The Other Typist

by Suzanne Rindell

A haunting debut novel set against the background of New York City in the 1920s…

Confessions are Rose Baker’s job. A typist for the New York City Police Department, she sits in judgment like a high priestess. Criminals come before her to admit their transgressions, and, with a few strokes of the keys before her, she seals their fate. But while she may hear about shootings, knifings, and crimes of passion, as soon as she leaves the room, she reverts to a dignified and proper lady. Until Odalie joins the typing pool.

As Rose quickly falls under the stylish, coquettish Odalie’s spell, she is lured into a sparkling underworld of speakeasies and jazz. And what starts as simple fascination turns into an obsession from which she may never recover.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Mystery, Book Club, Historical, New York, Thriller

357 pages, Hardcover

First published May 7, 2013

About the author

Upcoming novel:

SUMMER FRIDAYS
***May 28, 2024!!!***

Suzanne Rindell is the author of four previous novels: The Other Typist, which has been translated into 20 languages, Three-Martini Lunch, Eagle & Crane, and The Two Mrs. Carlyles.

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About my reviews/activity on Goodreads: I only rate and review books I *like.* If I'm not into it, I simply don't rate it/review it. So you'll only see four or five stars ratings from me, and maybe a few notes about who I think might best enjoy the book in question.

Reviews

[~✡~Dαni(ela) ♥ ♂♂ love & semi-colons~✡~ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Well, I feel like I need a cigarette and a martini.

What to say about this book? It's such a mind-fuck that it's hard to piece together, and I'm not certain that the story (or the ending) actually makes sense.

Set in the mid-1920s in New York during the Prohibition, the novel follows Rose (the narrator) who becomes obsessed (perhaps sexually) with another typist at work: the beautiful, charming, alluring, mysterious Odalie.

Rose and Odalie are typists at a New York police station. They take down confessions and transcribe various notes. As Rose and Odalie grow closer, Rose realizes that Odalie is involved is some unsavory activities having to do with bootlegging. She also realizes she has no idea which of Odalie's stories about her past is true, or if any of them are. Who is Odalie? Where does she get her money? Where does she come from? A summer outing to a Gatsby-like mansion outside of the city pushes Rose and Odalie into a jarring meeting with someone from the past.

This was such an odd book, well written but overstyled and too heavy on the exposition and internal monologue.

There's also a LOT of foreshadowing, and I mean a lot. It's not subtle. It sort of hits you over the head a few times. Rindell uses phrases such as "Had I known then what I know now," "Oh, how little I really knew," "You may think me naive, but...." and so on, ad nauseum.

We realize early on that Rose is a naive narrator, and again this particular construct is not in the least bit subtle. We don't discover that we've been duped; we anticipate being duped. We also know that something bad will happen at the end, and the whole book is filled with tension leading up to this climax. Except the climax is not a great surprise, and the ending, while weirdly delicious, isn't really believable.

For a twist to have an a-ha moment of total clarity, I think we need to be able to trace the story and see the clues along the way so that the conclusion makes sense (you know how at the end of The Sixth Sense, you're like, holy crap, he's dead, he's totally dead, of course he is). Well, this isn't like that. Maybe the ambiguity is the point, but I found it strangely jarring yet not completely satisfying. But, hell, at least it made me think.

[Cora Tea Party Princess · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't know how I can properly review this book. My head is still reeling from that ending.

This book is a delicious mix of 1920s crime, punishment and mystery. Just who are Rose and Odalie, really? I still don't know. Which one is Ginevra? Were either of them ever Ginevra?

I am a sucker for a poisonous relationship in a book and all that it can bring, and this one is TOXIC. Odalie is mesmerising to everyone, even the reader who should be able to see through her. She is like an enchantress, weaving the actions and words of everyone and everything to her benefit.

I loved the lavish lifestyle of Rose and Odalie as described in this book. It makes me want to bob my long hair and loose a lot of weight so I can pull of the gorgeous outfits, and move into a sumptuous suite in a hotel.

I think you'll appreciate this book about prohibition New York best with a gin and tonic or a champagne cocktail. I know it made me want one!

I received this as a Goodreads First Read. Thank you very much Penguin for this wonderful read.

NOVEMBER 2013 - SIX MONTHS ON
I first read this book in May and I still can't stop thinking about it. It's the type of book that gets into your head and stays with you.

I still want to drink cocktails and smoke cigarettes in long holders and wear gorgeous clothes and live in an opulent hotel. Heck, I even want to work as a civilian in the police force (seriously).

All through the book you think one thing, then near the end another thing, and then the last page, the last words, just completely smash your theory to smithereens.

I'm still wondering about that ending, about how it all ended up like that and how crazy the journey was. I even contacted the author to tell her how much I enjoyed this book - and she's lovely.

I will be re-reading this book, that is certain. It will be my cheeky Christmas read - it's lavish enough to make the season all the more special.

June 2015 - 2 YEARS ON
This book is still haunting me. I'm itching to read it again but at the same time pretty apprehensive, because will it be as awesome as I remember..?

