The Psychological Thriller Best-Seller Becoming a Feature Film

While we can’t yet know how Verity the movie will play out, the book is written in the first person present and the first person epistolary. Readers first meet Lowen Ashleigh, a budding writer who has gained some notoriety in publishing. She is called into her publishing house to meet with Jeremy Crawford, the husband of a hugely successful author, Verity Crawford. 

Verity has written the first few books in a series under contract with the publisher, but she is now in a coma and cannot finish the books. Fans have no idea their favorite author is in a coma, so the publisher wants to bring in a ghostwriter to complete the series under Verity’s name. Jeremy is here to approve of said writer. A Verity movie must be able to build suspense from these very early moments in the same way Hoover does. 

We don’t know why Verity is in a coma, what happened, or whether we are supposed to like Jeremy yet. Everything is very mysterious. Lowen is a bit down on her luck, and she seems sweet and innocent for the time being. She and Jeremy have instant, intriguing chemistry. A Verity movie will have to cast these actors accordingly. 

Lowen goes to the Crawford estate to dig through Verity’s research and complete the book series. There, she meets the couple’s young son, Crew, and discovers that the couple also had twin girls, both of whom are now deceased. She also learns that Verity is in the house, lying in a bed just feet from where Lowen is doing research – research that uncovers a manuscript written by Verity, revealing some very nasty personal truths. 

For a Verity movie to be successful, the writer and director will need to bounce between Lowen’s and Verity’s perspectives as Lowen reads this manuscript and continues about her business in the present. It will be tricky, but it can be done. Think of Gone Girl and The Silent Patient. 

As of now, we know Hillary Seitz is writing the script (Insomnia and Unforgivable), but we have no word on the director yet. Sony Pictures will be the distributor of the Verity movie. Hoover fans are die-hard, devoted members with their own book clubs and social media groups. They are likely on the edges of their seats for more news. 

It is a particularly endearing bit of news to share that Verity will be a movie because Colleen Hoover was not an instant success as an author. She self-published for years before her books took hold in the public mind, and she has become well-known for taking risks as a result. She herself notes at the end of this book that Verity is a departure from her usual style of writing, and it turned out to be a brilliant departure indeed.