A childhood friend from my hometown wrote her first book recently. She has a small local editor selling it online and now also as a softcover.
I have bought the ebook online and read it the other day. I am surprised she has gotten it published, because the handwriting is so and so.
But moreover, I have realized that I have just read a similar book by another Italian writer.
There are a few points in common that just seem too many to me. I am not interested in pointing out so to her because her book is already out and in print, and maybe she wasn't consciously copying the other book, but I can't shake off that weird feeling. The other book is far more successful and written much better, the plot is thicker and it is three times longer. It was published in 2018.
I suppose I won't be the only person who will notice the resemblances. To make things weirder, the writers also share the first name.
Book A (2018) - Plot
The book is about the friendship between two girls who couldn't be more different but that met during school years and became best friends.
The main character is a girl who is plain vanilla. Never gets noticed, has a cold, solid family that ignores her, good grades because she has no friend and nothing else in life. Her parents are happy because she is trouble-free, got a degree and stable job at a bank. In high school, she casually makes friend with another girl who is a volcano, allways adventurous and on the move, never afraid to try life, and who is liked by the boys. Then the cool girls goes on with her life, doesn't go to university, and has a kid, but things go south and she goes back asking for help to her shy friend, our main character. Meanwhile, our main character is still having a plain and boring office life, and she has caught the attention of a colleague of her, who turns out to have some mental issues and harass her. The adventurous friend comes to her rescue and she dies of cancer.
Book B (2023) - Plot
The book is about the friendship between two girls who couldn't be more different but that met during school years and became best friends.
The main character is a girl who is plain vanilla. Never gets noticed, has a cold, solid family that ignores her, good grades because she has no friend and nothing else in life. Her parents are happy because she is trouble-free, got a degree and stable job at an advertising agency. At the university, she casually makes friend with another girl who is a volcano, allways adventurous and on the move, never afraid to try life, and who is liked by the boys. Then the cool girls goes on with her life, doesn't finish university, and has a kid, but things go south and she goes back asking for help to her shy friend, our main character. Meanwhile, our main character is still having a plain and boring office life, and she has caught the attention of a colleague of her, who turns out to have some mental issues and harass her. The adventurous friend comes to her rescue and dies murdered by the envious friend.
