Who is Maud Dixon? – A mysterious literary thriller book review

First things first, I like Who is Maud Dixon? by Alexandra Andrews. I liked the story, I liked the writing, and I liked how unlikeable the main character is. I like peering into her thought process about why she’s so distinctly unlikable and how she justifies her own lack of likability. I enjoy a flawed protagonist, so this book was right up my alley.

I read this book because it was set in Morocco, and I’m working through all the books (in English) that I can find that are set in Morocco, and this one promised some Moroccan flair, so I dived in.

If you’re interested in checking Who is Maud Dixon out, here is a link (Affiliate link). I listened to it on Audible but paperback is always great, too.

Who is Maud Dixon? plot summary

Who is Maud Dixon? is about an aimless twenty-something aspiring writer living in New York who royally messes up her own life, only to be given a seemingly clandestine opportunity to become an assistant to one of the biggest, most elusive writers in the world who writes under the pseudonym Maud Dixon. She follows Maud to Morocco, where they plan to research the setting for her next bestseller when things go awry and the protagonist discovers that Maud isn’t what she seems.

Morocco’s portrayal in Who is Maud Dixon?

This is one of another in a long series of books that I read that is technically set in morocco, but not really. The only Moroccans that are really involved in the story are a police officer and a maid. Everyone else is expats. This makes sense, given that English is not very commonly spoken in morocco and the main characters don’t speak Moroccan Arabic, but it’s still a little bit frustrating.

I feel like this is such a trend with books set in Morocco. Sure, you have the exotic backdrop of Marrakesh, but are you really in morocco if you don’t interact with any Moroccans? This book, like many others, fails to really capture the heart and spirit of Morocco, in my opinion, because there’s very little interaction with, you know, Morocco. This may not bother me so much if I didn’t live here and wasn’t specifically reading the book because it’s set in Morocco.

Personally, I love when a book immerses me in a place, a culture, a community. I love when you get some insight into how other people live through a literary lens, and I simply did not get any of this out of Who is Maud Dixon?

My thoughts on Who is Maud Dixon?

I’m not a big mystery/thriller/contemporary fiction fan, so I was pleasantly surprised to find out how much I liked this book when I first started it. And it’s definitely an engaging tale that keeps you entertained until the end. I actually read the whole thing in one day.

While it was entertaining, it kind of unravels at the end, and there are points that are just outlandishly ridiculous. How did she happen to find a childhood friend in Morocco? What are the odds of that? I like how (without containing any spoilers) everything sort of comes together at the end, but it didn’t start to feel a little bit convoluted and ridiculous.

All in all, this was a decently entertaining book with hints of Moroccan accents in the background, but I definitely wouldn’t call this a “Morrocan book.”

Apparently they’re making a Who is Maud Dixon movie (possibly)? If so, I’ll go see it. But I hope they iron out some of the plot wrinkles and make the whole story a little less muddled.

What are your thoughts on Who is Maud Dixon? Share below! ⬇️