Soap Hub’s own Alina Adams is no stranger to spinning compelling tales. You’ve read her sharp takes on The Young and the Restless, Days of our Lives, General Hospital, and her insightful commentary right here on our site. But if you’ve ever wanted more—much more—then you’re in luck. Her latest novel, Go On Pretending, hits shelves on May 1, and it’s a must-read, especially for soap lovers.
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Go On Pretending Is For Soap Lovers
You might remember the early chapters of Go On Pretending from a few years ago. “The first third was initially serialized on Soap Hub,” Alina recalled. “That’s where I got to test it out on a soap audience.” Now it’s a full-fledged historical fiction saga, complete with romance, heartbreak, betrayal, and yes—soap operas.
The story centers around an interracial couple in the 1950s—decades before Loving v. Virginia made interracial marriage legal nationwide. “I started thinking, what would prompt someone to leave the United States and move to the Soviet Union?” Alina explained. “What I came up with was an interracial couple in the 1950s… if they truly believed the propaganda coming out of the Soviet Union, which is that it’s a country with no racism, no sexism, no anti-Semitism… What if they believed it?”
And of course, Alina being Alina, she couldn’t resist setting this powerful drama in the world of soaps. “What if an African-American actor works on the radio version of Guiding Light… but the show transitions to television, and now he can’t go on because audiences will see he’s not white?” she posited. “That’s where the drama starts.”
From there, the tale spans three generations—from 1950s America and the USSR, all the way to modern-day Rojava, Syria. “Emma grows up in Moscow, the child of American defectors… and then she returns to the U.S. and sees the world through very different eyes,” Alina said. “And then finally, there’s Emma’s daughter Libby, who grows up in the U.S. hearing stories about her revolutionary grandmother—and decides she wants to be just like her.”
Fans of Guiding Light and the golden age of soaps are in for a special treat. Alina weaves real-life soap history into the narrative, including behind-the-scenes details from her years working on shows like As the World Turns and Another World. “I had access to a lot of documents… about what those early days on the set were really like,” she revealed. “There’s even a scene based on a real Thanksgiving episode where the cameraman kept dipping lower and lower under the table. By the final pass, one actor was basically out of frame.”
And while Go On Pretending is historical fiction, it features real figures like soap matriarch Irna Phillips and even Agnes Nixon. That came with a sense of responsibility. “It was nerve-wracking,” Alina admitted. “I’m putting words in the mouth of a real person who isn’t here to defend herself. And the truth is, Irna Phillips was quite progressive for her time.”
Alina’s deep respect for soaps and their cultural impact comes through on every page. “I’ve been working on and off in soaps for 30 years,” she said. “And when I write books, I write them like soaps—fast-paced, cinematic, emotional. My editors sometimes say, ‘This is too much,’ and I’m like, ‘Have you met a soap?’”
That pace is intentional. Alina laughed as she remembered her teenage years making “Alina edits”—fan-made highlight reels of six-month soap storylines cut down to 10-minute VHS montages. “If YouTube had existed when I was a kid, I would’ve never left the house,” she joked.
Go On Pretending is a culmination of everything Alina Adams does best: it’s smart, emotional, deeply researched, and full of juicy twists. “What it all comes down to,” she said, “is that I write like it’s the most exciting soap you’ve ever seen. That’s the energy I bring to every page.”
Don’t miss your chance to read this sweeping, generational saga by one of Soap Hub’s own. Go On Pretending releases May 1 and is available wherever books are sold. Plus, you also have a chance to see Alina on Alan Locher’s, The Locher Room, on May 1. “I would love to have as many soap fans as possible come because I’d love to answer questions, and just to say hello,” she said.”
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