Dan Mallory: The best-selling author lied about cancer

Dan Mallory, author of The Woman in the Window bestseller, admitted to lying about brain cancer.

Mallory, who wrote the thriller under the pseudonym AJ Finn, claimed to have had cancer to hide his difficulties with bipolar disorder.

His admission comes after a New York profile accuses him of a story of lies about his personal life.

The American author told the magazine that it was "never the goal" to "take advantage of the goodwill of someone else".

Mallory was a publisher before the publication of his first novel, The Woman in the Window, in January 2018. He made his debut at the top of the New York Times bestseller list.

A film adaptation of the book, about a woman with agoraphobia who starts spying on her new neighbors, will be released later this year, along with Amy Adams and Gary Oldman.

The New Yorker claimed that Mallory had repeated many times that he had been diagnosed with brain cancer, particularly in the context of applying to a university and to colleagues while he was working. for publishing houses in London and New York.

The article also alleged that his mother had died of cancer and his brother also.

Although her mother had cancer when Mallory was a teenager, she and her brother are both alive.

In response to the New Yorker article, the author wrote: "It is true that, on many occasions in the past, I have stated, hinted or suggested Other people I suffered from a physical illness rather than a psychological illness: cancer, in particular.

"My mother battled aggressive bad cancer as a teenager, it was the formative experience of my teenage life, synonymous with pain and panic." a great shame of my psychological struggles – they were my most scary and sensitive secret. "

He said that he was "completely terrified by what people would think of me if they knew" of his mental health problems, and would think that he was "defective" or would not believe him. . "To dissemble seemed the easiest way."

He added that "like many people with severe bipolar II disorder, I have experienced overwhelming depression, delusional thoughts, morbid obsessions and memory problems."

"It was horrible, especially because, in my distress, I did or said or believed things that I would never say, that I would not do or that I do not believe – things that, in many case, I do not remember at all.

"In hindsight, I'm sorry to have benefited from the good will of someone else, even if he was desperate, despite the circumstances; it was never the goal. "

His agent confirmed the statement to BBC News.

A HarperCollins UK spokesman told The Bookseller: "We do not comment on the personal lives of our employees or our authors, professionally, Dan was a popular publisher and the publication The Woman in the Window – a bestseller from the Sunday Times – speaks for itself. "

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