The Big Lie

by Julie Mayhew

In a gripping novel set in present-day England under a Nazi regime, a sheltered teen questions what it means to be “good” — and how far she’s willing to go to break the rules.

Nazi England, 2014. Jessika Keller is a good girl — a champion ice skater, model student of the Bund Deutscher Mädel, and dutiful daughter of the Greater German Reich. Her best friend, Clementine, is not so submissive. Passionately different, Clem is outspoken, dangerous, and radical. And the regime has noticed. Jess cannot keep both her perfect life and her dearest friend, her first love. But which can she live without? Haunting, intricate, and unforgettable, The Big Lie unflinchingly interrogates perceptions of revolution, feminism, sexuality, and protest. Back matter includes historical notes from the author discussing her reasons for writing an “alt-history” story and the power of speculative fiction.

• ISBN10: 0763691259
• ISBN13: 9780763691257
• Publish Date: 14 November 2017 (first published 27 August 2015)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Candlewick Press,U.S.
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 352
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780763691257

Reviews

[readingwithwrin]

My Rating 3.5 stars

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an e-arc of this book in exchange for my honest review.

"You question EVERYTHING. Just because you can. Because it's right there in the laws of your land. But is there nothing you'd greet with a simple Yeah, Okay, fine? What if the love of your friends depended upon it? The love of your family? Would you tell a lie? People who are good don't lie, but a good person might, quite reasonably, leave out something that they didn't realize was really very crucial to everyone else. That isn't a lie. But it can be as bad as telling a lie, I have come to understand."

This book I went into it knowing as little as possible because it would be modern time in Nazi Europe. Having said that this book won't be for everyone. If you don't like reading alternate history or what could have happened if the Nazi's would have won don't read it.
Also, this book is very white and is true to what the Nazi's were going for during WWII. This book is very bleak most of the time. The best I can compare it to is kind of like what North Korea currently is thought to be, or what we kind of know Soviet Russia being before it fell. The Big Lie world is one that is very controlled and everyone must do their part for the Reich just like how it was during WWII for the Nazi's.
Now there is no fighting and instead, they are all living 'normal' lives. Neighbors still report neighbors and kids go to special schools and have meetings they attend after. It seemed like very little had changed since the war. Jessika is a character that was seen as the good girl and did what she was told, but she had a secret of her own, one that could get her killed. She is on the LGBT spectrum and that isn't allowed. So instead she hides it as best as she can and she goes about 'normal' life. She is one of the best ice skaters and is set to represent her country. But she's also friends with someone who isn't who they say they are and after a while, things start going terribly wrong. For both of the girls because of this.
The Big Lie is told in memories that 2014 Jess is reliving. We see her go from a teenager and living her life, to being held in a camp because of what she does. We see her start a new life after she proves she is good again. But most importantly throughout all of this Jess manages to still keep who she is and she learns a lot about how her country works to control EVERYTHING and why.

Overall I have mixed feelings about this book. I always find alternate history books fascinating and terrifying all at the same time. I really liked seeing LGBT in this book and how it was handled while not the way we want it to be handled was true to what the Nazis believed. LGBT isn't something we've seen very often in Historical Fiction books and seeing it talked about is good and I hope it continues. As for the rest of the book, it was terrifying to think of something like this having happened to Europe. So many more lives would have been destroyed and the aftermath of it is one that I don't want to think of. I do want to say Mayhew made it seem very real and the way she had it all explained while a little confusing worked. I did get a little confused with the timeline though at times, but I just think that's because I had an ARC so some things weren't always marked.

"I am good Jessika and Bad. All of it is in me. But I am whole. And I am here."


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[Amber (The Literary Phoenix)]

Find this review and others like it on The Literary Phoenix.


Disclaimer
I received a free copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.  Thank you to Candlewick Press and LibraryThing Early Reviewers for this opportunity.  This in no way impacts my review.  All thoughts and opinions presented are my own and are not in any way representative of either Candlewick Press of LibraryThing.


Jessika has been brainwashed since childhood.

Her father holds an important position with the Reicht, and so Jessika must always be on her best behavior.  She is the top of her class, a gifted skater, and she is the Favorite Daughter of the Reicht.

Until Clementine.

Clementine Amelia Hart changes everything Jessika has been told is truth.  She allows her to see through the shroud that has been tucked over the people of Britain since the German Reicht overtook them.  She shows Jess that the things she has learned growing up are just ways the government keeps her enslaved.

This alternate history is fascinating.

Based on the idea of the German Reicht taking over Western Europe in World War II, we follow the last year of Jessika's schooling in this world.  We learn about her career path, her work with the BDM (Bund Deutscher Mädel), and how the Reicht deals with sexual and political deviants.  The Reicht has all the best machines.  They are the smartest.  They are proper and intelligent and the rest of the world are fools.  Perhaps someday, the good leader of the Reicht may liberate the misguided Americans, even.