I received a copy of this for free via Goodreads First Reads.

[Dannaca · Rating 4 out of 5]

First of all, let me say that I was dying to give this book five stars...but there were a few big things that meant that I couldn't.

First off, what I liked: Oh my gosh. This is an author with a great voice. The wording was excellent and it pulled me in from the get-go. She knows how to create atomosphere without bogging the book down in pointless detail and that is a skill that is lacking far too often in books. She didn't use a lot of words when she set her scenes, but I could actually smell the scents she described and feel the emotions. The other thing that I loved was that the characters were very realistic. Some of them were more well rounded than others, but even the minor characters felt real. No one was cliched or stilted and I loved that. I really can't say enough good things about her characters. Finally, clearly she has done her research. The historic details were spot on and really made me feel like I'd dropped into the twenties.

What I didn't like: the ending. I won't give anything away, but it was one of those where you aren't really sure what happened. If it was meant to be Odalie then the details don't add up at all. However, if it wasn't Odalie then the very last sentence makes no sense unless there is a sequel and this book didn't feel like it needed a sequel until that moment. So it really kind of left me scratching my head a little.

For a first novel, this book is excellent with only a few minor points to improve upon. With a little added clarity in the end this book would be five stars for sure.

[Julie Ehlers · Rating 2 out of 5]

Moderately entertaining, I suppose, but this has to be one of the most overwritten books of all time. So many adjectives! So many adverbs! So many idioms when a single word would do just as well! Vast amounts of clunky, obvious foreshadowing! And a narrator who's unreliable--which we know because she helpfully tells us so, several times. Uh, that's not really how you're supposed to do it. The whole thing reads like some kind of parody. I can't recommend it. If you're in the mood for some 1920s-set fiction with Gatsby aspirations, read Rules of Civility. Don't bother with this.

11/3/2014: I feel like I need to edit this review to point out that even the people who liked this book are confused about the ending, which is one of the book's major failings. A twisty or surprise ending is not an asset if it's so confusing that nobody can actually figure out what the hell happened. So don't think the fact that you didn't understand the ending is your fault. It's actually a major flaw in the book itself.

I received this ARC via Shelf Awareness, in case anyone is wondering. There was no expectation of any kind of review.

[Dem · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Other Typist by Suzanne Rindell is one of those novels with the right amount of suspense and intrigue that leaves you guessing right until the novel's conclusion.

The story centres around Rose who is employed as a stenographer in a New York Police Department and appears to be innocent and naive and somewhat staid in her ways. Rose's life changes forever the day the other typist is hired to work in her department and we see Rose become obsessed by the flamboyant Odalie.

Rose is an unreliable narrator and while I have met a few unreliable narrators in fiction novels over the past few months I still enjoy this sort of fiction..... For Now! I really loved the descriptive writing and thought the author did a fantastic job in giving the reader a sense of time and place and I was certainly catapulted right back to the 1920s and was very reluctant to leave.

The characters of Rose and Odalie are extremely well drawn and not likable which I know will bother a lot of readers as they will find it difficult to connect with these ladies but I loved the characters in this novel as they are complex and well drawn . The writing is very descriptive but this works for this novel and I loved the descriptions which conjured wonderful images in my head of New York and the 1920s. On finishing the novel my reaction was , WoW!

I really wanted a little bit of escapism and I certainly got it with this book. So 5 stars is what I am rating this novel because I really enjoyed it and I think it will make a great summer read.

[Cece (ProblemsOfaBookNerd) · Rating 2 out of 5]

*long, drawn-out sigh*

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an excellent debut, and the author will no doubt go on to write some great stuff. I see this as a movie.

However. There were some elements (no spoilers) that just weren't quite believable. And I have some historical quibbles. No one will care but me - I'm just satisfying my urge to nitpick:

1. The protagonist claims a typing speed of 160 wpm. The world speed record was 147 wpm in 1923. I type 92 wpm on a modern computer keyboard, but I learned on a 1920s era Underwood, which is why I checked. This took me about one minute to research. I'd chalk it up to an "unreliable narrator" except that such a fuss was made about using a stopwatch for a speed test, and how she did the work of two people.

2. The fox trot is unjustly accused of becoming unfashionable. On the contrary, the vast majority of recorded dance music sold from the end of WWI through the 1940s was for the fox trot. It has never completely faded away to the present day, and in 1924 it would have been *the* fast dance. I love it; it's fun, easy to learn, easy for a man to teach to even a klutzy novice partner, and a number only lasts about 3 minutes so it doesn't require much social investment. But anyway.

3. I don't buy the concept of a visibly pregnant woman being allowed to go to work in that context in 1924. It wasn't necessary to the story, either.

