Dan Mallory, who authored the best-selling The Woman in the Window under the pseudonym AJ Finn, has confirmed that he lied about cancer following the publication of allegations in a New Yorker profile.

The profile, written by Ian Parker, alleged that Mallory has a track record of lying about his personal  life, including saying he had brain cancer to coworkers and on a university application. Mallory also said his mother and brother had died even though they are still alive. In a statement, Mallory said he lied about having cancer as a way to cover up his mental health issues.

"It is the case that on numerous occasions in the past, I have stated, implied, or allowed others to believe that I was afflicted with a physical malady instead of a psychological one: cancer, specifically," wrote Mallory in a statement.

Mallory also said that he mother did have breast cancer when he was a teenager and that he felt "intensely ashamed" of his psychological issues.

"It's been horrific, not least because, in my distress, I did or said or believed things I would never ordinarily say, or do, or believe - things of which, in many instances, I have absolutely no recollection," said Mallory in the statement. "With the benefit of hindsight, I'm sorry to have taken, or be seen to have taken, advantage of anyone else's goodwill, however desperate the circumstances; that was never the goal."