Synopses & Reviews
Life on the tiny island of Guernsey has just become a whole lot harder for fifteen-year-old Cat Rozier. Shes gone from model pupil to murderer, but she swears its not her fault. Apparently its all the fault of history.
A new arrival at Cats high school in 1984, the beautiful and instantly popular Nicolette inexplicably takes Cat under her wing. The two become inseparable—going to parties together, checking out boys, and drinking whatever liquor they can shoplift. But a perceived betrayal sends them spinning apart, and Nic responds with cruel, over-the-top retribution.
Cats recently deceased father, Emile, dedicated his adult life to uncovering the truth about the Nazi occupation of Guernsey—from Churchills abandonment of the island to the stories of those who resisted—in hopes of repairing the reputation of his older brother, Charlie. Through Emiles letters and Charlies words—recorded on tapes before his own death— a “confession” takes shape, revealing the secrets deeply woven into the fabric of the island . . . and into the Rozier family story.
Review
“The joy of this ingenious debut is that, somehow, it manages to link twin stories convincingly to create an impressive fable about the relativity of truth and the deceits that make living on a small island possible. Highly recommended.” Financial Times
Review
“Moving, engaging and complex . . . Horlocks authorial debut is impressive.” the Scotsman
Review
“[An] assured debut. . . . Horlock has created an authentic voice and not only illuminated the history of a small island but also thrown light on the subjectivity of history, truth and memory.” The Independent
Synopsis
On the English Channel island of Guernsey, a teenage girls Mean Girls-like experience pushes her to murder her best friend in a scandal, she will discover, that mirrors her uncles previously unknown story from the days of the islands Nazi occupation during WWII. Told through the voices of fifteen-year-old Cat Rozier and her long-dead Uncle Charlie—known to Cat only by the audio recordings he left behind—The Book of Lies lucidly illuminates the interior lives of a scorned modern girl with attitude and a defiant, faded man. With echoes of Nicole Krausss The History of Love and Jennifer McMahons Promise Not to Tell, Mary Horlocks stunning debut novel is an unforgettable exploration of aspiration, anguish, and rebellion.
About the Author
MARY HORLOCK was born in Australia but grew up on Guernsey in the Channel Islands, moving to England at the age of eighteen. She studied at Cambridge and went on to work as a curator at Tate Britain and Tate Liverpool. She is a former curator of the Turner Prize. Mary lives in London with her partner and their children and is currently writing a book on art and camouflage in the Second World War. Although she has written widely on contemporary art, this is her first novel.