The Last Illusion of Paige White

A NEW YORK TIMES ＂BEST NEW THRILLER OF JUNE＂

＂Compelling, haunting, and beautifully written . . . a clever, page-turning modern mystery as well as a thoughtful exploration of female friendship, family dynamics, and the complex impact of social media on self-identity.＂--Liane Moriarty, #1 New York Times bestselling author

If you didn’t post it, did it even happen?

＂Maybe this limbo I’m in is me needing to atone for my sins. Maybe I need to go back and remember my life but be more honest with myself this time. Because, stuck in this hazy, perfect world of my own creation, I know that I haven’t been all that honest.＂

Gorgeous, charismatic Paige White has always lived a picture-perfect life. Her meticulously curated social pages exude an old-fashioned, wholesome lifestyle set against a picturesque town in Australia. Images of breakfasts lakeside with her daughter, sunny afternoons in the family van, and romantic picnics with her husband are the envy of her thousands of followers.

But when a dark, brooding image pops up on Paige’s page, where she appears waterlogged and disheveled--and shortly after she’s discovered drowned--alarm bells go off.

Jane Masters, Paige’s childhood best friend, has returned for the funeral. Jane left years ago to pursue a bigger life as a journalist in Sydney, putting everyone from her early days in the rearview mirror. But as Jane sinks deeper into the community she thought she’d never return to, she begins to discover that darker things lurk beneath the sparkle of the lake.

Told partially through Paige’s reflections on her life from limbo, The Last Illusion of Paige White is a smart, introspective, impeccably-plotted mystery that will have readers second-guessing what is truth and what is illusion, and their own obsessions with their online worlds.

Vanessa McCausland studied English and Australian literature at Sydney University and graduated with honors in theatre and performance studies. She worked as a journalist for nearly twenty years, including as a news and arts journalist for the Daily Telegraph, and her writing has appeared in numerous other publications. She’s published four novels in Australia, and lives in Sydney with her husband and daughter.