pamela
Written on Dec 11, 2018
Winner of the Costa Book of the Year
'I can't think of anyone who would not love this story' – Matt Haig, author of The Midnight Library
The Lie Tree is a wonderfully evocative and atmospheric novel by Frances Hardinge, award-winning author of Cuckoo Song and Fly By Night.
Faith's father has been found dead under mysterious circumstances, and as she is searching through his belongings for clues she discovers a strange tree. The tree only grows healthy and bears fruit if you whisper a lie to it. The fruit of the tree, when eaten, will deliver a hidden truth to the person who consumes it. The bigger the lie, the more people who believe it, the bigger the truth that is uncovered.
The girl realizes that she is good at lying and that the tree might hold the key to her father's murder, so she begins to spread untruths far and wide across her small island community. But as her tales spiral out of control, she discovers that where lies seduce, truths shatter . . .
'Dark, thrilling, utterly original' – Patrick Ness, author of A Monster Calls
- ISBN10 144726410X
- ISBN13 9781447264101
- Publish Date 7 May 2015
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 3 March 2021
- Publish Country GB
- Publisher Pan Macmillan
- Imprint Macmillan
- Edition Unabridged edition
- Format Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
- Pages 416
- Language English
Reviews
wyvernfriend
Written on Jul 26, 2016
I'm not sure if it's the hype that moves this to a 3.5 closer to 3 rather than a 4 star book. It's an interesting idea, a tree that grows from lies received from one person and the bigger the lie the better the vision of truth. But this tale of a girl at the turn of the 19th century who has to deal with the lies of her parents and the consequences of her own lies is quite an adult book a book about becoming an adult about learning about the truth of your relationship with your parents and how to deal with one of their deaths. Also in learning about being a woman in Victorian England.
It wasn't a bad read but I was left with a vague taste of disappointment and letdown by the end.