In Literacy and Longing in L.A., hailed as โthe most delightful read of the yearโ by Liz Smith inthe New York Post, authors Jennifer Kaufman and Karen Mack captivated readers with a brilliantly imagined first novel. Now Kaufman and Mack return, introducing a character with a unique voice youโll never forget: Cassie Shaw, an irrepressible young woman who reinvents herselfโwith unexpected consequencesโin a funny, wise, and utterly original novel about friendship, love, wildlife, and other forces of nature.
In the wilds of Topanga Canyon, Cassie is right at homeโwith the call of birds, the sound of wind in the trees, the harmony of a world without people. But everywhere else, life is a little harder for Cassie. Her mother believes in Big Foot. Her wisecracking pet parrot is a drama queen. And at the age of thirty, newly single and without a college degree, Cassie desperately needs a decent paycheck. Which is why, against all her principles, she lies on her rรฉsumรฉ for an office job at an elite universityโand then finds herself employed in academia by two professors who are as rare as the birds she covets.
One of her new bosses is Professor William Conner, a sexy, handsome, cheerfully aristocratic expert in animal behavior. Soon, under Connerโs charismatic tutelage, Cassie carefully begins her personal transformation while meeting the kind of people who donโt flock to wildlife preservesโfrom impossibly brilliant academics to adorably spoiled college boys. But her futureโand unlikely new careerโis teetering on one unbearable untruth. And Cassieโs masquerade is about to come undoneโฆin a chain of events that will transform her lifeโand the lives of those around herโforever.
A novel for late bloomers of every exotic shade and stripe,A Version of the Truth is pure entertainmentโat once hilarious and wry, lyrical and uplifting.
© 2003-2026