‘Vaughan is simply a genius at immersing you in simmering tensions and turning up the heat."—Ellery Lloyd
‘A stunning novel."—Gilly Macmillan
"A flawlessly constructed thriller, perfectly paced and filled with smart reveals. This is a read-in-one-sitting delight of a novel!"—Lucy Clarke
A compelling novel about power, money and lies from the author of Anatomy of a Scandal.
All families have secrets. But it's the lies that can kill.
A lavish seventieth birthday party. A body found on a storm-lashed beach. And a secret that someone is dying to tell. . . .
Famed children’s author Dame Eleanor Kingman has summoned her family and friends to her exquisite manor house on the cliffs. They're celebrating her birthday—and her latest number one bestseller in her series of books based on a mother fox and her cubs.
But the night before the party, Eleanor receives an email that threatens to expose the lie she’s kept up for over half a century.
Someone knows her secret. Is it her estranged literary agent? Is it her ex-husband, to whom she no longer speaks? Is it the nanny she fired all those years ago, who always did have a knack for storytelling? Or is it one of her three daughters, all of whom have a stake in the publishing empire she has built...
With a television crew arriving to film a documentary of her life, Eleanor needs to find out who sent the email—and preserve her legacy and multimillion-pound career.
But when push comes to shove, and it's time to tell the truth will anyone actually believe her?
Genre: Mystery
‘A stunning novel."—Gilly Macmillan
"A flawlessly constructed thriller, perfectly paced and filled with smart reveals. This is a read-in-one-sitting delight of a novel!"—Lucy Clarke
A compelling novel about power, money and lies from the author of Anatomy of a Scandal.
All families have secrets. But it's the lies that can kill.
A lavish seventieth birthday party. A body found on a storm-lashed beach. And a secret that someone is dying to tell. . . .
Famed children’s author Dame Eleanor Kingman has summoned her family and friends to her exquisite manor house on the cliffs. They're celebrating her birthday—and her latest number one bestseller in her series of books based on a mother fox and her cubs.
But the night before the party, Eleanor receives an email that threatens to expose the lie she’s kept up for over half a century.
Someone knows her secret. Is it her estranged literary agent? Is it her ex-husband, to whom she no longer speaks? Is it the nanny she fired all those years ago, who always did have a knack for storytelling? Or is it one of her three daughters, all of whom have a stake in the publishing empire she has built...
With a television crew arriving to film a documentary of her life, Eleanor needs to find out who sent the email—and preserve her legacy and multimillion-pound career.
But when push comes to shove, and it's time to tell the truth will anyone actually believe her?
Genre: Mystery
Praise for this book
"An immersive, vivid, escapist story told from multiple perspectives by a fraught cast of characters, most of whom are nursing awful secrets - this is Sarah Vaughan at the height of her powers." - Lucy Atkins
"Utterly addictive, surprising and full of characters you'll love to hate." - Louise Beech
"There's a dangerous sense of reckoning in the air as the eminent Kingman family gather at their Cornish clifftop house to celebrate matriarch Eleanor's success - and just possibly to kill each other in the process. A rich, intoxicating brew, I loved it." - Louise Candlish
"A rollicking, thrilling read, Based on a True Story snares from the first page with its deliciously dysfunctional, glamorous family, bristling with characters to love or loathe, and a seductive Cornish setting. Another Sarah Vaughan cracker. I loved it." - Eve Chase
"A flawlessly constructed thriller, perfectly paced and filled with smart reveals. This is a read-in-one-sitting delight of a novel!" - Lucy Clarke
"Three sisters gather to celebrate with their narcissistic mother. I could literally feel the tension and frustration simmering between the lines. Wonderful storytelling." - Emma Curtis
"Smartly plotted and wickedly fun; the secrets and revelations just keep coming." - Claire Fuller
"Sarah Vaughan is one of my go-to writers and a modern, female re-telling of King Lear is exactly the sort of brilliance I have come to expect from her. This is a compelling story, with deep roots, which asks us to think about the stories we tell not just publicly, but also privately, to make up a life. It manages that rare trick of being both addictive and thoughtful." - Araminta Hall
"Based on a True Story is a real pressure cooker of a novel - tense, immersive, and brilliantly told. I genuinely couldn't put it down. And the Cornish clifftop setting leapt from the page, with all of its drama and dangerous beauty." - Emylia Hall
"Sarah's elegant prose, stunning descriptions and nuanced characters are all wrapped up in a cracking plot with a ticking clock - the ultimate literary thriller! Secrets, lies, subterfuge, scandal and sibling rivalry - the perfect recipe for a page-turner. I devoured it!" - Veronica Henry
"Glorious Cornish clifftops, a glittering party and a swirling vortex of family secrets. . . . Sarah Vaughan lobs an explosive cocktail into Golden Age Crime to create something wholly new and deeply satisfying. I drank it up." - Sarah Hilary
"A juicy, atmospheric and unpredictable family thriller which employs both schadenfreude and empathy to have the reader switching sides with every chapter." - Erin Kelly
"What's not to love? A matriarch with buried secrets, an explosive party at a clifftop house and a family rapidly unravelling - a deliciously twisty page-turner that also packs a real emotional punch. Vaughan is simply a genius at immersing you in simmering tensions and turning up the heat." - Ellery Lloyd
"In Based on a True Story, Vaughan sets in motion the final, tragic act of a decades-long family drama. She writes beautifully and incisively; her evocative prose is spiked with sharp observations and insights that spare nobody. Sibling rivalries are stretched to breaking point, secrets leak, and loyalties quiver. When lucrative fame is a member of the family and storytelling is part of your DNA, nothing is predictable. A stunning novel." - Gilly MacMillan
