The Women We Pretend Not to Be

By Venus Lee

The Women We Pretend Not to Be is a fictional literary drama about power, perception, survival, and the quiet unraveling that begins when truth can no longer stay hidden.

Set in Wichita, Kansas, the novel follows Venus - a respected woman known for her wisdom, composure, and ability to hold everything together - as the carefully managed lives around her begin to fracture beneath secrets, manipulation, public exposure, and emotional exhaustion.

What begins as tension surrounding Marcel - a charismatic public figure whose carefully crafted image starts collapsing under scrutiny - slowly reveals something far more complicated. Loyalty shifts. Silence becomes dangerous. Long-hidden truths begin surfacing in pieces.

And somewhere in the middle of it all is the snake that very few people noticed.

Will you?

But the deeper Venus gets pulled into the unraveling around her, the more she is forced to confront the truths inside herself.

At the center of the story is a mysterious novel discovered inside a small Wichita bookstore called LEFT on READ - a book whose chapters seem to mirror the emotional realities unfolding around her in unsettling ways.

Layered, intimate, and emotionally sharp, The Women We Pretend Not to Be explores:
- the masks people wear to survive
- the cost of being emotionally needed
- manipulation hidden behind charm
- discernment, loyalty, and public perception
- women taught to carry too much
- what happens when silence finally breaks
- and the dangerous freedom that comes with honesty

This is not a story about perfect people.
It is a story about what remains after pretending stops working.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0H23Y7SVG
• ISBN13: 9798196727795
• Release Date: May 2026
• Publisher: Independently published
• Length: 271 Pages
• Weight: 0.81 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.7" x 6.0"