Based on a True Story

Reviews / Votes

'A timely and compelling study of family guilt. Sarah Vaughan's finest novel yet' MICK HERRON

'Vaughan's novels are not just screenplay drafts: her cool, careful prose is a pleasure to read' TELEGRAPH

'Expertly plotted and crackling with tension, this is dysfunctional family psychodrama at its unputdownable best' GUARDIAN

'This is talented Vaughan's sixth novel and cements her place as one of our finest thriller writers' DAILY MAIL

'The gap between public image and private life is the theme of this clever novel...Intriguing' THE TIMES

'Sarah Vaughan doesn't miss a beat in this intricate family thriller ... As the jeopardy builds, so does the brilliant characterisation' SAINSBURYS MAGAZINE

'Shades of King Lear in this gripping tale of three daughters coming together to celebrate the 70th birthday of their mother ... A notably, well-written, thoughtful thriller, strong on family dynamics' MAIL ON SUNDAY

'Twists, rivalries, and buried truths make this a gripping, suspenseful read' WOMAN'S WEEKLY

'Sarah Vaughan does much more than explore the greed and resentment that so often surround very successful writers; she offers good advice to those with literary aspirations' LITERARY REVIEW

'Vaughan, who has centered top-notch thrillers on the dark sides of fame (e.g., Anatomy of a Scandal, 2018) cleverly weaves elements of King Lear and Golden Age mysteries into this dysfunctional family expose.' BOOKLIST

'Vaughan elegantly toys with readers' expectations as she parcels out details about Eleanor's family and relationships and explores themes of class, power, and the magpie-like nature of authorship...a canny, suspenseful tale' PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

'Packed with twists and oozing with menace, this sharp-edged tale is a taut triumph' CRIME MONTHLY

'This twisty thriller has so much I like: a grand house on a windswept Cornish cliff, an enigmatic writer celebrating her 70th birthday in style, a secret blackmailer and three daughters duking it out to be the favourite. Superbly plotted and engrossing from start to finish' GOOD HOUSEKEEPING

'It was a real pleasure narrating this addictive and extremely twisty literary thriller. I was transported from the recording studio to the novel's Cornish clifftop setting and was totally drawn into the mystery and the dysfunctional Kingman family from the very first page. I hope listeners love this compulsive thriller; it was a lot of fun bringing it to life in audio' JULIET STEVENSON

'A glamorous party on a Cornish clifftop, a family simmering with dark secrets and a wild storm brewing on the horizon are the delicious ingredients of this wonderfully suspenseful novel about ambition, money and lies. No other writer gets beneath the scandalous layers of a family quite like Sarah Vaughan. Absolutely brilliant. I struggled to put it down!' HANNAH RICHELL

'A flawlessly constructed thriller, perfectly paced and filled with smart reveals. This is a read-in-one-sitting delight of a novel!' LUCY CLARKE, The Castaways

'There's a dangerous sense of reckoning in the air as the eminent Kingman family gather at their Cornish clifftop house to celebrate matriarch Eleanor's success - and just possibly to kill each other in the process. A rich, intoxicating brew, I loved it' LOUISE CANDLISH, Our House

'Sarah's elegant prose, stunning descriptions and nuanced characters are all wrapped up in a cracking plot with a ticking clock - the ultimate literary thriller! Secrets, lies, subterfuge, scandal and sibling rivalry - the perfect recipe for a page-turner. I devoured it!' VERONICA HENRY, The Beach Hut

'Glorious Cornish clifftops, a glittering party and a swirling vortex of family secrets . . . Sarah Vaughan lobs an explosive cocktail into Golden Age Crime to create something wholly new and deeply satisfying. I drank it up' SARAH HILARY

'Gripping' CLOSER

'Sarah Vaughan is one of my go-to writers and a modern, female re-telling of King Lear is exactly the sort of brilliance I have come to expect from her. This is a compelling story, with deep roots, which asks us to think about the stories we tell not just publicly, but also privately, to make up a life. It manages that rare trick of being both addictive and thoughtful' ARAMINTA HALL

'Three sisters gather to celebrate with their narcissistic mother. I could literally feel the tension and frustration simmering between the lines. Wonderful storytelling' EMMA CURTIS

