Current Media Tie-In Edition: Released August 18, 2026
Original Publication Date: December 2018
Setting: Primarily the Crawford family home, with much of the story centered on Lowen Ashleigh’s stay there
Main Characters: Lowen Ashleigh, Jeremy Crawford, Verity Crawford
Premise: Struggling writer Lowen Ashleigh is hired by Jeremy Crawford to complete a bestselling book series written by his incapacitated wife, Verity. While reviewing Verity’s files, Lowen discovers an unpublished manuscript containing disturbing claims about the Crawford family.

The Truth Gets Harder to Recognize

Colleen Hoover mixes psychological suspense with erotic tension, gradually turning Lowen’s professional assignment into an increasingly obsessive relationship with Verity’s husband, Jeremy. The novel relies heavily on uncertainty, withholding clear answers as Lowen tries to determine which version of Verity she can believe.

The result is a dark, compulsive thriller filled with manipulation, desire, morally complicated characters, and deliberately uncomfortable revelations. Its provocative sexual content and escalating sense of unease give Verity a distinctly lurid edge, while the unresolved questions surrounding its central manuscript have kept readers debating the story long after its final pages.

A Bonus Chapter, a New Edition, and a Major Movie

Verity began as an independently published novel in December 2018 and developed into one of Colleen Hoover’s biggest crossover successes. Grand Central Publishing acquired North American print and e-book rights in 2021, bringing the thriller into wider distribution after it had already sold hundreds of thousands of copies.

The publishing history continued with a 2022 collector’s edition featuring a letter from Hoover and an exclusive bonus chapter. Hoover has since explained that she still considers the original ending the intended conclusion and chose not to include the bonus material in the film adaptation.

A new media tie-in edition arrived in August 2026 alongside the release of Amazon MGM Studios’ Verity. The film opened in theaters on October 2, starring Anne Hathaway as Verity Crawford, Dakota Johnson as Lowen Ashleigh, and Josh Hartnett as Jeremy Crawford. Directed by Michael Showalter. The adaptation has brought the novel back into the spotlight nearly eight years after its original publication.