A brilliant debut novel, in which a teenage girl's "Mean Girls"-like experience on the remote English island of Guernsey pushes her to murder her b...
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Jul 28, 2011
Lies are all around us. White lies, lies of omission, lies of ignorance, and the more egregious deliberate whoppers. Because of their prevalence, one is left to wonder, just what is truth? Is it indeed subjective or is it more concrete? Can one ever truly differentiate between lies and the truth? Does it mean the same thing to each person? The Book of Lies explores truth more flexible edges, that which allows one to blur the line between truth and fiction until the truth in its pure form is lost
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Feb 22, 2012
Vegantrav
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We learn from the very beginning that our narrator, Catherine, has killed someone, her former friend, Nicolette. Catherine leads us through the twists and turns that have resulted in Nic's death in this fascinating and slightly morbid first-hand account of her life as an adolescent girl on Guernsey, one of the Channel Islands between the UK and France.
Sprinkled between Catherine's narrative is the story of Guernsey's history during World War II, when it was occupied by the Nazis. T More...
Sprinkled between Catherine's narrative is the story of Guernsey's history during World War II, when it was occupied by the Nazis. T More...
Oct 30, 2011
Nancy
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This book makes a nice companion piece to the Guernsey Potato Peel Pie Whatever book that everyone was reading a few years back. Potato Peel was a little more upbeat and filled with characters who were either quaint and moral or rich and suspect. It was a fun read. This book is much more difficult and full of loose ends and moral questions.
Both were based around what happened on the Isle of Guernsey, which was occupied during WWII. It's a complex story. People on Guernsey suffered grea More...
Both were based around what happened on the Isle of Guernsey, which was occupied during WWII. It's a complex story. People on Guernsey suffered grea More...
Sep 22, 2011
Angela
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This is barely a three star book. The author weaves a tale of a teenager who accidently murders her ex-best friend, now enemy AND the story of her father's account of her uncle who was sent to a German work camp in WWII. The jumping between stories was confusing for awhile but I eventually got the rythm of it and its purpose. I read this book as an e-book which led to some confusion for me. Throughout the book there were "foot notes" where if you clicked on them you went to the ind
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Sep 21, 2011
Barbara
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This book tells two stories, both set on the Isle of Guernsey. Guernsey, if you don't already know from either Elizabeth George's story, A Place of Hiding, or the surprising hit, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows, was the only place in Great Britain that the Germans captured.
One is the story of Emile Rozier, who was a young child during WWII, and his quest to defend the reputation of his brother, Charles, who spent three years in a conc More...
One is the story of Emile Rozier, who was a young child during WWII, and his quest to defend the reputation of his brother, Charles, who spent three years in a conc More...
Sep 01, 2011
Alicia
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There was an interesting parallel between the lives of Charlie Rozier, a young Guernsey boy during the German occupation in WWII and Cat Rozier, his 15 year old niece figuring out her way through high school in 1985 Guernsey. I liked the way the author alternated the perspectives chapter by chapter, and was looking for the connected moments between Charlie's and Cat's experiences. Cat had an interesting voice and view during her rough time at school. One of my take aways is that the "mean
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Aug 20, 2011
Metaxa
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"The Book of Lies" by Mary Horlock is certainly an interesting read. The protagonist, Cathy (aka),Cat is the epitome of a confused, angst suffering teenage girl with issues of abandonment and loneliness. Cat's tale takes place on the small island of Guernsey, once a place ravaged by German occupation in the Second World War. Though Guernsey has made great strides in recovering from that dark time, Cat cannot get passed the events that haunted her father and permeated his writings befor
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Jul 25, 2011
Pam
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http://iwriteinbooks.wordpress.com/2011/...
Sometimes I like books for the story and sometimes I like books for the storyteller. The Book of Lies by Mary Horlock is definitely in the second category. Though the book is a fantastic tale in and of itself, the true beauty of it lies in the teenaged narrator, Cat.
Cat’s story starts in 1984, on the Channel Island of Guernsey. It also starts with her immediate dismissal of the horrible death of her previously alleged best friend More...
Sometimes I like books for the story and sometimes I like books for the storyteller. The Book of Lies by Mary Horlock is definitely in the second category. Though the book is a fantastic tale in and of itself, the true beauty of it lies in the teenaged narrator, Cat.
