319: Unreliable Narrator by Araminta Hall – Summer Reading Spectacular 2026

Steve chats with Araminta Hall, author of Unreliable Narrator, about the literary concept of an “unreliable narrator,” what it means for writers to be “burglars of life,” how teaching writing changes her own writing, what it was like to have a previous novel adapted by Apple TV, and who gets to tell your story. Then over at the Circ Desk, NoveList librarians Savannah and Clay suggest readalikes for Unreliable Narrator!

Read the transcript!

It’s his story. But it’s her life.

When twenty-three-year-old Hope Jenkins arrives at the isolated, otherworldly Shadowlands estate, she’s certain her life is finally about to begin.

Hope is eager to spend her summer assisting the up-and-coming literary star Ambrose “Rosie” Glencourt, but at Shadowlands, art and danger blur into one. Rosie and his enigmatic wife, Delia, preside over a circle of glittering guests with morals as questionable as their wealth. Hope is transfixed—by their beauty, their brilliance, and by Tom, the elusive young man who resides on the sprawling property and has captured Hope’s heart for the very first time. Hope quickly realizes she’s willing to do anything to secure her place among them—even if it ends in fatal disaster.

Ten years later, Hope lives in self-imposed exile. She has no family, no friends, and no future . . .until she opens Rosie’s runaway bestseller and discovers it’s an almost exact retelling of her story: the work, the sex, and the gunshot that ended it all. It is everything Hope swore to keep hidden, dragged out onto center stage. But this time, Hope isn’t going to stay quiet.

Riveting, compulsively readable, and surprisingly tender, Unreliable Narrator by Araminta Hall explores revenge, obsession, and the dangerous stories we tell to survive.

SHOW NOTES:

Unreliable Narrator by Araminta Hall

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THE CIRC DESK RECOMMENDS:

Rebecca by Daphne du  Maurier
One of Us Knows by Alyssa Cole
Finders Keepers by Natalie Berelli
A Novel Obsession by Caitlin Barasch