Pretending to Be Erica

In Painchaud%E2%80%99s sometimes farfetched but psychologically sophisticated debut, 17-year-old Violet has assumed the identity of Erica Silverman, a girl from an affluent family who was kidnapped 13 years ago. Violet is the foster daughter of a con man named Sal who spent 12 years training her in the art of impersonation and reading people%E2%80%99s emotions in order to manipulate them. Violet has had multiple cosmetic surgeries to resemble Erica; Sal aims to have Violet gain Mrs. Silverman%E2%80%99s trust and eventually steal a valuable painting. But several people might be on to Violet, including a psychologist, two students, and a private investigator (Violet isn%E2%80%99t the first person to impersonate Erica). Furthermore, Violet%E2%80%99s growing ambivalence over her deception and her desire to maintain honest friendships threaten to break her carefully constructed fa%C3%A7ade. Painchaud skillfully shifts between first-person (with Violet as Erica) and third-person (as Violet recalls her disturbing upbringing). Many readers will likely hope for Violet%E2%80%99s fraud to go undetected even as they wish her to be freed from the life that circumstances have led her to steal. Ages 12%E2%80%93up. Agent: Jessica Faust, BookEnds Literary Agency. (July)