Untold Story

Untold Story
by Monica Ali
Scribner, 2011. 259 pg. Fiction

What if Princess Diana had actually faked her own death and escaped to America? This book imagines her ten years later as Lydia, an Englishwoman who lives in a small town somewhere in the American Midwest and spends her days working at the local animal shelter, swimming, and visiting with her group of friends.

I’ve read mixed reviews of this book, but I really liked it. You do have to be able to suspend disbelief enough to accept the premise of the book and to see Lydia as a character invented by the author, rather than trying too hard to fit everything into the story of Diana. At the same time, Ali does a great job of imagining the possibilities of an alternate reality.

JC