Synopses & Reviews
By July 1914, the ties between Kezia Marchant and Thea Brissenden, friends since girlhood, have become strained—by Thea's passionate embrace of women's suffrage, and by the imminent marriage of Kezia to Thea's brother, Tom, who runs the family farm. When Kezia and Tom wed just a month before war is declared between Britain and Germany, Thea's gift to Kezia is a book on household management—a veiled criticism of the bride's prosaic life to come. Yet when Tom enlists to fight for his country and Thea is drawn reluctantly onto the battlefield, the farm becomes Kezia's responsibility. Each must find a way to endure the ensuing cataclysm and turmoil.
As Tom marches to the front lines, and Kezia battles to keep her ordered life from unraveling, they hide their despair in letters and cards filled with stories woven to bring comfort. But will well-intended lies and self-deception be of use when they come face to face with the enemy?
Review
“In this dazzling novel Jacqueline Winspear writes irresistibly about the First World War, both in the trenches of France and the fields of England. Her characters walk off the page and into our imaginations, as we fight with them, farm with them, cook with them. I devoured this book.” < b=""> Margot Livesey, author of < i=""> The Flight of Gemma Hardy <> <>
Review
“An engaging picture of the human spirit in a distant time of war, World War I, from the battlefields to the home front in an English village.” < b=""> Herman Wouk, author of < i=""> The Winds of War <> and < i=""> War and Remembrance <> <>
Review
“A haunting evocation, from an unusual angle, of the war that cast such a shadow over the whole 20th century. Jacqueline Winspear knows her native England, and the human heart, very well indeed.” < b=""> Adam Hochschild, author of < i=""> To End All Wars: A Story of Loyalty and Rebellion 1914-1918 <> <>
Review
“In a stand-alone departure from her popular post-WWI mystery series featuring psychologist Maisie Dobbs, Winspear has created memorable characters in a moving, beautifully paced story of love and duty.” < b=""> < i=""> Booklist <> <>
Review
“There is power in subtlety. This one is a stunner.” < b=""> Martin Cruz Smith, author of < i=""> Tatiana <> and < i=""> Gorky Park <> <>
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“A winning stand-alone tale….While questioning wars value and showing its terrible effects off the battlefield, Winspear fashions a stunning trajectory for her main characters.” < b=""> < i=""> Publishers Weekly <> <>
Review
“Without questioning either the cause of the war or the dubious tactics employed…these characters simply get on with it, reaffirming our faith in the possibility of everyday nobility....A sad, beautifully written, contemplative testament.” < b=""> < i=""> Kirkus Reviews <> <> (starred review)
Review
“Winspears fans should welcome the keen period detail and thoughtful tone so familiar from the Maisie Dobbs books, while historical fiction readers will be gripped by this sensitive portrayal of ordinary men and women on the home front and battlefield.” < b=""> < i=""> Library Journal <> <>
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“Fiction at once fresh and timeless, intimate and sweeping that chronicles the challenging friendship between a suffragist and a farmers wife….A rare stand-alone novel by the author of the beloved Maisie Dobbs series.” < b=""> < i=""> O, the Oprah Magazine <> <>
Review
“Captivating.” < b=""> < i=""> Good Housekeeping <> <>
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“Winspear knows the history of the war that changed the world. In The Care and Management of Lies, shes telling us the story, shes bringing it home. Beautifully, tragically, indelibly.” < b=""> Bobbi Dumas, < i=""> NPR Books <> <>
Review
“A simply told, beautifully written story.” < b=""> Bill Goldstein, "Bill's Books," < i=""> Weekend Today in New York <> <>
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“Jacqueline Winspear is one of our best….Beautifully imagined and executed….As with every Winspear novel, there is beautiful writing-and in Kezia and Tom, two characters you wont soon forget.” < b=""> < i=""> USA Today <> <>
Review
“Just as strong [as the Maisie Dobbs series]-enough to guarantee satisfaction for even the most fervent Maisie fan.” < b=""> < i=""> Seattle Times <> <>
Review
“Winspear has returnedvia a good new, standalone, non-mystery novel called The Care and Management of Liesto the wartime period that clearly continues to haunt her. In a publishing season crowded with commemorations of the outbreak of World War I...Winspears books more than hold their own.” < b=""> Maureen Corrigan, NPR's < i=""> Fresh Air <> <>
Review
“s much a story of the home front as of the battlefield, this new stand-alone novel is, above all, a moving tale about the beauty of those very virtuesfortitude, faithfulness, compassionthat the Great War called into question.” < b=""> < i=""> Washington Post <> <>
Review
“Captivating….It is in Kezias imagination and kitchen where this tragic story of war, passion, love and friendship comes alive. Winspear illustrates how food-whether its imaginary or real-can provide the perfect amount of tenderness and compassion when its needed the most….A suspenseful wartime narrative.” < b=""> < i=""> San Francisco Chronicle <> <>
Review
“A moving and remarkable book.” < b=""> < i=""> Washington Times <> <>
Synopsis
The New York Times bestselling author of the Maisie Dobbs series turns her prodigious talents to this World War I standalone novel, a lyrical drama of love struggling to survive in a damaged, fractured world.
By July 1914, the ties between Kezia Marchant and Thea Brissenden, friends since girlhood, have become strained--by Thea's passionate embrace of women's suffrage, and by the imminent marriage of Kezia to Thea's brother, Tom, who runs the family farm. When Kezia and Tom wed just a month before war is declared between Britain and Germany, Thea's gift to Kezia is a book on household management--a veiled criticism of the bride's prosaic life to come. Yet when Tom enlists to fight for his country and Thea is drawn reluctantly onto the battlefield, the farm becomes Kezia's responsibility. Each must find a way to endure the ensuing cataclysm and turmoil.
As Tom marches to the front lines, and Kezia battles to keep her ordered life from unraveling, they hide their despair in letters and cards filled with stories woven to bring comfort. Even Tom's fellow soldiers in the trenches enter and find solace in the dream world of Kezia's mouth-watering, albeit imaginary meals. But will well-intended lies and self-deception be of use when they come face to face with the enemy?
Published to coincide with the centennial of the Great War, The Care and Management of Lies paints a poignant picture of love and friendship strained by the pain of separation and the brutal chaos of battle. Ultimately, it raises profound questions about conflict, belief, and love that echo in our own time.
About the Author
Jacqueline Winspear is the author of the New York Times bestsellers Leaving Everything Most Loved, Elegy for Eddie, A Lesson in Secrets, The Mapping of Love and Death, Among the Mad, and An Incomplete Revenge, as well as four other national bestselling Maisie Dobbs novels. Her standalone novel, The Care and Management of Lies, was also a New York Times bestseller. She has won numerous awards for her work, including the Agatha, Alex, and Macavity awards for the first book in the series, Maisie Dobbs, which was also nominated for the Edgar Award for Best Novel and was a New York Times Notable Book. Originally from the United Kingdom, she now lives in California.