White Knight Loves Troubled Woman

Dante Gabriel Rossetti: Sir Galahad, The Tate, London.

O, Reader! Exemplar of All Virtue, Perfection of All Beauty, We Have Here a Lady Who’s Stirring Up the Sh*t!

Dear E. Jean,

I’ve loved your wacky advice since you wrote for Elle, and am delighted every time your Substack pops into my inbox. I’ve found myself in the most bizarre situation of my life, so I hope you will help me!

I’ve been dating my darling boyfriend for several years, and he’s really great. This email is not about him. We were introduced to his brother's new girlfriend last spring and I liked her! She told us she was a writer with a book coming out from Penguin Random House. I’m a writer too, but I’ve yet to be published. I was impressed with her success and everything was going great until her book was due to come out this fall.

I went online to pre-order, but I couldn’t find it.

It wasn’t on Amazon, B&N, Goodreads, etc. The book wasn’t listed as a forthcoming title on PRH, and she wasn’t listed as an author on their website. I searched high and low, but couldn’t find anything at all about the book or the freelance career she claimed to have.

I knew something was up, but didn’t want to believe that she’d lie about something so major.

On the eve of the release day, she announced the book had been postponed. I knew this was highly unusual, so I shared my suspicions with my BF. He believes me, but is reluctant to tell his brother. Brother likes to white knight, is attracted to "troubled" women, and has ignored concerns raised about past girlfriends. BF is resigned to this pattern.

Honestly, if she’d lied about some other professional success, I probably wouldn’t be too bothered, but since her lie is about succeeding where I have so far failed...I care so, so much. I know it’s not the same thing, but it feels like stolen valor. I want her lies exposed! I want everyone to