Have you told a lie today? Don’t worry - we all lie on average three times a day, according to research. We often tell lies to avoid social conflict but sometimes to make ourselves look better to the outside world. But either way, as Frances Hardinge writes so vividly in The Lie Tree, “lies can spread like a fire” taking on “a life and shape of their own” to eventually cause devastation.
The whole story of The Lie Tree revolves around Faith Sunderly, someone I think could be called a feminist icon. Faith is part of a traditional household consisting of a pretty, flirtatious mother, her clever but emotionally unavailable father (who Faith adores) and her brother Howard whose main goals are to overcome his shameful left handedness and carry on the family name. Faith has always been the outsider of her family and seethes with a quiet frustration most of the time. This is because of her hidden brilliance and secret passion for natural sciences, which she wishes to study at a higher level but this is impossible in these stifling times for Victorian females.
Faith’s restricted but uncomplicated world changes at the start of the book when she and her family leave their comfortable home in Kent and flee to the remote island of Vane under mysterious circumstances. Her father’s reputation, both as a man of God and a respected scientist, appears to be in tatters. It is not until Reverend Sunderely’s apparent suicide that his bright and observant daughter discovers his double life and comes into her own: as a loving sister, detective and finally the truth seeking heroine of the book.
Faith chances upon the Lie Tree, a rather terrifying specimen obtained by suspect methods by her father. What do you do to keep the Lie Tree healthy? Feed it lies. This puzzling plant then bears bitter fruit which if eaten will reveal a previously undiscovered truth. No wonder the people around Faith are willing to do anything to become its owner and possess its power…
The story rockets towards its shattering conclusion, buzzing with fascinating information and ideas along the way: Victorian death photography (just as creepy as it sounds), scientific research performed for bad reasons, and relationships that both enhance and destroy lives. The tussle between Charles Darwin’s evolutionary theory of the Origin of the Species and the established beliefs of the Garden of Eden and the Creation Story regularly crop up in the book, in thought provoking ways. Hardinge’s use of language is exciting and ambitious throughout – I intend to use the word mendacity the next opportunity I have!
This completely original tale has something for everyone, whether you are a fan of historical fiction, science, fantasy or mystery. Every single character is multifaceted with redeeming qualities (but Faith remains my favourite). I cannot think of a more worthy winner of the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize for 2015 than The Lie Tree. In all truth, it’s the best book I’ve read all year.
Frances Hardinge’s The Lie Tree, shortlisted for the Guardian children’s fiction prize 2015, is available from the Guardian bookshop.
Congratulations to Olive Sample, aged 11, for your Young Critics award 2015-winning review.
