The Big Lie

by Julie Mayhew

[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!