Jessika is thoroughly and completely brainwashed.  It's an interesting perspective in an alternate history, where the hero or heroine would typically be a rebel.  I really liked this point of view, because it made me uncomfortable.  Jessika accepts the world around her as the only truth she has ever known.  Other characters refer to her as naive, but I found she was a realistic portrayal in her environment.  And, from a literary point of view, refreshing.  It was nice to read about this girl struggling between her father and her best friend, between her country and her beliefs.  The way Jessika finds and loses courage is engaging, but also very real.

I know we all want to believe that presented with a backwards, oppressive situation we would all be brave and fight back.  But, would we really?  Especially if it was all we had ever known?  Something to think about....

This story is told in four section.

The first section is Jessika's life leading up to the Jay Ackers concert.  Parts two and three are entwined - her time after the concert and in internment.  The last section is very brief and shows her life after her conditioning.  This last part is, I believe, the most interesting because we see the spark has not quite gone out, despite the attempts to snuff it.

I had a little difficulty with the entwinement of parts two and three.  It took me a while to realized which came chronologically first, but that was quickly resolved as I read on - it became painfully clear.

Mayhew discusses topics of love, sexuality, family honor, political responsibilities, women's rights, human rights, and freedom.  There's a lot to digest but I think she does a good job of it.

The Big Lie is excellent food for thought.

I thought the characters were very well and interestingly written.  I enjoyed (cringed, but you were supposed to) the treatment of homosexuality within the boundaries of the novel, and the impression of German Reicht ideals in the modern world.  The contrast between the Americans and the Germans was brilliant, both shocking and casual depending on perspective.  Overall I would have to say that I'm so please to have received this ARC.  I think it was incredibly well done and uncomfortable, as any alternate history should be.  This will be one I'll keep on my shelf.

[Jo]

Originally posted on Once Upon a Bookcase.

I cannot even begin to tell you how incredible The Big Lie by Julie Mayhew is. An alt-history novel about what the world would be like today if the Nazis won World War II, this book is extremely thought-provoking, and unbelievably scary.

If you really think about, WWII wasn't that long ago. It ended only 70 years ago, no matter how far in the past it might seem to some of us. The Big Lie shows us the possible present world we could be living in had the Nazis won, and the world we're shown is terrifying - not just because of how awful it is, but because this could be our lives. It's not a dystopian novel set in very distant future, it's set now. Present day with a different past.

I don't want to talk too much about the plot, because this is very much a story whose horrors you shouldn't be prepared for, but I will talk about the important aspects of the book. The book is split into two parts. The first part - the only part I feel comfortable discussing without spoiling the story - shows us the history of Jess and Clem's friendship, and just exactly who these two girls are. Jess does her best to be the very best daughter of Germany she can be. She's passionate about doing what's right, and has such a huge love of Germany. Even though they live in Britain, it is now a German country, which is governed by the Fuhrer, who is worshipped like a god-like figure. The amount of brainwashing that has gone on through the years since the war is astounding. Britain is not a country "suffering" under the rule of the Fuhrer, but a country that was saved from it's corrupt government before Hitler freed it. The devotion Jess feels to her country and her role in society - as a young woman who will eventually be wife and mother, and who will keep her home and raise her children while her family works.

Clem, on the other hand is from an outspoken family who haven't been so brainwashed by all they've been fed. They have strange ideas that step outside the rules. Clem's family want change, and have brought up their daughter to think for herself and to question what she's told. So whereas Jess is blindly led by her authority figures - her parents and the leaders of her Bund Deutscher Mädel (the Nazi female youth organisation) - Clem can see what's not being said. And when she becomes victim to the rules of Nazi run Britain - having been given her date for the removal of her womb, as there's a chance she might produce "defective" children because her mother gave birth to an "imperfect" son who was taken away and killed (we're never really told exactly what problems their son had) - the whole family, and Clem in particular will not be silent.

The Big Lie has huge themes running throughout, and covers feminist issues, morality, deep female friendship, and questions about loyalty - to country, to your beliefs, to your friends. One wonderful aspect covered is Jess' questions about her sexual identity. I think I might be safe in saying Jess is a lesbian, but a label is never given, and Jess doesn't think about "homosexuality" in any real words. It's just her feelings and who she's attracted to, and who she falls in love with. Without spoiling the story, there is the possibility that Jess is bisexual; as I said, no labels are given, and there are moments with male characters, but I read those moments as Jess trying to be "normal", fit in, and stop feeling ashamed. There may be others who may have read it differently, though. Either way, the look at sexuality, discovering what and who you like, on it's own and in the world Jess lives in, was dealt with brilliantly.

