Verity is a 2018 psychologicalromantic thriller novel by American author Colleen Hoover. The narrative follows Lowen Ashleigh, a writer who is hired to complete a bestselling book series after its original author, Verity Crawford, is left unable to continue due to an accident. While staying at the Crawford family home, Lowen discovers an unfinished manuscript that reveals unsettling details about Verity’s past.
It was originally self-published on December 7, 2018, and later republished by Grand Central Publishing (an imprint of Hachette Book Group) in 2021 following a surge in popularity.[1] The book represents a departure from Hoover’s earlier works, which are primarily contemporary romance.[2] Hoover incorporates elements of suspense and psychological tension, with themes including obsession, deception, and the shifting boundaries between truth and fiction in this novel.
The novel received generally positive reviews and was nominated for a Goodreads Choice Award for Best Romance in 2019 and won the British Book Award for Pageturner in 2023 and the Lovelybooks Leserpreis for Romance in 2020.[3][4][5]
Plot
The novel opens with Lowen Ashleigh, a struggling writer, reflecting on her difficult life and career. She is still processing the death of her mother, which left her emotionally isolated and responsible for her own financial survival. Lowen’s circumstances make her cautious yet eager for any opportunity that could advance her writing career.
On her way to meet a famous publisher, Lowen witnesses a road accident. Blood splashes onto her clothes, leaving her shaken and distressed. A kind pedestrian helps her to calm down and gives her his oversized shirt so that she won't have to wear her blood drained shirt to the meeting. Lowen is unaware of whom the meeting will be with and when she shows up in her ridiculously looking oversized shirt it turns out that the man who helped her after the incident is taking part in the meeting.
Lowen is offered the opportunity to ghostwrite for the bestselling author Verity Crawford who due to a medical condition won't be able to finish her bestselling book series. It turns out that the man who helped Lowen earlier is named Jeremy Crawford and is Verity's husband. Lowen and Jeremy have a special connection from the beginning and Lowen is struck by Jeremy's looks and develops unwillingly romantic feelings for him.
Lowen contemplates the proposition of finishing the famous book series and agrees after a short period of time to accept the book deal. On Jeremy's request Lowen travels to Crawford's home in order to look through Verity's endless files and notes about the following books in the series.
Arriving at the remote, eerie lake house, Lowen realises the magnitude of Verity's medical condition. Lowen meets the non-responsive and bedridden Verity who seems neither conscious nor is she able to move. Lowen learns that the couples twin sisters thus two of the three Crawford children had died under tragic circumstances a couple months earlier. As a result of her daughters deaths Verity accelerated her car into a tree attempting suicide and is since then in need of constant medical care.
Sifting through Verity’s notes, Lowen finds a hidden, unpublished autobiography manuscript labeled "So Be It", in which Verity describes her obsessive love for Jeremy and jealousy toward their twin daughters, Chastin and Harper, whom she viewed as competition for his affection. The script reveals tremendous amounts of shocking information about Verity's relationship to her children as well as Verity's myriad negative thoughts of jealousy and disgust towards her children.
Verity's writing admits to wishing for Harper’s death after Chastin died due to an allergic reaction. She also admits to witnessing Harper’s drowning without intervening. Lowen is shocked and overwhelmed by the revelations and begins to suspect that Verity is faking her condition for unclear reasons. Lowen starts to view Verity as the pure evil and is increasingly scared of her.
Throughout the plot Lowen starts slowly to fall in love with Jeremy, who appears emotionally broken and vulnerable, bearing the huge trauma of a severe damaged wife and the death of both his daughters. They have conversations with flirty undertones and Jeremy's various nice gestures make Lowen fall even harder for him and she develops detailed sexual fantasies about him. Hence, they begin a romantic relationship which starts with a kiss and escalates with sexual intercourse on several occasions.