Cat’s story starts in 1984, on the Channel Island of Guernsey. It also starts with her immediate dismissal of the horrible death of her previously alleged best friend More...
Jul 01, 2011
Karen
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We talk about getting away and seeing the world, but we never do. We stay here making the same mistakes, over and over. (8)
The Book of Lies opens in late 1985 with 15-year-old Cat Rozier admitting that she's murdered her best friend, Nicolette. Her narrative then begins to chart the short history of Cat's tumultuous relationship with Nic. Cat's written confession is interspersed with pages of documents that Cat found in her late father's office. Those documents tell the story of More...
The Book of Lies opens in late 1985 with 15-year-old Cat Rozier admitting that she's murdered her best friend, Nicolette. Her narrative then begins to chart the short history of Cat's tumultuous relationship with Nic. Cat's written confession is interspersed with pages of documents that Cat found in her late father's office. Those documents tell the story of More...
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Jun 14, 2011
Teri
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Small wonder Jim Bergerac took to alcohol. Having once flirted with the idea of a Channel Islands sojourn myself I have a certain empathy with both Jim Bergerac and The Book of Lies. There are a lot of lies down there in the filthy waters of the English Channel, mostly concerning Nazis and the Brits reluctance to liberate their co-dependants because they were too close to France. Enter the Book of Lies and Mary Horlock’s almost autobiographical look at life on the island of Guernsey, a bailiwick
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May 04, 2011
Blair
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The Book of Lies starts with a bang - 15-year-old Cathy's confession that she murdered her best friend, Nicolette - and, for the most part, the rest of the book manages to match up to its explosive opening. It's consistently readable, totally compelling and ends on a chilling note. The narrative is split, alternating between two first-person stories which are both set wholly on the island of Guernsey. Cathy, writing in 1985, tells her tale in the form of a journal, recording the background of he
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Aug 28, 2011
Jen
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Cat Rozier is a murderer. She's lived all her fifteen years on the Channel Island of Guernsey, where (she will be happy to tell you) the only things for people to do are drink, have sex, and kill each other. The person she's killed is Nicolette, her best friend. Well, former best friend. It's complicated.
Cat's uncle was a murderer too, or at least that's what she tells people. He was also a prisoner of the Nazis during the Occupation of the island, and he never really got over it. Ca More...
Cat's uncle was a murderer too, or at least that's what she tells people. He was also a prisoner of the Nazis during the Occupation of the island, and he never really got over it. Ca More...
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Aug 03, 2011
Serena
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The Book of Lies by Mary Horlock is written in chapters that alternate between the present with Catherine Rozier in 1984-5 and the past during the German occupation of Guernsey during WWII and her uncle Charles Rozier’s story. Like her uncle, Cat is a liar. Lies are often told to protect loved ones, to gain acceptance among peers, or to cover up bad behavior, and the lies told here are no different. Unreliable narrators are tricky in that readers can often get frustrated with the lies or beco
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Sep 23, 2011
Grace
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"There are always several versions of that thing we call the truth."
Life on the tiny island of Guernsey has just become a whole lot harder for fifteen-year-old Cat Rozier. She’s gone from model pupil to murderer, but she swears it’s not her fault. Apparently it’s all the fault of history.
A new arrival at Cat’s high school in 1984, the beautiful and instantly popular Nicolette inexplicably takes Cat under her wing. The two become inseparable—going to parties to More...
Life on the tiny island of Guernsey has just become a whole lot harder for fifteen-year-old Cat Rozier. She’s gone from model pupil to murderer, but she swears it’s not her fault. Apparently it’s all the fault of history.
A new arrival at Cat’s high school in 1984, the beautiful and instantly popular Nicolette inexplicably takes Cat under her wing. The two become inseparable—going to parties to More...
Jul 24, 2011
Belle
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The Book of Lies was a fascinating read not just for its page-turning story, but also for the themes it explores.
One of the themes is, as the title suggests, lies - in particular, the devastating damage they can cause, no matter how small, off-hand or innocent they seem at the time. But what I found most interesting was its exploration of the truth - and, by extension, history - beautifully demonstrating how subjective it is, and how one person's truth is another's lie. We each exper More...
