mystery Reader’s Journal, The Rap Sheet and CrimeReads. Join his Substack here.