4. Where did Odalie learn to type? My grandmother learned in business school in the 30s.

One day I'll write a historical novel. It will be accurate and nobody will read it. :-)

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story is a well-written, twisty tale of obsession, betrayal and murder. I absolutely loved it!! Although not as bleak and complex, this mystery reminded me somewhat of The Woman Upstairs. The two novels involve self-absorbed, repressed and unreliable narrators. Both women become acquainted and then obsessed with someone smooth, sophisticated and charismatic; and that person represents all that they desire for themselves. Any more details would ruin all the fun. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

[Mandy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I feel really really bad saying this, but it was a disappointment for me. The set up sounded so juicy, but it didn't live up to it for me :(

Overall, I found it superficial, melodramatic and unbelievable. By that I mean, I believe these characters could have indeed existed as people and that these events could indeed have happened, however I did not believe the development was sufficient in making the characters multidimensional and circumstances were insufficiently described.

Now, I know a lot of the above is because of the perspective with which the story is told. The protagonist, or narrator, is shaping the lense through which the story was told or retold. But since I found her to be insufficiently developed, I did not care for her tone and therefore the tone of the story. I also didn't like her, which brings me to my next issue.

The protagonist, Rose, was just not likable. In fact, she was annoying. I know that the reader doesn't have to like the protagonist. But the reader should feel invested. There have been many stories where I did not "like" the narrator (Gone Girl), however, the reader has to feel invested in the life and perspective of the character. Rose's inner monologue, along with other elements of the story that she described, reminded me of stories from the Romantic Era and dare I even compare it to the vapid main character in the (groan!)"Gray" series. Rose is either as boring as she explains herself to be, and why would I be interested in that? Or she isn't, and why do I want to feel like she is fishing for compliments the whole book?

Additionally, I found times where character development was either poorly developed or inconsistent. For example, Odalie is apparently very good and being sneaky, being mysterious, and keeping calm under pressure. Yet, when she meets Teddy at the garden party, she is uncharacteristically nervous and lets it show immensely to everyone. If she's a true sociopath, which she was painted to be, she would keep her cool or show a teeny tiny smidge of something that Rose caught on being that she is obsessed with documenting her, I know this is likely showing how much his presence impacts her, but it was just such a jump. In theory, people were either black or white with nothing in between and the times where the author did try for autonomy seemed forced and superficial (The scene between Rose and Vitali in the interview room where she draws blood? Not believable to me.)

There were other instances in the book that reminded me of throw backs to the Romantic Era of literature... i.e. the Inspector Detective who is obviously a stand in for Mr. Darcey. And there were literary allusions to Jane Austen as well, but I couldn't decide if this was purposeful to show the personality and interests of Rose or just a recycled storyline. In the acknowledgements, the author refers to her paying homage to this great book "one or two times" in the story, but to me, it was much more than that. It was an insufficient tribute/recycled storyline.

And speaking of recycled storylines, the whole time I was reading this book, I was thinking that this story sounded very familiar. A plain protagonist in the wings chronicling the journey of a flashy newfound friend set in the 1920s. Said flashy friend has a mysterious past that keeps changing and said charismatic friend also seems to have a poor mastery of geography when it comes to saying where they are from: Middle West--San Francisco, Santa Fe--California.

Yes, I felt like I was reading a poor-man's (or in this case poor-woman's) Great Gatsby. And that's something you just can't recreate no matter how great of a writer you are.

A lot of people are talking about the ending and what a surprise it was etc etc. I didn't feel surprised at all and didn't think it was a very fair twist. The jumping around in chronology seemed less like a suspense tactic and more like a dirty trick. Like the unbelievable movie storylines that end up being a dream and never really happened. It left me feeling cheated.

This all being said, I finished the book. And I will indeed stop reading a book if I feel like it's a lost cause. And there are slews of positive review on this book so its all about opinion and style preference.

I think this is just not the type of style writing and novels I enjoy these days. The voice and perspective reminded me a lot like A Thousand White Women, another book many people loved more than I did.

The writer is obviously smart and talented. She is writing in a genre that is popularly and relies upon the reader recognizing certain elements of the genre. So it's like it's a given that elements are recycled and you just go along with it such as in Chick Lit, Fantasy, etc. Suzanne Rindell wrote and published a full-length novel during a time where there are a lot of options in her genre and a lot of readers loved it so kudos to her. I would read her second book.

Obviously I am in the minority on this because it seems to be a popular book on here.

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Holy Crap! I really don't know what to think about the outcome of this debut novel, but I sure was surprised! What I think I know for sure is this........

It's the roaring 20's in New York City and a psycho-lunatic is on the loose disguised as a young woman. (no spoiler here)

Rose is an honest, hard-working stenographer working for the lower east side police precinct who shares a small room in a boarding house with a lying, gossiping bitch.

Odalie is a rich, high society dame with a personal agenda who comes to work at the precinct and befriends Rose who soon becomes her roommate and bosom buddy moving into her classy upscale hotel.

What happens next is big-time, but subtle obsession, revengeful betrayal, multiple murders, outrageous lies and an unexpected ending you'll not deduct from this review, and that's a fact!

Suspenseful, a bit wordy at times, but Great Debut!

[Susan Melgren · Rating 1 out of 5]

The opening line of "The Other Typist" was captivating: "They said the typewriter would unsex us."