One of the themes is, as the title suggests, lies - in particular, the devastating damage they can cause, no matter how small, off-hand or innocent they seem at the time. But what I found most interesting was its exploration of the truth - and, by extension, history - beautifully demonstrating how subjective it is, and how one person's truth is another's lie. We each exper More...
Jul 21, 2011
Diane
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The Book of Lies tells two stories which took place on the island of Guernsey. The novel begins in 1985 with fifteen-year-old Catherine (Cat) Rozier writing a confession about how she killed her best friend, Nicolette (Nic). She also tells us that her own father is dead, and that she didn't kill him, although she thought about it. We also learn whatever happened to Cat's father is connected to Nic.
It seems Catherine isn't the only one who got away with murder on the island, whic More...
May 01, 2011
UKDana
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From the opening page, when Catherine admits to the murder of her best friend, this book had me gripped. Catherine then goes on to explain the events that led up to her murdering her friend and these chapters alternate with those of her uncle who tells his story of life during the war in German occupied Guernsey.
I felt that Catherine’s voice rang very true throughout the novel. A highly intelligent yet lonely and naïve teenager. Much of what she said was simply repeating the mantra of her
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Aug 06, 2011
Katie
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If I could give this book 4.5 stars, I believe I would. It sounds a bit anal, but I think the one thing that kept me from awarding it 5 stars was all the footnotes. When I'm reading non-fiction, I can accept that I might have to read additional information in the form of footnotes, but not in a fiction book, for crying out loud! And yes, I get that the footnotes were still in Cat's voice, and some were amusing, but still: if it's important/witty enough to be in the book in the first place, put i
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Oct 09, 2011
Judith
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The feral nature of adolescent girls and the vagaries of history...set on the Isle of Guernsey.
The lies told by the Rozier family during the Nazi Occupation in WWII resound down the years to impact on fifteen year old Cat Rozier
Cat the brain, the outcast, becomes fast friends with Nicolette, the new girl in town...The lovely and wild Nicolette. they become inseparable.....partying, drinking, hooking up with the local boys. All the while Nicolette alternates her friendship wit More...
The lies told by the Rozier family during the Nazi Occupation in WWII resound down the years to impact on fifteen year old Cat Rozier
Cat the brain, the outcast, becomes fast friends with Nicolette, the new girl in town...The lovely and wild Nicolette. they become inseparable.....partying, drinking, hooking up with the local boys. All the while Nicolette alternates her friendship wit More...
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Jul 04, 2011
LG
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Unlike the teenage protagonist, I’ll be kind: none of the positive reviews on this site is a lie. It’s just that, as only one other reader has written, I never warmed up one degree to any of the characters. I did finish the book, but only out of the same sense of duty felt halfway through Miss Smilla’s Sense of Snow, when I started counting down the page numbers.
Catherine Rozier – 15, drama queen, self-confessed murderer and our narrator – is as cold as what I imagine the Channel Isl
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Nov 15, 2011
Sarah
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"The Book of Lies is about history and how every story changes with its telling." - About the Book, "The Book of Lies".
Very unique book about the Channel Islands and how the German Occupation affected the little island of Guernsey over the next several decades. It is based on true events and the author grew up in Guernsey and heard first hand accounts of that time period of Guernsey's history before deciding to write this book. It is about being a teenager just wan More...
Very unique book about the Channel Islands and how the German Occupation affected the little island of Guernsey over the next several decades. It is based on true events and the author grew up in Guernsey and heard first hand accounts of that time period of Guernsey's history before deciding to write this book. It is about being a teenager just wan More...
Aug 13, 2011
Jenny
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Two parallel stories of a young girl who is mad at her best friend, and her grandfather and whether or not he was a traitor. Everything is set on Guernsey, which was occupied by the Nazis during WW2. Some of the novel is told through transcriptions and diary entries, but is easy to read and has a lot of historical footnotes. (I'm not sure how accurate they are, or if they are merely the main character's notes to herself).
It did drag on a bit, and I think some of the characters cou More...
It did drag on a bit, and I think some of the characters cou More...
Jul 16, 2011
Emeloche
rated it:
A somewhat diappointing read, Mary Gorlock's The Book of Lies could use a little polishing.
