The Lie C.L. Taylor
A few days ago I saw a picture of a newspaper article about The Lie. The person who posted the picture on Twitter is an author I read and admire so I looked the book up, not my usual read but it got my interest. WOW am I glad I read it.
The story is set in rural Wales in the present day, with flashbacks to a period five years ago.
The lead character Jane Hughes is working in an animal rescue centre when her past begins to catch up with her.
Five years ago she had been on a holiday with three friends to a Himalayan retreat where things had gone terribly wrong. The ramifications of the incident start to play out in the present.
The book looks at the demographics of a group of women who met at University. It openly looks at the friendship, bitchiness, swings in friendship and the destructive effects it has on the group. Its honest, it will make you think about same sex groups of friends and how the relationships alter over time.
Everybody knows such a group. The usual traits are there: “I’m your friend because she, is not because I like you”. “I will make her like me more than she likes you”. Twist this in with one, or more, of the friends being psychotic and you have a volatile mixture.
The friends take a holiday to what they think is a Retreat but turns out to be a fledgling cult.
What happens at the retreat will have to be read because I’m not going to spoil it.
To say this book is a physiological thriller is an understatement.
During the flashbacks to the time the women spend in the retreat the author handles the physical and mental abuse, along with the attempts to indoctrinate the girls into the cult, with a skill that will keep you turning the pages but also make you scared to see what comes next.
Who would I recommend this book to? Everybody.
It’s one of those books that will be enjoyed by men and women.
I’m going on holiday in a few weeks time and I wish I’d saved it till the flight. This would have made ten hours in the air pass in the blink of an eye.
Looks like I’ll just have to put The Accident on my Kindle and hope it’s as good.
nigeladamsbookworm 