But from there, it was all downhill.

This was hands-down one of the most disappointing, poorly written novels I have read in the past few years. The premise excited me: an intrigue/thriller set in 1920s "speakeasy" New York. Sounds good, right? But for all the author's excess use of adjectives, I got no sense of place from her writing. The characters may bob their hair, go to speakeasies and drink homemade gin, but at no point in the novel did I feel transported to 1920s New York. I felt like the events could have been happening at any time, in any place.

The pacing of the novel was terribly slow for me. The events in this "thriller" were far from thrilling; they weren't even interesting! I was well over 150 pages in before I had the faintest interest in the plot—and even then the interest was, as I said, faint. There were no compelling events to move the plot along; and neither were the characters compelling. If you're going to write in first-person narration, your narrator had better be interesting and write with a good voice, but Rose Baker's narration was as exciting as....cardboard. She has no depth, and appears to apply no thought to her action. I found Odalie utterly uninteresting as well—which is extra bad, I believe, when the premise of the entire novel is based on this character being so alluring and manipulative that you can't help but be entranced by her. It's not hard to see right through Odalie, even before she has made her debut in the novel's events. All throughout the book I thought "So what?" and "Who cares?" about Odalie. And watching Rose fall for this see-through character makes her even more unlikable. You have a brain, Rose. USE IT.

I think the main problem with this book is the writing. Rindell writes in a manner I would expect from students in a Fiction Writing 101 class. It's very basic. She does a lot of "telling" and not a lot of "showing." She leaves nothing to the imagination, which is insulting to the reader. I don't need it spelled out for me exactly what Rose is feeling; I can glean that from conversation, actions, etc. But instead of letting the plot take main focus, Rose has to tell us EVERYTHING. I can't imagine anyone being shocked at the ending because Rindell very strongly hints at it throughout the entire novel. In every single chapter Rose lets us know that she is writing this from the future, that some dramatic event has happened, that she is in an institution, etc. And my god, how many times can she say "Where should I start? I guess I should tell this in order," or "Oh, but I'm getting sidetracked, what I meant to say is" BLAH BLAH BLAH. Don't waste words telling us that you're going to tell us something. JUST TELL US. Much of Rindell's writing is worthless, doing nothing to move the plot along or help us understand the characters. It's like being stuck at a party with someone who likes to hear themself talk.

I would definitely not recommend this book to a friend.

[Elizabeth of Silver's Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

The narration of the book was superb, the entire book was amazing, and the ending was incredible.

The characters came alive, and I could see every scene vividly. Ms. Rindell brought to the literary world a great style and an extraordinary book. Her descriptions are so lyrical and detailed you can easily and pleasantly visualize even the slightest action. The main "stage" of the book takes place in a police station, but that was not a detriment to the story. The smooth, easy flow of the novel was flawless, entertaining, and a bit mysterious.

The book focused on the lives of the two main characters, Rose and Odalie, with Odalie being "the other typist." The author was exploring relationships and human interaction....something we all have in our lives and need to deal with. Rose was the honest, unassuming one and Odalie seemed to want a friend but was manipulative, cunning, almost villian-like, and had another life separate from her typist's life at the police station. A life that Rose was not aware of but found out as their friendship progressed.

It was quite easy to get involved in the characters' lives which made the book difficult to put down. You will absolutely love how the book flowed but you will also be afraid for Rose as she enters this new relationship with Odalie. I liked Rose at the beginning but became disappointed as the book continued because of how she changed and how she was so captivated and easily swayed by Odalie. I didn't like Odalie from the minute she walked through the door at the police station on her first day of her new job. I could immediately tell what kind of person she was. Are you curious why I am saying this? :) You will have to find out when you read this impressive book.

Think of a friendship you had in your life. Was it a friendship that lasted, was it simply a friendship that you thought was a good one but one that didn't last, was it one you really shouldn't have been in, or was it one that turned out to be a friendship for life?

This book has everything a wonderful book should have: a beautiful writing style, characters you will become attached to, outstanding descriptions, an easily pulled into storyline, and a bit of secrecy and intrigue. Absolutely loved it. 5/5

This book was given to me free of charge and without compensation by the publisher in return for an honest review.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a suspense/crime novel taking place in the ’20’s. As I read it, I saw a film noir type movie in my mind. The pace of the suspense of the novel, the rhythm, the dialogue, the intrigue: fabulous. It’s narrated by a typist named Rose. She’s a typist for the New York City Police Department during the beginning of Prohibition. She was raised by Nuns in an orphanage and has strict Victorian Standards. She prides herself on being plain, for glamorous women “ask for trouble”. The Volstead Act increased the work load for the Police, and as a result, they need to hire another typist to keep up with all the work. In comes the beautiful Femme Fatale, Odalie. We quickly learn that Rose is perhaps a questionable narrator. I am reminded of Humbert Humbert, both as a dubious source of information, but as a narrator with obsession and boundary issues. Rose instantly dislikes Odalie, yet at the same time becomes drawn to and obsessed with her. Soon Rose becomes entwined in Odalie’s life and suspect activities which involve speakeasies and deceit. The reader knows this will not end well. As the story progresses I became involved in Rindell’s use of psychological suspense right to the very end. I am impressed that this is Suzanne Rindell’s first novel. I’m looking forward to more of her work. Incredible writing for a novice writer.

