The Other Typist

Product Information

First published in 2013, The Other Typist is described as a psycho-sexual suspense thriller. It is set in New York City during the height of the Prohibition era where it follows the story of an unworldly police department typist named Rose Baker as she gets drawn into the shady world of her glamorous new co-worker, Odalie (Knightley), but when the ultimate crime is committed, it’s uncertain which of the two women was the more treacherous. The novel covers the themes of identity, class, obsession, and misplaced desire. 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!

THE OTHER TYPIST | Kirkus Reviews THE OTHER TYPIST | Kirkus Reviews

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. If you liked Gone Girl, you might enjoy [ The Other Typist]...The best book I’ve read so far this summer.”— Greenwich Time I feel really really bad saying this,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. 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. 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. 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. This was such an odd book, well written but overstyled and too heavy on the exposition and internal monologue.

Keira Knightley to star in The Other Typist

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. David, I agree with you. I just finished the book and there is no concrete evidence to support that two individuals (Rose and Odalie/Ginevra) didn't exist. At the end, she's cutting her hair as a declaration of her transformation on becoming a "modern" woman like Odalie. Odalie would always get out of circumstances, so she is channeling that to get out of hers. After re-reading the novel itself and the discussion of it here on Goodreads, I've reached some conclusions: As you read this remarkable first novel you will feel the room temperature drop. It’s chilling till the very end.”—Rita Mae Brown, MFH, Author A]perfect social comedy: A plain young typist working for the New York Police Department in the 1920s becomes obsessed with a glamorous co-worker. Revealing that there is a murderous twist in Suzanne Rindell’s spellbinder isn’t a spoiler but an essential for enjoying the exhilarating buildup.”— Daily CandyAn 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.

The Other Typist: A Novel by Suzanne Rindell, Paperback The Other Typist: A Novel by Suzanne Rindell, Paperback

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. I read this book years ago, and still wonder about the ending from time to time. Would love to reread at some point... 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?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. 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. 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?

The Other Typist by Suzanne Rindell | Goodreads The Other Typist by Suzanne Rindell | Goodreads

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. Hannah’s new novel is an homage to the extraordinary courage and endurance of Frenchwomen during World War II.I don't think they are the same person either - that doesn't make sense. Alters are not usually aware of each other. If this is about DID, then the author did a horrible job portraying it. Why have Rose keep notes of her observations of Odalie if she's a separate personality? Why have all that stuff about the boarding house and Helen? What purpose does that serve? 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. This was an excellent debut, and the author will no doubt go on to write some great stuff. I see this as a movie. But I see no reason to think Odalie doesn't exist. Rose says the detective questioned her ("the detective informed me that Odalie had already given a statement"), and I have no doubt she did her best to incriminate Rose. And when the Lieutenant Detective visits Rose in the epilogue, he tells her that Odalie is "gone," supposedly because she "didn't feel safe"--no doubt because she knows how dangerous Rose is.