«Verity» is a "sublimely creepy" psychological thriller from #1 New York Times

bestselling author Colleen Hoover.

Lowen Ashleigh is a struggling writer on the brink of financial ruin when she
accepts the job offer of a lifetime. Jeremy Crawford, husband of bestselling author
Verity Crawford, has hired Lowen to complete the remaining books in a successful
series his injured wife is unable to finish. Lowen arrives at the Crawford home,
ready to sort through years of Verity’s notes and outlines, hoping to find enough
material to get her started. What Lowen doesn’t expect to uncover in the chaotic
office is an unfinished autobiography Verity never intended for anyone to read.
Page after page of bone-chilling admissions, including Verity’s recollection of
what really happened the day her daughter died. Lowen decides to keep the
manuscript hidden from Jeremy, knowing its contents would devastate the already
grieving father. But as Lowen’s feelings for Jeremy begin to intensify, she
recognizes all the ways she could benefit if he were to read his wife’s words. After
all, no matter how devoted Jeremy is to his injured wife, a truth this horrifying
would make it impossible for him to continue to love her.

Writer Lowen Ashleigh sees a man die on the way to a meeting with her publisher.
She is aided by a handsome stranger named Jeremy Crawford. They bond
immediately and share their recent personal experiences with grief. Verity has
recently lost her mother to cancer. Jeremy lost both his twin daughters within six
months of each other. They separate but soon discover that they are both headed to
the same meeting at Pantem Press. Jeremy is the husband of Verity Crawford, an
esteemed writer who is unable to finish the three remaining books in her popular
series The Noble Virtues. The deal presented to Lowen asks her to complete the
books for a substantial payment. Facing eviction, Lowen takes the deal and agrees
to travel to Vermont to gather notes from Verity’s office. Before leaving, Lowen’s
literary agent and former lover Corey warns her to be careful given the suspicious
nature of Verity’s car accident, which has left her immobilized.

Lowen arrives in Vermont. At the house, Lowen learns Verity is bedridden and
mute: Her eyes are vacant; she’s unaware of the nurse tending to her: “She blinks,
but there’s nothing there.” Lowen soon gets to know the woman in a more intimate
way than expected. She also meets the one surviving Crawford child named Crew,
a five-year-old boy. Uneasy, Lowen attempts to settle in and begin her work. She
soon discovers a manuscript titled So Be It which she takes to be Verity’s
autobiography but is in fact a writing exercise in which Verity explores violent
impulses to develop her understanding of characters. The autobiography begins by
detailing Verity and Jeremy’s first meeting and their life. The early chapters focus
on Verity’s pregnancy, which she attempted to abort with a hanger. She wrote that
she had a deep hatred for the unborn twin daughters because she was afraid that her
husband would love them more than her. As Lowen reads, she catches Verity
staring at her and grows increasingly more threatened by her presence. Back in the
present day, weird things keep happening: Jeremy’s son, Crew, waves to his
supposedly comatose mother in the window — suggesting she was looking out at
him. Lowen thinks she sees Verity at the top of the stairs, and Crew casually
mentions talking to his mother, leading Lowen to question if Verity is really as
injured as everyone believes.

Disturbed by the content of the manuscript, Lowen suspects that Verity played a
role in the deaths of her daughters. Lowen and Jeremy’s relationship grows more
intimate and they almost kiss. Lowen reads about Verity giving birth to the twins
Harper and Chastin and how she pretended to be a careful mother when her
husband was at home and how she neglects them during the day while Jeremy is at
work.