[Britany · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rose Baker is a typist in a NYC police precinct in the 1920s. Just your average looking, plain girl, raised in an orphanage, with no close family or friends. Her life suddenly changes when in walks Odalie Lazare starting as the newest typist. Just as suddenly, Rose is introduced to speakeasies, luxury, and bathtub gin. She becomes enraptured with her new best friend to a detrimental end.

Honestly hard to believe that this is Rindell's first book. Writing is spectacular and I kept comparing to Gatsby (MY favorite!), Black Swan, and part Girl Interrupted! Never sure who to trust (Hello, unreliable narrator!) and who to believe. Great book! Can't wait for the movie to come out!

[Roman Clodia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Somehow we had gone off to war and had come back world-weary... yet at the same time we'd managed to make a generational career out of pretending virginal adolescence. In short, I had come to the conclusion the whole pack of us were fakes.

This is the sort of audiobook that is so gripping that I was almost wishing for red signals on my commute with unexplained delays in the tunnel so I could keep listening!

Set in 1920s New York, the material has been done before but something about the intensity of the writing and deep characterisation made it feel fresh all over again. Rose is a police typist who falls into an obsession with modern flapper-girl Odalie who comes to work in the same precinct. Before we know it, the girls are room-mates, Rose is partying in speakeasies and Odalie is picking up the tab for everything. The catch? Well, yes, we soon find out!

With little cultural homages to The Great Gatsby, this is a gripping look at those literary perennials: desire, money, identity, innocence, betrayal and illusion. What makes it special is Rose's voice in this 1st person narrative fabulously read by Gretchen Mol: Rose's hindsight, the things she doesn't know but which we can guess, her blindness and her prevarications are fascinating to witness. Her gradual understanding that still doesn't stop her idolising of Odalie - and the lovely development of the epilogue - I just lapped this all up!

[Diana · Rating 3 out of 5]

9/14/2020: I read this book years ago, and still wonder about the ending from time to time. Would love to reread at some point...
_ _ _

3.5 Stars — THE OTHER TYPIST was a most curious book. I finished it a week ago, and I’m still trying to process everything. The story is told by Rose, a typist in a New York City police precinct in 1924. On the surface, there’s nothing remarkable about Rose. She lives in a boarding house and works hard at her job. Then she starts telling us about a new typist named Odalie that starts work at her precinct. Where Rose is average, Odalie is extraordinary. Sophisticated, worldly, beautiful, exciting. Rose feels like the chosen one when Odalie befriends her.

As the story progressed, I got the sense that something was “off” about Rose. Her friendship with Odalie morphs into an obsession. We learn unsettling things about both Rose’s and Odalie’s past. There was more to Odalie than what she seemed, but was Rose telling the truth about what really happened between them? It was hard to tell. Underneath the laughs, booze, and parties, there was an ominous tone giving me the feeling that something wasn’t quite right.

The ending of this book was… Surprising? Confusing? Both? Most of the ending I thought was good. I liked the twist, and finally finding out what was really going on. Oh, very devious… However, the last sentence baffled me! I was like, “Wait. What???” I felt like either I missed something, or the characters were simply messing with us poor readers.

I suspect this review doesn’t make a lot of sense, but that’s kind of the feeling I took away from this book! Maybe that was the point. Aside from that, I thought the writing was good. I loved taking a step back into the 1920s, and the author did a fine job bringing that decade to life. I’d recommend THE OTHER TYPIST to fans of this time period, as long as you don’t mind a story with an open-ended conclusion.

[Noeleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seriously, it's difficult to believe this is a debut novel. I had to keep checking to be sure. It is so well written. Set during the roaring ‘20s during the Prohibition, it tells the story of two typists, Rose and Odalie, who work at a New York City police precinct. But that’s just the beginning...this is a real page turner of a psychological thriller with varied, interesting and memorable characters, characters both within and external to the precinct. But it is the unreliable narrator, Rose, who makes this book what it is and as far as unreliable narrators go, she is definitely one of the best that I have read to date. As much as I loved this book and really wanted to award it a full five stars, there were a couple of reasons why I didn’t. One was the use of foreshadowing, a technique which I really love, but on this occasion, I think that it may have been overused and therefore didn’t entirely compliment the ending. That said, this is a riveting read that you will find difficult to put down. You will be wondering about the truth of the story and trying to work it all out again in your mind, long after you have read it. I will be waiting eagerly and impatiently for more from this author. I still can’t believe it’s a debut!

[Jill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh, that fascinating unreliable narrator! How we love to hate her! Suzanne Rindell introduces a particularly mystifying narrator to the forefront in the person of Rose – a typist in the New York City Police Department during the time of the speakeasies.

