Julie 's Reviews > The Plot

The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz is a 2021 Caledon Books publication.

Jacob Finch hit it big with his first novel – at least with the literary crowd- garnering him an air of respect. His attempt to follow up with the next great American novel never quite got off the ground.

Now he’s forced to teach to make ends meet. The best position he’s able to manage is far from prestigious-The MFA program at Ripley College.

Here he meets Evan Parker, a narcissistic student who claims to have a near perfect plot, the details of which he refuses to share with anyone- save for a small excerpt. He’s convinced his novel will put him on the map, will make him a household name- but after a time- the novel fails to materialize.

Long after his stint with the MFA program-out of the blue, a niggle of memory causes Jacob to remember Evan Parker, prompting him to do a little internet search.

Shockingly, he discovers Evan has died. Knowing he has no living relatives, the plot of Evan’s novel begins to germinate in Jacob’s mind.

The next thing we know Jacob Finch has regained his respect, and then some, after publishing ‘Crib’, his new novel. He’s a household name, an Oprah book club choice, and his novel has been optioned for film, by none other than Steven Spielberg.

But just as he’s really hitting his stride, just when his life is really starting to finally come together- professionally, and personally- it would appear that his secret is not entirely his own. It seems someone out there knows that, for all intents and purposes, he stole someone else’s plot.

The question is: Who is taunting him? How do they know where he got the idea for his book, and can he prevent them from blowing up his career and his personal life too?

As I was reading this book, I came across an article about an old ‘feud’ between John Lennon and Rod Stewart, in which the former accused the latter of borrowing a tune from one of their songs. Years later, Stewart addressed the accusation by saying ‘there’s nothing wrong with a good steal’. Ha!

Seemed like an apt quote that went well with this book. It wasn’t outright plagiarism- but… It’s a slippery slope. Yet, who is to say two people can’t have ideas that resemble one another?

It happens all the time. As an avid reader, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve read books with eerily similar- but totally independent- plot-lines. Plus, I’ve seen several household name authors accused of plagiarism- and it does seem like a rite of passage.

The situation in this book, is a bit different than simply borrowing an idea. As it turns out, Jacob steps into a quagmire he never could have anticipated.

Yet, what is really eating at him is his own guilty conscience, his bruised ego at not having been able to come up with this genius plot on his own. He becomes desperate to discover who else knows about the plot. A relative, a friend, a former student? What do they want? Blackmail? Or to simply out him as a fraud- a washed -up writer who couldn’t put together an original thought on his own?

Either way, Jacob has a lot at stake and his panicked state of mind is palpable.

This book has a clever setup, plus, the cat and mouse games are tense and entertaining… provided one manages to remain in the dark throughout the majority of the story. A huge tip off clued me in early on- and as it turns out it’s one of those situations, unfortunately, when knowing the twist in advance ruins the entire book.

Once the cat is out of the bag that early on-it reveals how one-dimensional the story is. The characters were unable to enlist my sympathy, there was nothing emotional or compelling to make up for the advanced knowledge. Of course, I’m not psychic- so I continued reading to see how it would all come together in the end.

I also liked the double entendre- with the title- and I thought the author did a great job with presenting the mindset of the author- the inner workings of publishers, publicist, etc. I also thought the ending was darkly humorous- although I’m not entirely sure that was the author’s intention. The 'Ripley' allegory was a nice touch, too.

Overall, though, despite all the rave reviews for this one, I was underwhelmed and thought the book was over -hyped. Don’t get me wrong-the book is good for a quick escape, but it’s just not worthy of such effusive praise. That said, I seem to be in the minority on this one- many people loved it- so don't let me deter you. You might have better luck with it than I did.

2.5 stars