'Vaughan sets in motion the final, tragic act of a decades-long family drama. She writes beautifully and incisively; her evocative prose is spiked with sharp observations and insights that spare nobody. Sibling rivalries are stretched to breaking point, secrets leak, and loyalties quiver. When lucrative fame is a member of the family and storytelling is part of your DNA, nothing is predictable. A stunning novel' GILLY MACMILLAN

'A real pressure cooker of a novel - tense, immersive, and brilliantly told. I genuinely couldn't put it down. And the Cornish clifftop setting leapt from the page, with all of its drama and dangerous beauty' EMYLIA HALL

'A rollicking, thrilling read, Based on a True Story snares from the first page with its deliciously dysfunctional, glamorous family, bristling with characters to love or loathe, and a seductive Cornish setting. Another Sarah Vaughan cracker. I loved it' EVE CHASE, The Midnight Hour

'What's not to love? A matriarch with buried secrets, an explosive party at a clifftop house and a family rapidly unravelling - a deliciously twisty page-turner that also packs a real emotional punch. Vaughan is simply a genius at immersing you in simmering tensions and turning up the heat' ELLERY LLOYD, The Club

'Utterly addictive, surprising and full of characters you'll love to hate' LOUISE BEECH

'This is certainly one party no one will forget. With a cast of characters I loved to hate and secrets galore, I couldn't turn the pages fast enough. Smart, propulsive and so much fun . . . I loved it' NIKKI SMITH

'Are there better words than 'there's a new Sarah Vaughan coming out?' Vaughan had created a delightfully suspicious group of party-goers, all with their own questionable ambitions and motives. I particularly adored the Cornish setting - Vaughan captures the light and magic of that coastline so beautifully' HOLLY WATT

'What a delight to be back with Sarah Vaughan's writing, and in particular to back in Cornwall. A sparkling, clever and compelling tale of power, money, lies and the stories we tell ourselves to survive' ANNA MAZZOLA

'An immersive, vivid, escapist story told from multiple perspectives by a fraught cast of characters, most of whom are nursing awful secrets - this is Sarah Vaughan at the height of her powers' LUCY ATKINS

'Sarah Vaughan is the queen of psychological thrillers. Based on a True Story is another twisty, breathtaking banger that held me captive until the dying moments, at which point I needed a stiff drink and a lie down to compose myself again! If you think your family is dysfunctional, meet the Kingmans' STEPH McGOVERN, Steph's Packed Lunch

'A tense story of family secrets, simmering resentments, with a mysterious matriarch at the centre of it. Based on a True Story is a smart exploration of social class and asks the question: is anybody really who they say they are? Vaughan at her best' JO MURRAY, author of Dissection of a Murder

'It's a hugely addictive story with a dark undercurrent, a cast of compelling characters with their own agendas, and breathless twists that make it almost impossible to put down' CRESSIDA MCLAUGHLIN

'Wholly absorbing and utterly addictive, with that perfect blend of twisty plot and stunning prose that readers have come to expect from Sarah Vaughan. One of my favourite books of the year' ANDREA MARA #1 Sunday Times bestselling author of All Her Fault

'Smartly plotted and wickedly fun; the secrets and revelations just keep coming' CLARE FULLER, author of Unsettled Ground

'An immersive, vivid, escapist story told from multiple perspectives by a fraught cast of characters, most of whom are nursing awful secrets - this is Sarah Vaughan at the height of her powers' LUCY ATKINS

'A juicy, atmospheric and unpredictable family thriller which employs both schadenfreude and empathy to have the reader switching sides with every chapter' ERIN KELLY

'I absolutely devoured this book. A predictably gripping read by one of the masters of the genre. I can completely see this stunning book as a mini-series. A skillfully executed and addictive story with characters that jump off the page. The perfect holiday or even non-holiday read. An absolutely triumph. Hooked all the way to that thrilling end. And what a master stroke misdirection!' IMRAN MAHMOOD

'Elegant, absorbing and almost unbearably tense, Based On A True Story tormented me whenever I didn't have it in my hands. A standout psychological thriller of depth and weight with a cast of beautifully-drawn characters. Superb' ROSIE WALSH

'The intelligent whodunnit Sarah Vaughan is queen of the smart thriller (she's the brains behind the delicious Anatomy Of A Scandal) and this story of a household name children's author facing up to her hidden secrets is a masterpiece of plotting and tension. With a windswept coastal retreat (complete with covetable herb garden), bickering grown-up children and blackmail in the inbox, it's one to settle down with in happy solitude'
STYLIST