Here are the facts, and just the facts, ma’am: Rose Baker, a young woman with a very fluid sense of self, is working in a particularly seedy police precinct as a stenographer and typist. Raised as an orphan in a convent, Rose prides herself on her extreme control of her emotions and her sense of uptight morality.

Yet soon enough, a particularly intoxicating new typist named Odalie is hired and Rose – just like her much-admired and morally upright Sargeant and more forgiving Lieutenant Detective – falls under her spell. Rose in particular is captivated by Odalie and flattered that this lovely creature has taken an interest in her. Before too long, they are the best of friends, navigating a dual life of police work during the day and speakeasies when the day winds down.

To go any further would be to create spoilers. Let me say this: this book will have you guessing until the very last line – and I do mean the very last line. It’s a psychological study that evokes Zoe Heller’s Notes From A Scandal and Patricia Ripley’s The Incredible Mr. Ripley, with a touch of The Great Gatsby thrown in for good measure.

It’s a book that focuses on obsession, the search for one’s authentic self, the shifting nature of the truth, the nature of love and temptation, and how easy it is to break our own moral boundaries and codes. As readers, we never quite have a handle on who the mysterious Odalie is but even more troubling, we’re not sure who Rose is, either. We can easily see how our “truths” are not all so self-evident.

The details of the 1920s – the bobbed hair, the speakeasies with their magical code words, the more hidden lives of women in a man’s world – are all beautifully rendered here as well. This is one of those books – like Gone Girl – that will have you second-guessing everything you believed and rushing out to share your interpretation of what has occurred with other avid readers. Get ready to enjoy!

[Diane S ☔ · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 I am not quite sure why but I seem to have read a few novels lately that have a naive young woman and another manipulative one. This one is very well written, a psychological tour de force, with an unreliable narrator and different revelations that keep you guessing. It is hard to tell for much of the book, how much of the truth is being told. Odalie is a prime piece of work, but although some things are not as they appear, some are and it is very hard to tell which is which and what is what. So if you like psychologically twist novels, this is one which begs the question, is evil contagious?

[Debbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rose is a prissy, obsessive, and unreliable narrator. She’s an uptight, seemingly upright, typist at a New York City police station in the 1920s. When a charismatic typist, Odalie, arrives one day at the precinct, Rose is instantly intrigued and seduced by her. Rose moves in with Odalie, who lives in a fancy hotel. We are led to believe that Odalie corrupts Rose, dressing her in riches and dragging her to speakeasies where bootleg booze is served.

As is true of most unreliable narrators, they never let us know what’s really going on. What a fun ride it is as we try to figure it out—knowing it will end someplace weirder than we can imagine. It reminds me a little of “Gone Girl” and “The Dinner,” since all have a delusional narrator who throws out just the right amount of clues to keep me super curious.

A short digression: How funny that we totally believe a reliable narrator; we buy into the story as if the reality being presented is absolutely true. Yet when we get an unreliable narrator, we think, oh there is definitely a true story here but we’re just not being told the truth. We look for clues for what REALLY is happening. The joke, of course, is that there is no true story in fiction! It’s all made up.

If I had written this review when I started reading “The Other Typist,” here is what I would have said: “Oh how I love an unreliable narrator! Rose is complex and compelling. I wonder what is really going on? Where will she end up? In the gutter? In love? In a nuthouse? I’m sure there’s a bizarre and twisty crime in the end. I’m reading on voraciously. Just love it! If this keeps up, it will be one of my favorite reads. 5 stars for sure!”

But now that I’m finished, my enthusiasm is gone. The middle of the book dragged on so much I kept checking page numbers; never a good sign. Will this never end? Rose, miss priss personified, got on my nerves big time. Her stiffness and formality translates as detachment, and since she was detached, so was I. I wanted to be pulled in emotionally. Living inside her head was not a good thing. Rose, how many ways do you need to explain that you’re weird and obsessed? Hurry up already.

When I finally reached the end, I was at first floored--so twisty and fun. I did not see this coming. Maybe it was worth the loll in the middle.

But WAIT! What the eff? What DID really happen? Tell me!! Within seconds I was totally frustrated by the ambiguity. Yes, I was driven to go online to read other reviewer’s theories about what happened, and yes, it would be a great read for a book club—I can see all the animated conversations right now.

Obviously, I got a little obsessed myself with trying to figure out the ending; some would say that if it sent me off in search of an answer, the book was plenty good. But I ended up mad that I waited all this time only to be left confused. What a ripoff!

Since the beginning was great, the middle tedious, and the ending confusing, I’ll give it a 3.9. I just can’t bring myself to give it a 4. I just can’t.

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

An all out character driven novel with a slow building plot with quite an ending. My kind of book! and should make a great book discussion.

