recluses as authors

Reclusive author M.M. "Mimi" Banning has been holed up in her Bel Air mansion for years after her finances were destroyed in a Ponzi scheme, but a chance encounter with a new assistant for Frank, her nine-year-old son, changes the dynamic of Mimi's relationship with him forever.

Aging, reclusive author Vida Winter, having given out multiple versions of her life story over the years, decides to finally set the record straight and engages Margaret Lea, a London bookseller's daughter, to write her biography, drawing the young woman into a tale of a governess, a ghost, a willful woman, feral twins, and a gothic mansion.

When her health begins failing, the mysterious author Vida Winter decides to let Margaret Lea, a biographer, write the truth about her life, but Margaret needs to verify the facts since Vida has a history of telling outlandish tales.