We Were Liars

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

They had it all at their fingertips. Wealth, beauty, social standing. And then one summer it just slipped away......

Candence Sinclair Eastman is the narrator of this story but those who know her well call her Cady. Even her name sounds regal, as it should, considering she is an heiress to her grandfather's fortune. She's one of The Sinclairs; blonde, lovely, and privileged. Cady eagerly anticipates the summer because once again she and her cousins will spend languid days and nights on a private island off the coast of Cape Cod, walking the rocky shoreline, eating rich, buttery, fresh seafood and occasionally imbibing in the liquor hidden behind locked doors.

As well as being related, these four teens call themselves the Liars. There are cousins Mirren and Johnny and the illusive Gat.  He's the son of Aunt Carrie's boyfriend, and Cady is awestruck in his presence. She's in love. They've all known each other since they were eight years old. This posse of four must stick together as their dysfunctional family surrounds them. Granddad is rigid and controlling, the aunts bicker and argue over the many material possessions, and Cady's mom stills reels from the day her  husband walked out on her. Yes, the four Liars can weather it all, if they just stick together.

Then during her fifteenth summer on the island, Cady has a mysterious accident that leaves her in constant pain and suffering from amnesia. Now it is two years later and Cady still fights to remember what really happened that pivotal summer. If only she could remember.....

Much like John Green's The Fault in our Stars, this much talked about book appeals to an adolescent reader, but seems to have acquired an adult audience.  E. Lockhart is a National Book Award finalist with a distinct writing style. All 240 pages are written in a halting abbreviated manner which eventually you will come to expect as the pages turn. This book has almost a mystical quality. Continue reading and the heavy fog of uncertainty gradually lifts until Cady's story becomes painfully clear. Powerful and not easily forgotten, it's a book you'll either love or hate, but certainly one worth the discussion.

And by all means, don't tell anyone how it ends.

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