Cat, a teen living on the small island of Guernsey, has a rather miserable existance. She's overweight, unhappy, drinks and parties too often, and, oh yes, has killed her best friend, Nic. Throughout the course of the book, the circumstances surround both Nic's death, and the death of Cat's father, are slowly revealed. The highlight of The Book of Lies is the strong sense of place that the book ha More...
Cat, a teen living on the small island of Guernsey, has a rather miserable existance. She's overweight, unhappy, drinks and parties too often, and, oh yes, has killed her best friend, Nic. Throughout the course of the book, the circumstances surround both Nic's death, and the death of Cat's father, are slowly revealed. The highlight of The Book of Lies is the strong sense of place that the book ha More...
Aug 04, 2011
Brenda (Lansdowne)
rated it: 
This poorly constructed book made me anxious to finish it, so I could move on to the next one.
Two stories are being told. Cat (Cathy) is a fifteen year old girl, insecure (I think), chubby, who makes friends with a popular girl, Nicolette, and she "kills" her. I am not giving anything away. She confesses in the first paragraph.
The second story is told by her dead father through his notes about his brother and father during World War II. It is also ho-hum. I have nev More...
Two stories are being told. Cat (Cathy) is a fifteen year old girl, insecure (I think), chubby, who makes friends with a popular girl, Nicolette, and she "kills" her. I am not giving anything away. She confesses in the first paragraph.
The second story is told by her dead father through his notes about his brother and father during World War II. It is also ho-hum. I have nev More...
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Apr 17, 2011
Kirsty
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The premise for this book was good and the author had clearly done her research into the history of Guernsey. I learned a lot about the island's past and this was a saving grace because to be honest I didn't enjoy too much of the rest of the book. I found the constant jumping back and forward in time to be confusing and a hinderance to the enjoyment of the book. Contrary to many other reviewers, I did like the voice of Cathy - yes, she was angsty, but so are most teenagers and I guess I'm used t
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Jul 29, 2011
Stephanie
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Interesting book with duel story lines - one set in the 80's that is narrated by Catherine, a teenager on the island of Guernsey who (on the very first page) admits to pushing her best friend off a cliff. The other plot is from the point of view of Catherine's deceased father, Emile. He has spent his life researching the history of the German occupation during WWII (he was a baby at the time) and trying to set the record straight about his brother Charlie's imprisonment and their fathers death a
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Aug 25, 2011
Megan
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This book made me think a lot about history and its significance. To a lot of us, especially students, history is just another thing that is simply there, to be studied and to be pondered, but not an element that can affect the present. The protagonist of this book, Cathy, is convinced that discovering her family's tragic past will explain why she has killed Nicolette, a popular but malicious girl that ultimately betrays her. Cathy thinks she was predestined to 'turn out evil', and as she uncov
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Nov 28, 2011
Abigail
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This narrator is wonderful. With such gems as "I won't go into the details of how I know this, but I won the Inter-Island Junior Mastermind so, trust me, I'm rarely wrong"; " I was doing the world (or Guernsey) a favor . . . What I did was not an Abomination (excellent word)"; and " I'd only ever heard of whores in the Bible and Jackie Collins, so I got a bit excited" I got sucked in immediately and tore through the first 100 pages or so. I lost a bit of interest,
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Apr 07, 2011
Carol
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Take one part Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, add equal parts The Secret History and Lord of the Flies, with a pinch of Mysteries of Pittsburgh, a dash of Trainspotting and just a hint of The Keep, filter through a highly original voice, and you get a hip, fast-paced, engaging novel that will keep you spellbound from start to finish! Alternating between the voice of Cat Rozier, a misfit teenager on the island of Guernsey, and of her uncle Charlie, who survived the island's occupa
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Apr 10, 2011
Annie
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Catherine Rozier is wonderful - you might not like her, but her view of the world is vivid, funny and heart-breakingly sad by turn. She's a wonderfully unreliable narrator, and Mary Horlock gets under her skin incredibly well. Writing as a teenager isn't easy - she cracks it.
The alternating Uncle Charlie wartime narrative worked for me too - this isn't Potato Pie Guernsey, this is cruel and raw.
This is a really clever and well written book exploring issues like truth an More...
The alternating Uncle Charlie wartime narrative worked for me too - this isn't Potato Pie Guernsey, this is cruel and raw.
This is a really clever and well written book exploring issues like truth an More...
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