The Big Lie

by Julie Mayhew

[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.