'The Girl in the Book' tackles the difficult subject of emotional abuse and possible statutory rape with subtlety, but falls short in dramatic expression. The main character is a blocked wannabe writer Alice, who works in a publisher's office for an arrogant condescending boss. Her father is a writers' agent, perhaps even more arrogant and condescending towards females in general, and his daughter in particular. As a remedy for her damaged self esteem, Alice habitually visits bars to hook up with random dudes for one-night stands.

Alice's toxic stew boils over when her boss commissions her to organize a PR event for the new edition of a best-selling novel by one of her father's clients. This author is called Milan, and it soon transpires he had taken an unsavory interest in Alice some 15 years previously while pretending to mentor her. The flashback scenes between the teenage Alice and Milan might have some ambiguity on the surface, but their excruciating awkwardness only amplifies the lurking lechery.

Despite a decent performance by Emily VanCamp as Alice, she's handicapped by a one-note screenplay which portrays her character as too depressed and defeated - and when she is finally roused to confront her issues, the script's solutions are glib and unconvincing. After an intriguing first hour, the film falls apart in the last act.

"The Girl in the Book" was a compelling personal drama about a woman whose identity is wrapped around a fictional character for which she was the model.

Alice Harvey is in the publishing business. She was a gifted writer who never had a breakthrough and now must work in the service of successful writers. She is haunted by the toxic relationship she had with a bestselling author when she was a vulnerable teenager. She had to contend with an image of herself frozen in time when she was transmogrified into a fictional character in a blockbuster novel.

The film was especially successful in juggling timeframes in which we come to know both the adult and adolescent versions of Alice. The performances were superb with a wide range of characters from the sublime to the utterly depraved.

One of the most intriguing relationships was that of the adult Alice with the aspiring politician Emmett. There was good chemistry between the two characters and a dynamic ebb and flow in the relationship.

The direction was outstanding with crisp pacing, oblique camera angles, colorful locations, and an effective use of close-ups. In the end, it is difficult to forget the multi-dimensional character of Alice Harvey, a survivor and astute observer of the human condition. In a probing journey of self-discovery, she is able to bring her secret history out of the shadows and triumph over what could have been for most people a life-damaging coming of age.