A layered novel about a woman who discovers she inspired another writer- and sets out to explore his life. Sal, a journalists, messed up with a profile she wrote of a playwright and now she's out to redeem herself, She's found a short story by Martin Keller which details an encounter with a young woman, including taking her hair ornament and realizes that he wrote about her. She approaches his widow Moira, who allows her to go through his papers. In an unusual turn, this then explores Martin's life via Moira and his friends, Is this about Sal or about Martin? It's very much about both. It does wander a bit but it's intriguing. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. For fans of literary fiction.

The Mythmakers is a great twist on the classic family drama troupe. I would have absolutely loved this book in my 20’s when my reading fully centered privileged people in literary fiction, and I’m sure that there will be a large audience for this book. However, it wasn’t for me in this season as a reader. I found Sal to be a hard woman to read - I wish that her actions read more clearly as a hyper fixation, rather than a distraction. However I did really enjoy watching the other characters - all the people in Martin’s life - unravel and develop. The full 360 view of Martin’s world, as told by a series of unreliable narrators was very unique. It kind of reminded me of Fates and Furries, but watching from the outside rather than inside a relationship.

Thank you to netgalley and Marysue Rucci Books for the opportunity to read this advanced copy in exchange for an unbiased review.

A life that is slowly falling apart, a short story from a favorite writer posted after his death, and a woman who is sure that a brief meeting with the writer places her as the main character.

This is about how far someone will go to find out if their instincts are correct.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review.

Sal is a young journalist who is going through a rough patch at work. She comes across an excerpt of a book by a recently deceased author she met once and thinks the story is about her. She becomes obsessed with finding an reading the whole manuscript.

Sal pursues the author's widow in an attempt to read the manuscript and ends up becoming friends with her. She is so obsessed that she gives up her job, her boyfriend and most of her friends in pursuit of the story behind the story.

There ends up being so much going on and so many people involved that it seems we are constantly going in new directions and not sure where we are headed anymore. I couldn't really connect with Sal, Moira the widow seemed like a more complete character. But then, there's her daughter and her current and past girlfriends, the author's first wife and the best friends from years ago. I think if it was written more as a mystery of the manuscript instead of a pursuit of Sal's understanding of herself, I would have enjoyed it more.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

"From an acclaimed senior editor at Vanity Fair comes an intoxicating debut novel about a young journalist who discovers a short story that's inexplicably about her life - leading to an entanglement with the author's widow, daughter, and former best friend.

Sal Cannon's life is in shambles. Her relationship is crumbling, and her career in journalism hits a low point after it's revealed that her profile of a playwright is full of inaccuracies. She's close to rock-bottom when she reads a short story by Martin Keller: a much older author she met at a literary event years ago. Much to her shock, the story is about her and the moment they met. When Sal learns the story is excerpted from his unpublished novel, she reaches out to the story's editor - only to learn that Martin is deceased. Desperate to leave her crumbling life behind and to read the manuscript from which the story was excerpted, Sal decides to find Martin's widow, Moira.

Moira has made it clear that she doesn't want to be contacted. But soon Sal is on a bus to Upstate New York, where she slowly but surely inserts herself into Moira's life. Or is it the other way around? As Sal sifts through Martin's papers and learns more about Moira, the question of muse and artist arises - again and again. Even more so when Martin's daughter's story emerges. Who owns a story? And who is the one left to tell it?

The Mythmakers is a nesting doll of a book that grapples with perspective and memory, as well as the battles between creative ambition and love. It's a story about the trials and tribulations of finding out who you are, at any stage in your life, and how inspiration might find you in the strangest of places."

The intriguing question for me has always been, do you have the right to tell someone else's story...

The premise of this book sounded fascinating. However, while reading it I struggled to believe in the idea that the protagonist would really believe the writer had written a whole book about her based on one short meeting. This idea turns out to be the jumping-off point for a different story, and that is the problem - it's so obviously an artificial setup for something else. Unfortunately, I didn't feel interested in where it went from there.

This was an absolutely mesmerizing, captivating, and original take on memory, myth, and how we write our histories. This book does an incredible job of weaving science fic, contemporary fic, and a modern coming of age.
Shimmering with sadness/nostalgia, there was such an uncanny, wonderful eeriness to this one. This one asks the question, “is remembering an act of preservation or one of creation?”
The main characters were hard to love at first, but ultimately won me over—providing an anchor for the kaleidoscope narrative. Give this one a shot, it’s very special.

I was drawn in by this book's premise while browsing NetGalley and requested it even though I hadn't heard of the author or read any of her magazine writing. This is one of those books that has an amazing hook—it feels like it would have been a great pitch, which is maybe appropriate given the author's and protagonist's professional backgrounds—but the execution leaves a lot to be desired. I really struggled to make it through this book. I wanted to give up after about fifty pages, and the only reason I kept reading is because it was a NetGalley ARC and I wanted to give it a chance in case it got better.