"A predictably gripping read by one of the masters of the genre. A skillfully executed and addictive story with characters that jump off the page. I was hooked all the way to the thrilling end." - Imran Mahmood
"What a delight to be back with Sarah Vaughan's writing, and in particular to back in Cornwall. A sparkling, clever and compelling tale of power, money, lies and the stories we tell ourselves to survive." - Anna Mazzola
"This is certainly one party no one will forget. With a cast of characters I loved to hate and secrets galore, I couldn't turn the pages fast enough. Smart, propulsive and so much fun...I loved it." - Nikki Smith
"Elegant, absorbing and almost unbearably tense, Based on a True Story tormented me whenever I didn't have it in my hands. A standout psychological thriller of depth and weight with a cast of beautifully-drawn characters. Superb." - Rosie Walsh
"Are there better words than 'there's a new Sarah Vaughan coming out?' Vaughan's books race along so thrillingly - you can never put them down. I zoomed through Based on a True Story, but the characters have really stayed with me. Vaughan had created a delightfully suspicious group of party-goers, all with their own questionable ambitions and motives. I particularly adored the Cornish setting - Vaughan captures the light and magic of that coastline so beautifully." - Holly Watt
"Utterly addictive, surprising and full of characters you'll love to hate." - Louise Beech
"There's a dangerous sense of reckoning in the air as the eminent Kingman family gather at their Cornish clifftop house to celebrate matriarch Eleanor's success - and just possibly to kill each other in the process. A rich, intoxicating brew, I loved it." - Louise Candlish
"A rollicking, thrilling read, Based on a True Story snares from the first page with its deliciously dysfunctional, glamorous family, bristling with characters to love or loathe, and a seductive Cornish setting. Another Sarah Vaughan cracker. I loved it." - Eve Chase
"A flawlessly constructed thriller, perfectly paced and filled with smart reveals. This is a read-in-one-sitting delight of a novel!" - Lucy Clarke
"Three sisters gather to celebrate with their narcissistic mother. I could literally feel the tension and frustration simmering between the lines. Wonderful storytelling." - Emma Curtis
"Smartly plotted and wickedly fun; the secrets and revelations just keep coming." - Claire Fuller
"Sarah Vaughan is one of my go-to writers and a modern, female re-telling of King Lear is exactly the sort of brilliance I have come to expect from her. This is a compelling story, with deep roots, which asks us to think about the stories we tell not just publicly, but also privately, to make up a life. It manages that rare trick of being both addictive and thoughtful." - Araminta Hall
"Based on a True Story is a real pressure cooker of a novel - tense, immersive, and brilliantly told. I genuinely couldn't put it down. And the Cornish clifftop setting leapt from the page, with all of its drama and dangerous beauty." - Emylia Hall
"Sarah's elegant prose, stunning descriptions and nuanced characters are all wrapped up in a cracking plot with a ticking clock - the ultimate literary thriller! Secrets, lies, subterfuge, scandal and sibling rivalry - the perfect recipe for a page-turner. I devoured it!" - Veronica Henry
"Glorious Cornish clifftops, a glittering party and a swirling vortex of family secrets. . . . Sarah Vaughan lobs an explosive cocktail into Golden Age Crime to create something wholly new and deeply satisfying. I drank it up." - Sarah Hilary
"A juicy, atmospheric and unpredictable family thriller which employs both schadenfreude and empathy to have the reader switching sides with every chapter." - Erin Kelly
"What's not to love? A matriarch with buried secrets, an explosive party at a clifftop house and a family rapidly unravelling - a deliciously twisty page-turner that also packs a real emotional punch. Vaughan is simply a genius at immersing you in simmering tensions and turning up the heat." - Ellery Lloyd
"In Based on a True Story, Vaughan sets in motion the final, tragic act of a decades-long family drama. She writes beautifully and incisively; her evocative prose is spiked with sharp observations and insights that spare nobody. Sibling rivalries are stretched to breaking point, secrets leak, and loyalties quiver. When lucrative fame is a member of the family and storytelling is part of your DNA, nothing is predictable. A stunning novel." - Gilly MacMillan
"A predictably gripping read by one of the masters of the genre. A skillfully executed and addictive story with characters that jump off the page. I was hooked all the way to the thrilling end." - Imran Mahmood
"What a delight to be back with Sarah Vaughan's writing, and in particular to back in Cornwall. A sparkling, clever and compelling tale of power, money, lies and the stories we tell ourselves to survive." - Anna Mazzola
"This is certainly one party no one will forget. With a cast of characters I loved to hate and secrets galore, I couldn't turn the pages fast enough. Smart, propulsive and so much fun...I loved it." - Nikki Smith
"Elegant, absorbing and almost unbearably tense, Based on a True Story tormented me whenever I didn't have it in my hands. A standout psychological thriller of depth and weight with a cast of beautifully-drawn characters. Superb." - Rosie Walsh
"Are there better words than 'there's a new Sarah Vaughan coming out?' Vaughan's books race along so thrillingly - you can never put them down. I zoomed through Based on a True Story, but the characters have really stayed with me. Vaughan had created a delightfully suspicious group of party-goers, all with their own questionable ambitions and motives. I particularly adored the Cornish setting - Vaughan captures the light and magic of that coastline so beautifully." - Holly Watt
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