The Fake
with Zoe Whittall
Hosted by Steven W. Beattie
Podcast Fiction
Whittall's liar is a villain, a monster, a con-artist, but oh such a vulnerable and broken one. Whittall follows the winding path of emotional devastation and upset wrought by lies in a page-turning tale that is impossible to put down.
Writers Festival Radio is pleased to present this conversation between Steven W. Beattie and.
A con artist walks into a grief support group. Chaos ensues.
After the death of her wife, Shelby is suffering from prolonged grief. She’s increasingly isolated, irritated by her family’s stoicism and her friends’ reliance on the toxic positivity of self-help culture. Then, in a grief support group, she meets Cammie, who gives Shelby permission to express her most hopeless, hideous feelings. Cammie is charismatic and unlike anyone Shelby has ever met. She’s also recovering from cancer and going through several other calamities. Shelby puts all her energy into helping Cammie thrive—until her intuition tells her that something isn’t right.
Gibson is fresh from divorce, almost forty, and deeply depressed. Then he falls in love with Cammie. Not only is he having the best sex of his life with a woman so attractive he’s stunned she even glanced his way, he feels truly known for the first time in his life. But Gibson’s friends are wary of Cammie, and eventually he, too, has to admit that all the drama in Cammie’s life can feel a bit over the top.
When Gibson and Shelby meet, they realize Cammie’s stories don’t always add up. In fact, they’re far from the truth. But what kind of a person would lie about having cancer?
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