What I also found really difficult to deal with was the Historical Notes on The Big Lie that comes at the end of the book. Mayhew talks about the various elements of the book that are true; the beliefs and actions of the Nazis being as they were back in WWII, but also the elements of the book that comes from present day world events. These appalling and disturbing events aren't from a period of history, they're happening today. We might think we live in a different world now, but we do not. Yes, we might be more accepting than we were, we might be, in some ways, better, but there a lot of things that simply have not changed, and there are injustices people are having to live with everyday. I implore you to read The Big Lie, and also to read Historical Notes on the Big Lie afterwards, and have your eyes opened to what is happening in the world, if you didn't already know, and think about this world we live in. I said at the beginning that this book is terrifying because this could have been our lives, but the truth of the matter is, in some parts of the world, for some people, this is their lives, this is their present.

An incredible and harrowing novel, The Big Lie is not a book to pass up, and not one, once read, you'll be able to ignore.

Thank you to Hot Key Books via NetGalley for the eProof.

[Joséphine]

Note: I received a finished copy for free from a local distributor in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Actual rating: 4.5 stars

Initial thoughts: Set in Nazi England, 2012–2014, The Big Lie is a speculative work of alternative history. It begs the question, What if Germany had won World War II? The thought of Nazis ruling Germany and conquered nations makes me shudder. Thankfully, this is not how history turned out. Yet, there were so many elements in the book that were more than plausible because they do exist today. Take the treatment towards homosexuality — it's criminalised in many parts around the world. Still stuck on the 1940s way of life, eugenics was still widely practiced in this alternate England. Politics is used to legitimately tyrannise people and to undermine rebellions.

Kristen was such a gullible protagonist, befitting of the daughter of a proud Aryan family. She was obedient and set a proud example for the other girls in the Bund Deutscher Mädel (the League of German Girls). Her best friend, Clementine, however had other ideas in her head. That was the springboard for The Big Lie. Coupled with Kristen's own confusions over her sexual orientation, the conflicts were complex. They made me think as well wonder, do we really think as independently as we like to believe? After all, the way we are socialised matters a lot in shaping our belief systems.

The reason I didn't love this book whole-heartedly was that it would've benefitted from a little more depth. Occasionally I thought Kristen's thoughts fell a little flat because they were made to encompass more than they could with the limited pages. Aside from that, it's a more than worthy read!

[shannonmiz]

This review was originally posted on It Starts at Midnight
I am going to be honest, at the start of this book, I was already sure it was headed for 5-star territory. I was insanely engaged, and it was so, so unique. I was hooked from page one, because come on, Nazi-run England?! Yes, I needed to read that!

Jessika... man, she was flawed. Remember that discussion about whether you'd fight for the rebellion? Yeah, Jessika was the "Sweatpants and Cheetos" option. No, she wasn't lazy, she was actually quite driven.. but she was also a blind rule follower and had less than no desire to rock the boat. Her best friend was another story though.  Clementine was rebellious, and not planning on stifling it anytime soon. In fact, she was getting more rebellious and making Jess more and more nervous- especially since Jess's dad was a public figure.

Most of this book was badass and basically I could not put it down. Here's what I absolutely loved about it:

• Morality was not even almost cut and dry. Was there even a "right" or "wrong"? Not likely, because that isn't really how life works, and The Big Lie showed that better than probably any book I have read.  Jess didn't know that what was happening in her country was not okay, it's the life she always knew, so she was just trying to please her parents. Clementine grew up very differently, and had so many more facts.


• Jess was questioning her sexuality and was quite often confused. She seriously wasn't sure what she wanted, which to be honest, was kind of a recurring theme for her in the beginning. But as you'd imagine in Nazi England (or Nazi anywhere for that matter) anything other than cisgender heterosexuality was not ever okay, so Jess was confused as hell when she had even the slightest feelings of attraction.


• The political climate was so intriguing, especially since we knew virtually nothing about the U.S. and their role. I loved that this book was basically isolated from the U.S., because it's refreshing, quite frankly! Usually it's the opposite- the plot is happening in America, and we don't know what the rest of the world is doing. In this book, all we know that the Americans seem to have "questionable standards", at least as far as Nazis are concerned.


• The plot was really amazing, especially the first half. I can't say much more because of spoilers, but I was glued to this book. My jaw dropped on several occasions, and holy crap, I just was blown away by it.


• I loved how complex the characters were. Like Jess and the morality in general, everyone had such multifaceted personalities! There wasn't a "bad guy". There were just people, on some spectrum of good and evil, but no one ever fully touching one end. You know, they were real, and believable.

So what went wrong? Why isn't this a new favorite, as I was 100% sure it was going to be? Le sigh. I don't want to have qualms with it, but I do. I have zero problems with the first, say, 65% of the book. But then things got... a but dull. Like, this epicness was happening, and then it wasn't so much. It was still good, but not as captivating. And then the ending happened, and I was not thrilled with it, and am now super conflicted about my thoughts on this book. The more time I give it, the more I can appreciate it, I suppose.

Bottom Line: I don't even care if I liked the end or not, this book is worth the read, 150%. Like, you must. Even if you don't like the ending either, trust me that the rest of the book is worth it. And make sure you stick around for the author's note!

**Copy provided by publisher for review