The Mythmakers is about Sal Cannon, a magazine writer in her twenties who discovers a short story by a famous author that seems to be about the time he met her. She realizes that the writer is now dead but that the story was actually an excerpt from a longer manuscript; however, plans to publish the manuscript have been shelved. Meanwhile, her boyfriend leaves her, and she gets fired for publishing a profile that was full of inaccuracies. So she heads to the famous writer's hometown to talk to his widow, and the plot thickens from there...

It's not that Sal's life (before she meets the writer's wife) is dull, necessarily; it's just recounted in a horribly dull way. I couldn't bring myself to care at all about Sal or her boyfriend or the conflict between them, and I not only didn't care about her career but I also didn't care how she felt about it. The beginning of the novel really read like it didn't want to be there—it felt like it wanted to skip ahead to meeting Martin's (the famous author's) widow Moira, so maybe it should have done that! And I get it, Sal even narrates that "I had so wanted the story to be my deus ex machina, lifting me out of my own tired plot," but that doesn't mean that the "tired plot" of her life has to be laid out in such a boring way. People's boring lives can actually be described in extremely engaging ways.

Things do get more interesting when Sal and Moira first meet, especially since it turns out that Moira has a very different interpretation of the story Sal thinks is about her. But still, it was very hard for me to endure the novel's cringey prose. Some of the sentences reminded me of scrawny adolescent boys flexing in a mirror—trying so hard to be "literary" or poetic or smart when they would have been better off simple and straightforward.

Believe me, I wanted to like this book! The premise made it seem extremely up my alley. But I can't say I would recommend this.

I really enjoyed this debut from Weir, following the stories of multiple characters, time periods, and locations but centered on our protagonist, Sal, as she winds up intertwined in the story she's trying to write. Weir created a complex web through her intricate look at storytelling (both fiction writing and oral histories), love, family, loss, and ambition. The book took on a lot, and it did so with great care--and ultimately quite successfully. I would recommend this book for readers with a tolerance for ambiguity and unlikeable characters. As a reader, I stayed invested and interested not because I thought the MC was making great choices or I related to her (she wasn't and I didn't), but because the structure of hearing a single story from multiple perspectives was compelling.

The book brought up questions of the path not taken, the decisions we make with imperfect information (which is essentially all decisions), and the ways that personal ambition factors into relationships. At times it felt like it was trying to do too much; it felt like not knowing where to look or what I was supposed to be seeing--but so is life, and in that way this book was a reflection of the messiness of inputs we need to sort through to determine where to go from here. Overall, this is was an impressive, expansive, and ambitious debut from a deft writer.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of The Mythmakers.

The premise was intriguing and the writing is great, but I didn't enjoy it as much as I had hoped.

I thought there would be elements of suspense or drama, but this is really a story about a reclusive author, his humble beginnings as a writer, the women he loved, and the unfinished manuscript he left behind.

I'm torn about these types of novels; the writing is usually top notch, good character development and descriptions, but I'm always left wondering, "What's the point?"

Why should I care about this author? These people? His story, his life?

Because I don't. I didn't.

I understand Sal's desire to learn more about the author soon spiraled into an obsession since her own life, personal and professional, had and was crumbling.

She needed something to focus on, to understand, to make sense of, since her life was a mess.

Still, I couldn't understand why she treated Hugh the way she did; drunk dialing, ignoring his calls and her responsibilities.

Her behavior was more like a teenager's or 20 year old instead of a grown adult, but then I do know adults who act like children.

I didn't like Sal, or Moira, except maybe Wes.

Like I mentioned earlier, the writing is great, but wordy, very wordy.

Descriptions of what Sal is doing and thinking and seeing seem to run pages, paragraphs and paragraphs long, when just a paragraph or a few sentences would do.

This is a character study of an author, told from his POV, and from the POVs of the people who love him.

He's not very likable or talented, and memorable yet not very surprisingly surrounded by intelligent, talented women whose ambitions are curtailed by their love for him and their own self doubt.

Fascinating read about the impact we make on the lives around us, and whether that is worth exploring or not. I was hooked from the very beginning. Very real characters.

“The Mythmakers” follows the intertwined stories of narrator and journalist Sal Cannon and the family of her subject, the recently deceased writer Martin Scott Keller. When Sal reads a short story by Keller in a literary journal, she thinks it is about her—specifically, the brief but memorable time she met Keller. Intrigued, she embarks on what she thinks will be a short but fascinating journey to learn more about Keller, but she ends up learning so much more about the family he left behind and herself, too.

The premise of this novel was interesting, and gripped me for the first quarter. However, the middle of the book sagged under the weight of descriptive narration that lacked much action. The interludes from various other characters’ perspectives also slowed the story down. Overall, the book had a good start but got heavier and heavier as it went on, eventually meandering to a marginally satisfying close.

