I have mixed feelings about fictional biographies. Given how many fascinating "real" biographies exist, it feels like a waste to devote times to made up ones. But I could make the same argument about fiction. ;)

This is a fake biography of a performance artist named X. Part writer, part photographer, part actress, part painter, all Charlatan. X dies suddenly and leaves her wife to pick up the pieces of her secret life: from her childhood and early adulthood in a fictional oppressive regime (a faction of the fundamentalist Christian southern US), through her escape to the north and her cornucopia of aliases.

The first portion of the book was more interesting than the latter, simply because my curiosity about the alternate history of the US far overtook my curiosity about X. X also becomes increasingly difficult to like or root for as the book goes on, even though our narrator loves her (but may not like her. Or truly know her). The people our narrator interview - X's parents, associates, and ex-lovers - are well fleshed out and provide delightfully contradictory accounts that add to the tapestry of the book.

Recommended if you're looking for a fragmented portrait of an elhsivefictional character and how she exists in the eyes of people who once loved her. 3.5 stars on SG rounded down to 3 on GR.