A well written insight into the twisted mind of an unashamed murderer, as she admits in the second paragraph of this book (see link to the Opening Extract on this page). In fact, The Book of Lies is so easy and approachable, and makes you so familiar with the writer, it feels like you are reading a personal letter from her to you. Alongside the subtly-woven, insightful narrative, throughout this book there are interesting footnotes about the island of Guernsey which add an interesting historical perspective as well as underpin the credibility of the story. A compelling read.
Catherine Rozier is fifteen years old and a murderer. She desperately wants to explain what happened that stormy night on the cliffs by Clarence Batterie. But the adults around her - her mother, her teachers, even the Chief Constable - understand that some things are best kept hidden. Over a period of two weeks, scribbling frantically in her journal, Catherine recounts the events that led to Nicolette's death, only to discover that history has been repeating itself. Fifty years earlier, another Rozier stands on the same cliff-edge. Charlie, a teenager during the German Occupation of the island, is witness to soldiers moving into homes, imposing curfews and even taking over his father's printing press. Frustrated by the adults around him, and their lack of resistance to the occupying forces, Charlie sets on a path that will destroy an important friendship and change the Rozier family's life forever.
'This is an unforgettable and brilliant debut. It establishes Mary Horlock as an original, compelling and powerful new voice in British fiction.' Hanif Kureishi
Author
About Mary Horlock
Mary Horlock spent her childhood in Guernsey and moved to England at the age of eighteen. She read History and History of Art at Cambridge, and went on to work at Tate Britain and Tate Liverpool. She is a former curator of the Turner Prize. Mary lives in London with her partner and their two children. Although she has written widely on contemporary art, this is her first novel.