Thank you to NetGalley and Scribner for this eARC in exchange for an honest review. My rating for The Mythmakers is 4.5/5 stars which, in my rating system, means “I really really enjoyed this book.”

Keziah Weir’s debut novel is a triumph. Her writing is compelling in a way that makes it clear that she understands the way people think, what motivates and drives them. She has a way with descriptions and metaphors that make even the most mundane actions feel literary, a talent I often attribute to Sally Rooney. Her characters feel exceedingly real, and she portrays them in their rawness, with all of their flaws and vulnerabilities on such display that when you see a bit of yourself in a character, you’ll feel almost self conscious, like she’s seen you too. Weir has the kind of writing talent that made me want to pause reading and try to write a novel myself— it’s aspirational.

Beyond that, this novel contained so many layers. At times the narrative felt as aimless as the main character’s path, but I let it take me along for the ride, having faith that the winding slopes of the story would lead somewhere interesting. I was right. The joy of this book is in the journey— Sal starts off wanting to learn more about the novel she believes is about her, and in turn uncovers the thousands of little stories that make up a life (or a network of lives). The reader goes on a similar adventure: pulled in by an interesting premise, and then hooked by the interconnected stories of people relatable enough to be familiar but unfamiliar enough to be compelling.

At first it seems like the novel is about a man’s obsession with Sal, but it becomes about Sal’s obsession with the man, and then with the women who shaped his life and his work. There’s a wonderful sort of irony there.

Overall, I truly enjoyed this book, and I highly recommend it. It was a pleasure to read, and I know it’ll stay on my mind for a long time.

Link to my visual review: https://www.instagram.com/p/CnqYmvZLyTS/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

3.5 stars- this book felt like three stories in one. you get a glimpse into so many characters that you can't help but wonder 'where is this book going to lead me?'. thanks netgalley & the publisher for the ARC, in exchange for an honest review.

This novel is about a woman whose life is starting to fall apart. Deemed a somewhat failed journalist after one of her stories was published with multiple inaccuracies and eventually fired from what she thought was a safe career, Sal tries to figure out which direction she should go. Should she finally write the novel she had promised herself she would complete?
With her relationship also in shambles, Sal scrambles for ideas to turn her life around when she stumbles upon a short story written about her and her encounter with the author at a literary event years ago. Sparking her intrigue and wanting to learn more about the man behind the writing, she delves deep into his world.

Will this help her find inspiration to continue her writing career, and will she discover things about herself in the process?

Overall, this was a very well-written novel. It captured my attention from the first page and held it throughout. I especially enjoyed Sal and Moira’s interactions throughout, which made the book as great as it is. The development of each character with individual takes on their lives and how they both eventually met “the author” Martin was a fun way to get to know the women in his life.

While I mainly loved everything about this book, a few parts could have been omitted as they didn’t lend any importance to the plot. Otherwise, it was a solid read and exceptionally well thought out.

The publisher provided ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

We've all been a little too obsessed with something that we felt had deeper meaning, right? (Don't let me sound crazy here guys, agree with me..) Our main character discovers an author she met one single time has passed and an excerpt from his final project was published posthumously. Here's the kicker, our main character believes it is about her and she goes on a mission to find the full manuscript - throwing away her friends, her boyfriend, and her job in the process.

I really enjoyed this book, and I'm grateful to Netgalley for the chance to start my year with a solid read. Anyone who reads my reviews knows that I HATE alternating timelines in novels. But I think this book manages to do it right. I've seen it called a Russian nesting doll, and that description really fits (and explains the cover image). I enjoyed the small town setting and the characters Sal met there, and how authentic they all felt. Sal was a bit of a mess, but I didn't feel like it ever got out of hand (also, Sal Cannon...? No relation).

One thing that did put me a little on edge was the fact that Martin met Moira when she was 12 and he was 24. I couldn't stop thinking about the fact she was literally a child during their first interaction. But thankfully there was a big gap between their first meeting and their reunion, so at least it wasn't like he watched her grow up or was biding his time. But still, it made their whole relationship feel odd to me.

That said, an excellent way to begin 2023!

You know how sometimes people wrote with big words just to show that they can? That’s how I felt with this book. The prose seems forced and the story not engaging.

Salala Cannon is living a halfhearted life as a magazine journalist with less and less stories published and less and less assignments given. Her relationship is lukewarm at best and she is wondering where her place is in the world. During a moment of writer's block, she reads a newly published story by a famous author and realizes it is based on her. She reaches out to the author and finds that he is deceased and his wife is not interested in speaking.

What would you do? Well Sal gets on a bus and goes to her house. What happens next is an interesting take on ownership of stories and perspectives. If you like great literature, The Mythmakers is for you! #Scribner