What’s The Lie Tree about?
Plagued by an unspoken scandal, 14-year-old Faith Sunderly and her family are forced to flee their home in Kent to start a new life. But news travels fast, and the gossip they’re running from soon reaches the small island community of Vane, to devastating effect. When Faith’s father is found dead under mysterious circumstances, she is determined to untangle the truth from the lies. Patriarchal Victorian society may not listen to a girl’s questions, but Faith has other plans. Following the trail left behind in her father’s books, and their secret father-daughter night-time boat ride, Faith discovers her father’s biggest secret…
A tree that feeds off whispered lies and bears fruit that reveals hidden secrets. The bigger the lie, and the more people who believe it, the bigger the truth that is uncovered. But as Faith’s untruths spread like wildfire across the island, she discovers that where lies seduce, truths shatter…
Now watch this
Other things to do:
- Read Frances Hardinge on how her book was inspired by rebellious Victorian heroines
- Read a review of The Lie Tree from site member That’sMe
And now… write your review!
The Guardian young critics competition is for all young readers to share their views on any of the longlisted books. Anyone aged 18 or under can enter by writing a review of no more than 500 words of one of the books longlisted for the prize. Individuals or school/library classes/bookgroups can enter and there are great prizes to be won including all the longlisted books and being invited to the books party of the year, the Guardian children’s fiction prize award ceremony in November. You can find out more and enter the competition here.
You can find out more about all the authors on the Guardian children’s fiction prize book club page links and info will be added as they go live, one author a week for eight weeks!
