Unbecoming
Rebecca Scherm, 2015
Penguin Group
320 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780143128311
Summary
A novel of psychological suspense about a daring art heist, a cat-and-mouse waiting game, and a small-town girl's mesmerizing transformation
On the grubby outskirts of Paris, Grace restores bric-a-brac, mends teapots, re-sets gems. She calls herself Julie, says she’s from California, and slips back to a rented room at night. Regularly, furtively, she checks the hometown paper on the Internet.
Home is Garland, Tennessee, and there, two young men have just been paroled. One, she married; the other, she’s in love with. Both were jailed for a crime that Grace herself planned in exacting detail. The heist went bad—but not before she was on a plane to Prague with a stolen canvas rolled in her bag. And so, in Paris, begins a cat-and-mouse waiting game as Grace’s web of deception and lies unravels—and she becomes another young woman entirely.
Unbecoming is an intricately plotted and psychologically nuanced heist novel that turns on suspense and slippery identity. With echoes of Alfred Hitchcock and Patricia Highsmith, Rebecca Scherm’s mesmerizing debut is sure to entrance fans of Gillian Flynn, Marisha Pessl, and Donna Tartt. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—
• Where—
• Education—B.A., New York University; M.F.A., University of Michigan
• Currently—lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, nascetur neque iaculis vestibulum, sed nam arcu et, eros lacus nulla aliquet condimentum, mauris ut proin maecenas, dignissim et pede ultrices ligula elementum. Sed sed donec rutrum, id et nulla orci. Convallis curabitur mauris lacus, mattis purus rutrum porttitor arcu quis. (From .)
Book Reviews
[S]artlingly inventive…Scherm's narrative technique can be disorienting: She's devoted to flashbacks and flash forwards, resists revelations and teases information from a scene. But her deliberately convoluted style suits Grace's elusive nature and that of all the other dissemblers in this story…As for Grace herself, she's a real work of art—even if she is a fake
Marilyn Stasio - New York Times
Scherm’s voice is gutsy.... She shows she has the chops to produce something delightfully wicked.
Chicago Tribune
Scherm has elevated the heist novel beyond entertainment. Like a painting that becomes more intriguing the longer you study it, Unbecoming is a genuine work of art.
Minneapolis Star-Tribune
This lively debut combines a knotty coming-of-age tale and a high-society caper. . . . Scherm is at her best when she is parsing the fumblings of a young woman trying to devise a persona in the world.
New Yorker
Intricately detailed and rich with art and deception, Scherm’s debut is a treat.
People
Scherm’s pulse-quickening debut follows crafty Grace as she flees a love triangle and a heist gone awry, leaving her husband and a friend—a man she secretly loves—to take the rap.
O Magazine
A clever, engrossing thriller . . . You won’t want to stop until you’ve turned the last page.
]Huffington Post
[T]he transformation of a smalltown American girl into a professional international jewel thief.... Scherm mixes a character study with a caper novel full of double-crosses, lies, and betrayals.... She is at her best when describing precious objects...ignored by their owners but appreciated by the professional hired to evaluate them.
Publishers Weekly
Scherm's debut has a plot that twists and turns, but it is the enigma of who Grace really is that will keep readers hooked until the very end. A bleak tone, deeply flawed protagonist, and dysfunctional relationships will draw well-deserved comparisons to Gillian Flynn. —Portia Kapraun, Monticello-Union Twp. P.L., IN
Library Journal
A small-town Tennessee girl flourishes into a classic, yet never cliché, femme fatale in Rebecca Scherm’s provocative coming-of-age debut.... With a well-researched plot and illuminating prose, Unbecoming is an atmospheric adventure from start to finish.
BookPage
More thrills and less ponderous thinking about thrills would have made this an impressive first novel. Instead, it's a decidedly mixed bag, taking too long to gather the momentum it needs to succeed as crime fiction and not quite making the cut as satisfying literary fiction, either.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
1. Discuss the meaning of the novel’s title. Who is unbecoming, how, why, in what ways?
2. Compare Grace’s relationship with Riley to that with Alls. Does she behave differently with them? What are the power dynamics?
3. Grace is a challenging narrator—unreliable and at times unlikeable. How did this affect the way you read the book?
4. Were you surprised by the book’s ending? What were your feelings about the way it ended?
5. Mystery and charisma are a crucial a part of Grace’s personality. Have you ever met someone like Grace?
6. What is the effect of the story being told from Grace’s point of view? How is that significant?
7. What did you take away from theme of the exploring?
(Questions issued by the publisher.)