Rindell fleshes out her character(s) quite well, with excellent narration, reliable or not, by Rose, the original typist. Rose Baker, clicks away her days in a New York police department back in the days of prohibition and the speakeasies. Rose is quite the formal young woman and takes her job quite seriously, making few mistakes and not tolerating any from others. She's a bit stodgy to say the least and at first I liked her but after a bit, I thought, oh drat, I could never live up to her expectations and would I want too. Still all seems to be going well when enters the other typist, Odalie. Odalie seems to be all Rose is not, flamboyant, a bit crass, and not the greatest of typists. You guessed it; Rose becomes infatuated with Odalie and soon they are the best of friends. You definitely want to see how this relationship pans out.

An excellent psychological study of morals and more; The Other Typist is spooled out like the ribbon of a typewriter to its very end. Find someone who has read it to compare notes. I know I will!

Special Note: This is an Amy Einhorn Imprint imprint. I'd have read it for this alone...

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

Two is probably a little harsh, 2.5 is more accurate. My problem with this book is the same problem I had with the tv show Lost. They have in common interesting, well-written characters, intriguing backstories, and a strong sense of time and place. But they also have in common an incomprehensible ending that leaves you with more questions than it answers. I read through the reviews here and even did some google searches and the general consensus, even with the author's weigh-in, seems to be, "Well, I'm not really sure." Nope, not definitive enough for me, sorry. Someone mentioned The Sixth Sense as a great example of where there's a twist you don't see coming, but when you look back it all adds up. Yeah...not so much with this book. I can't even think of an explanation for the ending that does make sense. That seems to have not impeded a lot of people's enjoyment of the book, but it did mine.

[Dianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rose, the narrator, is a young typist in a NYC police precinct in 1923. An orphan raised by nuns, she is prim, repressed and smugly considers herself an astute observer of human nature. One day, a new typist is hired. Odalie has a husky, purring voice, expensive clothes and an alluring personality. Rose watches Odalie closely and before long, is under her spell. Odalie suggests Rose move in with her and they become roommates in Odalie’s posh hotel suite. Why would a humble typist be living in an expensive hotel suite? As it turns out, Odalie is hiding a few big secrets and Rose – well, Rose has some serious issues.

I couldn’t decide between a 3.5 or 4 on this, but decided on a 4 because the writing is just so good and the voice of Rose is so real. This is Suzanne Rindell’s first novel, which shocked me. This is a pretty sophisticated novel, can’t wait to see what she does next!

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

They say there are two sides to every story, but sometimes perspective is so fractured and the truth so obscured that there could be any number of sides depending on who you talk to and when. This is part of the brilliance of The Other Typist: on one level it’s just a glamorous Jazz Age suspense story, but on another it’s an interrogation of truth in narrative, exposing how spoken and written testimonies can be misleading.

Rose Baker is our wonderfully unreliable narrator, and I suspect you’ll come to love her as a character, even if you find her ever so slightly sinister, too. With Rose, we grow fascinated with Odalie Lazare, the alluring and fashionable new typist who joins her at the police precinct. Before long Rose becomes Odalie’s roommate at her luxury apartment and, as their friendship deepens, they start to seem like sisters – or twins, even.

Speakeasies, serial killers, shimmering jewelry and secrets from the past – it all seems like a whole new world for an orphan like Rose. But as the revelations about Odalie’s history, and her own, pile up, readers learn that they may not be able to fully trust Rose’s story. “Like the typewriter itself, I am simply there to report with accuracy,” she claims, but there are some lingering discrepancies. Indeed, as she later remarks of Odalie, “So many of her stories could be true, if only they didn’t cancel one another out.”

One of the UK newspapers noted the similarity to Zoë Heller’s Notes on a Scandal [which was the name of the Cate Blanchett / Judi Dench film, although the novel is known in the US by the title What Was She Thinking?], and there certainly is that kind of uneasy love-hate dynamic between the two main characters, and a similar mood of psychological tension. Rindell also gives some terrific Gatsby-esque commentary on the excesses of the age: Rose realizes that her contemporaries’ glittering optimism is all an act; “I had come to the conclusion the whole pack of us were fakes.”

If you love other historical fiction of the 1920s, like Therese Anne Fowler’s Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald and Laura Moriarty’s The Chaperone – and especially if you also enjoy deliciously creepy Hollywood mistaken-identity dramas like Otto Preminger’s Laura and Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo – you’ll devour this one in no time at all. In the midst of my usual heavy load of assigned reading, I constantly found myself sneaking chapters from this book instead.

I was delighted to win a copy in a Goodreads First Reads giveaway.

[Carol · Rating 1 out of 5]

The back cover of this book promises a lot..."a riveting page turner", "you'll stay up to all hours devouring its pages", "It's chilling to the very end", "messes with your head" I'm not sure, but I don't think we read the same book, or else the publisher mistakenly put the cover on the wrong book!! Have you ever tried watching paint dry? Well, I could pull up a comfortable chair, pour myself a glass of wine, and enjoy doing that more than I enjoyed reading this book….

So many times I felt bogged down by the turgid descriptions I forgot what was going on and eventually past midpoint, didn't care. This novel could have been cut by 175 pages at least. But the story, if truth be told, wasn't that interesting to begin with. I somehow get the impression that the publisher paid lots of people to give rave reviews to snare interest. The mildly interesting ending didn't justify the means.

