Who Is Maud Dixon? was an extremely clever and stunning debut novel that was brilliantly written by Alexandra Andrews. It was so hard to get my head around the fact that this was a first novel for Alexandra Andrews because it was a real gem! It was character driven with a suspenseful plot. I was pulled into this riveting psychological thriller immediately and it more than held my attention to very end. It was fast paced with lots of twists and turns.

Many young women hoped to obtain their dream jobs once they graduated from college. Their optimism and confidence thrust them forward in that direction. Florence Darrow was no exemption. She could not wait to escape from her home town and her mother in Florida. Florence’s dream was to become a successful and famous writer and lead a life of luxury. She gladly relocated to New York to make her dream a reality. Once there, though, she found herself in an entry level position in a publishing company with little opportunity to make her dreams come true. Just when Florence was feeling like everyone and everything was working against her she stumbled upon a great opportunity. Florence had answered an advertisement for an assistant’s position for a famous author. The author was no other than the famous and renown author, Maud Dixon. Florence did not know one person who had not known who Maud Dixon was. Her novel was brilliant and had been read by everyone Florence knew. Florence held her breath and anxiously waited to hear if she would be hired as Maud Dixon’s assistant. The stars were finally aligning for Florence. Maud Dixon chose her to be her assistant.

Florence was expected to begin her job immediately but she was instructed that she could never tell anyone that she worked for Maud Dixon or reveal her real name. Florence soon discovered that Maud Dixon’s real name was Helen Wilcox. Helen resided in a secluded yet opulent home in a small upstate town. Florence was more than happy to relocate there and leave everyone and everything behind. She resided in the carriage house while Helen lived in the main house. Everything about the arrangement seemed perfect. Shortly after Florence’s arrival, Helen suggested that Florence should accompany her on a trip to Morocco to do research for her new book.

After having arrived in Marrakesh and then having traveled to the coast, Florence started to feel more comfortable around Helen. Florence’s life was finally starting to get interesting enough for her to begin to contemplate writing a novel of her own. After all, that was Florence’s dream. One evening, Helen invited Florence to join her at a restaurant for dinner. Both Florence and Helen had a lot to drink by the time they were ready to leave and drive back to their villa. Florence had to drive their car over a very treacherous and dangerous road. The next thing Florence remembered was waking up in a hospital room. She was informed that she had been in a devastating car accident. Florence could not remember anything about the accident. Her doctors addressed her as Miss Wilcox. They thought she was Helen but where was Helen? Could Helen have died in the car accident as their car plunged into the ocean? Could Florence just become Helen and live the life she always dreamed about living?

Who Is Maud Dixon? was one of the cleverest and twisty psychological thrillers I have read in a while. The ending was surprising and and unexpected. I thought the characters were well thought out, complex and so interesting. I can’t wait to read Alexandra Andrews’ next book. I highly recommend this book.

Thank you to Little, Brown and Company for allowing me to read this advanced copy of Who Is Maud Dixon by Alexandra Andrews through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I hesitate to love this book. The secondary and tertiary characters are only ok. Even the protagonist isn't much. But the antagonist? Brilliant. I truly loved every moment I spent with Helen, the reclusive author whose notoriety is spiked on the fact that no one even knows who she is. But ... she's Tom Ripley and maybe also Ripley from Alien. She was great. The main character, a young striver in the most boring city in the world, New York, feels alienated because ... she's from Florida? That's almost rude. She isn't actually different at all intrinsically from the editrix class she aspires to join - all are pretty enough to get Me Too'd by millionaires.. And honestly, isn't that just boring enough? Oh well. Thanks for the galley.

This debut character-driven suspense novel set in the publishing world has all the intrigue. An wildly successful author who writes under a pen name, an ambitious wanna be writer, publishing world glitz, a sexy Morocco setting, and a cat and mouse game towrap things up. None of the characters are particularly likable, but I couldn't wait to see which woman was going to outsmart the other. It kind of feels like 3 different books: an author and her assistant living in the country with a bit of a single white female vibe, a travel journal of Morocco, and then the action-packed ending. Despite the somewhat preposterous plot, this book is FUN if you want to watch two smart women locked in a battle of wills (which I definitely do!).

The characters at odds in this suspense thriller were almost equally terrible, and thus it was hard to know who to root for, or how to feel about any kind of success or setbacks they had. But it was in fact suspenseful, and absorbing to watch, in a clear ode to the Talented Mr. Ripley.