Lowen starts to suspect that Verity is faking her condition. Lowen has heard suspicious noises from Verity's room on several occasions but is unsure of whether it's only her being paranoid or if Verity is faking her condition. Lowen finds a baby camera surveillance system in the Crawford's basement which she sets up in Verity's room. Lowen witnesses that Verity moves her leg slightly and after longer contemplation Lowen decides thus to show Jeremy Verity's manuscript, and states that she fears Verity has been faking her condition.
Jeremy reads the manuscript and subsequently confronts Verity physically. Lowen sees Jeremy attacking Verity on the baby camera system. She joins Jeremy in an attempt to stop him from attacking Verity. Jeremy is consumed by his madness, and even Lowen believes that the only way he’ll ever be freed from his emotional trauma is if Verity dies, relieving him of the burden of caring for her for the rest of her life. The two of them somewhat spontaneously decide to kill Verity and make it look like, as if Verity would have died because of her allegedly severe medical condition.
After Verity's death Lowen and Jeremy confess their love for each other. Their relationship results soon in a child and when the new couple returns to the Crawford's home to get some stuff out of the house Lowen makes a breath-taking discovery. Lowen discovers a hidden letter from Verity beneath a floorboard. In the letter, Verity claims that the manuscript "So be it" was a work of fiction written from the perspective of a villain. She asserts that she never harmed her children and explains that she faked her paralysis because she feared for her safety after Jeremy’s reaction to the manuscript.
Lowen destroys the letter, deciding that the truth—whatever it may be—should remain buried.
Characters
Lowen Ashleigh
Lowen is the novel’s protagonist, a struggling writer with financial troubles and little confidence in her career. After her mother’s death, she feels isolated and vulnerable. Her life takes a sharp turn when she is offered the chance to ghostwrite Verity Crawford’s bestselling series. Curious and cautious, Lowen discovers Verity’s chilling manuscript, which draws her deeper into the Crawfords’ dark family secrets. As she stays longer in the Crawford home, Lowen becomes emotionally entangled with Jeremy, raising questions about loyalty, morality, and truth.
Verity Crawford
Verity is a famous author who, after a near-fatal accident, is left bedridden and unresponsive—or so it seems. Before this, she shared a seemingly perfect life with her husband Jeremy and their three children—Chastin, Harper, and Crew.
Her hidden manuscript So Be It reveals disturbing thoughts about her children and an obsessive love for Jeremy, painting her as manipulative and cruel. But a secret letter later suggests the manuscript was only a writing exercise, leaving her true nature uncertain. Is Verity a heartless villain, or a misunderstood woman trapped by fear and circumstance – the plot leaves it for the reader to decide.
Jeremy Crawford
Jeremy, Verity’s husband, is presented as a devoted yet broken man who has endured unimaginable loss. With two daughters dead and his wife incapacitated, he tries to keep his family together while protecting his surviving son, Crew. Jeremy’s relationship with Lowen adds complexity to his character—torn between grief, anger, and the possibility of new love. His reaction to Verity’s manuscript and the choices he makes later in the story raise moral questions about his role in the family tragedy.
Crew Crawford
Crew is Verity and Jeremy’s young son, the only surviving child after the deaths of his sisters. Innocent and vulnerable, Crew is often caught between his parents’ fractured world. His presence highlights what is truly at stake and adds emotional depth to the novel’s tense atmosphere.
Chastin and Harper Crawford
The twin daughters of Jeremy and Verity serve as haunting figures in the novel. Chastin dies from an allergic reaction, while Harper later drowns in a lake. In Verity’s manuscript, these deaths are framed as a result of her jealousy and neglect, though the truth remains uncertain. Their absence looms heavily over the family, shaping the narrative’s central conflicts.
Editions
The novel was initially released in Kindle edition on December 7, 2018. Three days later, December 10, 2018, it was released in paperback.[1]
It was announced in 2020 that Amazon Studios would adapt the novel into a film of the same name, with the screenplay being produced by April Maguire and Will Honley.[6]
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