[Patricia Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

I finally finished this book! This was a hard read for me. The story was a good one and very interesting but it took too long to tell it. Story is told by the main character who tries to tell you everything about her life in great detail to explain why she ended up in a mental institution. Like I said the story sounded interesting but there was just too much detail. I have not advice on how the story could have been shortened but it needed to be for me to enjoy it. Sorry about this to the author. I will definitely read another book by her but this one just took too much of my time.

[Betsy Robinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

The combination of Suzanne Rindell's impeccable storytelling technique, plus the perfectly understated and prim voice of her narrator, Rose Baker (typist/transcriptionist for criminal confessions at a police department in 1923), plus a riveting story make The Other Typist irresistible and un-put-downable. And I think I would feel this even if I'd never worked as a typist and deposition transcriptionist.

However I did. So, boy, was this book fun. Rindell spills the big secrets of the job: how intimate is the act of hearing deposition testimony, how much the transcriptionist observes and understands about people that they believe they are hiding, and finally that the transcriptionist is anything but an automaton and actually can effect the understood truth. (I will not elaborate for fear of committing a spoiler and self-incrimination.) The only thing in this book that made me cock my head with disbelief was the claim that Rose types 160 words per minute on a manual typewriter; I was considered a speed demon at 80 to 100 words per minute on an IBM Selectric.

The story luxuriates in the era of speakeasies and flappers, and the community of conscious poseurs and compulsive sociopaths is both beguiling and relevant to our human propensity to "perform" with a remarkable obliviousness to our transparency. The Other Typist is an absolute joy to read, and in my reader/writer's opinion, Rindell is victorious in her wish to "pay deliberate homage to the first true love of [her] teenage years: Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby." Read this book. You are in for a treat.

[Jennifer Masterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! Wow and Wow! I loved this novel! If you like historical fiction and/or a good mystery then this is your book! It's set during the Prohibition Era in New York City. Alfred Hitchcock meets The Great Gatsby in a character driven novel. I felt as if I was there with the two main characters Rose and Odalie. My head is still spinning from the ending!!! Highly recommend!!!

[Bonnie Brody · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Other Typist by Suzanne Rindell may be the most riveting page-turner that I have read this year. I was hooked on chapter one and barely came up for air. It is so well-written and consuming that it felt almost like an addiction.

The story is about a typist in a lower east side, New York, police precinct by the name of Rose Baker. Things are going fine where she works and she is a very quick and accurate typist. After the prohibition acts of 1923 were passed, more people got busted and thrown in the cell and that required more paperwork. Thus, a new typist was hired, Odalie Lazarre. From the minute that Odalie walks into the precinct, Rose’s life is not the same.

Rose was brought up in an orphanage run by nuns. She lives in a rooming house, sharing a room with a woman she despises. The room is made into two separate living spaces by hanging a sheet between them. Rose appears to have no sense of humor. She is literal, intense and everything is black and white for her. Odalie is the opposite. She is light, flighty, flirty, and sees things in shades of gray. Rose becomes obsessed with Odalie, to the point of keeping a journal of her daily observations of her. On the first day of work, Odalie accidentally drops a brooch on the floor. Rose picks it up and instead of returning it to Odalie, she puts it in the back of her desk drawer. She can caress it, view it, and it symbolizes Odalie to her.

As Rose keeps getting more and more drawn into Odalie’s world, her sense of self diminishes. Odalie’s ‘world’ is a fantastical one, filled with lies and made up stories. Who Odalie is and where she came from is a mystery, one that changes with each new set of circumstances.

As Rose and Odalie’s friendship evolves, we know that Rose is in for a fall. She hints about the doctor she is seeing, the institution she is now in. What this fall is, we will not know until the end of the book, but the astute reader can see how Rose is being set up and used.

I loved the book but had trouble suspending belief for the ending. It just seemed too out there and beyond my abilities to accept. Other than that, I can hardly believe this is a debut novel. Ms. Rindell writes like a pro and her language is lovely and flowing. I can hardly wait for her next piece of writing.

[Evie · Rating 3 out of 5]

"I recognized something was happening the very second she walked in the door for her interview. On that particular day, she entered very calmly and quietly, but I knew: It was like the eye of a hurricane. She was the dark epicenter of something we didn’t quite understand yet, the place where hot and cold mixed dangerously, and around her everything would change."

Odalie/Rose...whoever she is...has got me in an uncomfortable position. I don't know whether I just liked or loved this book. I'm so glad that I'm not the only one who was totally confused by the ending. Open endings don't always make me a disgruntled reader, but in this case it can make the time you invested in the novel utterly pointless.

What wasn't pointless was the world building Rindell created. For the moments I would open this book, I felt like I was transported to the dark, glittering nights amidst the speakeasies of 1920s New York. I loved the descriptions of opulence, clothing and style, and all the details! I feel like that was this novel's saving grace. I just might jump into Rindell's second novel, Three-Martini Lunch to prolong the high.