Who is Maud Dixon is a phenomenal book that was a thrill to read. I love a book that engrossed me and the pages fly by. I think it's what most readers hope every book becomes. Occasionally we encounter a book of pure adrenaline. This book is in that vein. It's a mystery that you will not see coming and full of plot twists that make this book unputdownable.

This book is great! Would definitely recommend. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Suspenseful and a real pleasure to read. I love the trope of people pretending to be others and I know it’s popular with my library patrons. Highly recommend

Pretty good. I wanted to like it more than I actually did. The idea was a really good one, and I'm really enjoying the whole fake person or fraudulent people pretending to be other people trope.

3/5 Stars

I recommend going into this with zero knowledge, as I did, to enjoy its unfolding. For readers who do not read that way, here you go: this is an unexpected crime story, with slow build suspense, and a bite. It’s about ambition, and identity, not being satisfied, and thinking why not take what you think is owed to you (as if the world owes anyone anything).

We start with Florence Darrow working in publishing who finds herself fired, rightfully so, but before long she has a dream job. A famously anonymous author is hiring an assistant. Not only will she get to work with her, but she’ll get to see her next book, and be one step closer to being an author herself. But after a voyage, and an accident, Florence starts to wonder if maybe it would just be easier if she herself became the anonymous author. I mean if only one other person really knows who she is how hard could it be…

I really enjoyed this and it was a total page-turner for me. It took a thing I’ve read before and made it feel fresh, which is something I always appreciate.

(TW mentions story of man obsessed with teen girl, doesn’t give details)

At a holiday party Florence and her colleagues are trying to figure out who Maude Dixon is. It’s a pseudonym for the author’s first novel that is successful. Florence loses her job. Why? She interviews and becomes the assistant to the author Maude Dixon. Maude is having a “mental block” on writing her second novel. Maude decides to go to Morocco taking Florence with her. Maude is unaware that Florence is hoping that being her assistant will get her published as she wants to be an author too. Will Florence get her wish come true?

The author has written a suspenseful thriller. It’s contains unexpected twists and turns. It is about how far are you are willing to get he life you want. I enjoyed the surprising twists and turns in this novel. It’s a good novel. Don’t miss it!

This book is predictable, but worse than that: the main character is an idiot. Along the way there were clear clues to show her what had happened and she had ways to extricate herself from the situation she found herself in.

I enjoyed the beginning of the book and had hope that the book would redeem itself at the end, but alas, it was not meant to be.

The perfect summer read.

If you enjoy Highsmith style thrillers, you’ll love Who Is Maud Dixon, a zany, constantly shifting thriller from Alexandra Andrews.

Mysterious disappearances, mistaken (maybe deliberately so) identities, and a fun book-within-a-book plot line are all on the menu here, along with all sorts of other excitement.

Protagonist Florence Darrow begins the story as an Everygirl trying to make it in the big city, fresh from the lower middle class suburbs of Florida and now in New York for her first job as a publishing assistant.

Florence rates pretty high on the hayseed scale and the desperation scale, but she’s still a fairly sympathetic character at the outset of the novel. Her ambitions—if muddled and embarrassingly naive—are at least somewhat relatable.

But it isn’t long before things take a turn (or 60), and Florence is in waaaay over her head as the assistant to a hugely successful but fiercely reclusive author.
It isn’t long before Florence becomes the poster girl for what happens when vicious ambition and naïveté combine forces.

If you need your heroine to be textbook heroic this is probably not the book for you, but what Florence ultimately lacks in likability, she more than makes up for in cunning, ambition, and acting as the leading lady in a wild, wild story. Her will to survive and thrive makes her at least somewhat appealing, this is the kind of story where you don’t necessarily need to like the protagonist in order to root for her.

Who is Maud Dixon? is a stunning masterpiece of artistic ingenuity. This is suspense as it has never been known and I simply can not state emphatically enough how brilliant it is!

This is a story that will grab you by the throat from the first lines and shake you until the very last word. These aren’t twist and turns; these are teeth-rattling, vertigo-inducing corkscrews through a labyrinth of omgs! and wtfs?

5/5 ✨period

A story that goes beyond the be careful what you wish for tale. A down on her luck ,this is your last chance gets the job of her dreams. She gets to not only meet a literary legend , she actually gets the chance to work for her. Little does she know she is part of an elaborate plot that involves , murder, theft, and identity theft. As Florence falls under the spell of this eccentric,unorganized and possibly libelous individual she comes to realize she needs a plan of her own. A desperate story, with unscrupulous characters and a twist at the end that asks not for forgiveness or pardon. Happy Reading

As a librarian, I have so many readers who love fast-paced psychological thrillers, like Gone Girl. I can't wait to recommend Who is Maud Dixon? to them. The two main characters -- a famous, reclusive author who wishes to keep her identity a secret, and the unfortunate young woman she hires to be her assistant -- turn out to be a lot more complicated than we first thought. This novel is well plotted and full of very entertaining twists and turns, with a totally satisfying ending.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Who Is Maud Dixon? It’s a fantastic debut novel written by Alexandra Adams. We have Florence, a product of small-town Florida who starts as an assistant at a publishing house then is subsequently, fired for stalkerish behavior before becoming the assistant to a highly successful multi-millionaire author (real name Helen) who writes under a pseudonym. In her already published debut book, Helen writes an amazing story about a Mississippi murder. Florence is then hired to help Helen research an upcoming second novel, set in Morocco. However, during the fact finding trip to Morocco, things go completely awry. I can’t tell you much more because this is a book you need to go into blindly. Do not read the inside cover. The publisher should not have written so much because it gives too many details away. I will say this is about two women; both want power, both have power for a while, but both make terrible mistakes that prove costly. I thought the whole concept was delicious, and I enjoyed it very much. DON’T read the book flaps! The author writes, “ Everyone’s born with different amounts of living in them, and you can tell when someone’s run out.” Dayum! Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC but my review and opinions are my own and without bias. #maudixon #stolenidentities #badgirls @netgalley #excellentwriting #debutnovel @alexandra.andrews.writer #thriller #awesome
.
. . #reading #books #bookstagram #book #read #bookworm #booklover #bookish #bibliophile #reader #novel #booksofinstagram #booklovers #bookish #lindaleereads2021 #mmdbookclub #idratherbereading #readinglife #mmd #modernmrsdarcybookclub

Pros: This thriller was a fun read with many twists and turns. The author did a great job setting up a strong sense of place in different locations--I especially enjoyed the settings in Morocco.

Cons: Several of the plot points were unbelievable, but it can also be fun to suspend disbelief when reading a thriller.

If you were to ask me to pick one word to describe this novel, I'd definitely say it is CLEVER.

This book surprised me in many ways. I started reading this without reviewing the synopsis, so I only had a vague idea of what the story was about. In a nutshell, the story revolves around Florence Darrow, a lowly mid-20-something employee of the publishing industry. Like many 20-somethings before her, she moves to NYC with the hopes of making it as a writer. We have all been Florence. Unsure, envious of our peers who seem lucky and got that big break, and trying to perfect the hustle and figure out what to do in life. Florence is floundering. .

When Florence learns that Maud Dixon, hailed as THE writer of her time, is looking for an assistant, Florence grabs this opportunity by the balls, hoping to learn from her. But little does she know, Maud Dixon (who is really Helen Wilcox), has some twisty plans for Florence.

Helen Wilcox is an intriguing, no-nonsense character who Florence slowly emulates. But both women have a few tricks up their sleeves.

This book reminds me a bit of a cross between Knives Out and a Wes Anderson movie. It is very tongue-in-cheek with it's precision commentary on the publishing industry. It also turns the "unreliable female narrator" trope on its head and really reinvents the game. But most of all, it doesn't take itself too seriously while retaining an edgy feel.

I give Alexandra Andrews kudos for writing such a witty, inventive and entertaining debut novel. Part thriller, part satire, and part The Talented Mr. Ripley (which incidentally, I have not seen but only read about), Who is Maud Dixon is a clever story on what exactly we're willing to do to achieve our dreams.

I definitely recommend it.

Thank you to Net Galley and Little, Brown and Company for the advanced reader's copy.

I started reading Who Is Maud Dixon and found it to be an enjoyable story but nothing outstanding. Then I reached the halfway point and I found my jaw-dropping. I couldn't believe that the main character was about to do what I thought she would. Then 3/4 of the way through the book my mind really started spinning. I was like what is going on here?!! I definitely recommend you check this stunner of a novel out. Read and enjoy!

Absolutely LOVED Who is Maud Dixon even though mystery/thriller is not my typical genre of choice. The main character, Florence, pulled me onto her side and I cheered for her even as I cringed, "GIRL, DON'T DO IT!!" about 15 times. I could not put this down. I read it on a DRC but immediately ordered it in hardback to easily read again. It's a delicious tale worthy of a sequel. HERE FOR IT. Are you listening, Alexandra Andrews?