The Lies You Told Quotes

“Thoughts creep in of time earlier than that, a darker night some months before, the old barrister who thought that young female pupils were his for the taking, his for the groping. I had to struggle hard, kick him harder still before I was able to break free. I stop at the place where it happened, to the left of the stairs, wiping my hands down my skirt. Nearly two decades ago but still fresh in my mind.”
― Harriet Tyce, The Lies You Told

“sitting”
― Harriet Tyce, The Lies You Told

“but he has a weak chin and a petulant mouth.”
― Harriet Tyce, The Lies You Told

“Nice, middle-class, white men like you. They’ll look at you and decide they don’t want to destroy your life. Maybe you did do it, but they won’t care about that. We both know that Freya wasn’t a great witness, and even if she’d been brilliant, they still don’t like convicting when there’s no other evidence.”
― Harriet Tyce, The Lies You Told

“Someone standing on their head while their kid’s in a coma,”
― Harriet Tyce, The Lies You Told

“School can go fuck itself, too. So what if these women don’t want to know me? I don’t want anything to do with them either.”
― Harriet Tyce, The Lies You Told

“Not that we know of. And, in general, they’re overworked, under-resourced, under-staffed. That’s why so many rape trials are falling by the wayside – a girl makes an allegation, the defence finally get to go through her phone and, boom! In whatever way, she shows she isn’t purer than the driven snow. The jury won’t convict.”
― Harriet Tyce, The Lies You Told

“We all know you don’t say no to anyone. Stop telling lies. He didn’t want it because you’re such a slag and now you’re talking shit to get back at him. Don’t DM me again.”
― Harriet Tyce, The Lies You Told

“I don’t know who the fuck you think you are, but I’ve had enough of this. You’re behaving like an absolute cow, and your precious daughter is too. She had better stay well away from Robin,’ I hiss. ‘Or you won’t be the only one taking action.”
― Harriet Tyce, The Lies You Told

“All those years I gave up after having Robin, living in a place where I couldn’t use my qualifications, all for Andrew’s job. At least I’m back in court – thanks to you. A school place for Robin, a place to live, enough money from the trust to keep us so that I’ve got time to build up a practice. We’ll make it work.”
― Harriet Tyce, The Lies You Told

“I don’t even understand the language properly, all the strange abbreviations and the failure to properly punctuate or use capital letters, emojis scattered across the pages like grapeshot on the screenshots of Facebook messages that comprise one of the files. There must be a key to teen speak, a way of understanding. I grit my teeth and get on with it.”
― Harriet Tyce, The Lies You Told

“A mother, a father, two children and a cat, the family structure I longed for so much.”
― Harriet Tyce, The Lies You Told

“We’ve had our fill of run-ins at school with my kids. Those mothers who don’t work are the worst – they don’t have anything better to do than magnify every little thing into a massive drama, just for the sake of it. I’m sure it’ll be OK. Don’t stress.”
― Harriet Tyce, The Lies You Told

“I’ve raged about it silently over these years. But surely Barbara can’t be so blind to the realities of the situation, the difficulties faced by parents in such an inflexible working environment, the demands of court and the cab-rank rule taking precedence over all other considerations.”
― Harriet Tyce, The Lies You Told

“I’m not surprised. You should have dumped him years ago – you’ve wasted the last decade of your life. At least you haven’t left it too late to get back to work. Honestly, these women with so much promise, degrees from the best universities, brilliant practices, and they give it all up to go off and have children.”
― Harriet Tyce, The Lies You Told

“There you were, one of our brightest young tenants, crown court trials rolling in, and you chuck it all in for a baby. All seems rather a shame, if you ask me.”
― Harriet Tyce, The Lies You Told

“Ah yes, of course. You had a baby. Your career was about to take off, and you got pregnant and disappeared off to America. Don’t you think it was rather a waste?”
― Harriet Tyce, The Lies You Told

“An elaborate act of posthumous spite.”
― Harriet Tyce, The Lies You Told

“Despite everything, the forced nature of this new start, I feel a twinge of excitement. At least I’m finally going to be able to use my legal qualifications again. I’m going back to work. I walk fast down”
― Harriet Tyce, The Lies You Told

“I clutch my hands together as the reading begins: 'Jesus, suffer the little children...' It's the wrong way round. The little children suffer. How they suffer. Forced to sing and dance on command, live out their parents' hopes, dreams. Fix all their failures.”
― Harriet Tyce, The Lies You Told

“I go upstairs into Robin's room, lying down on the small bed. I want proximity to the daughter I love, not the mother who hated me. But until my daughter is home, I will never have the proximity I want.”
― Harriet Tyce, The Lies You Told

“All this stuff we tell them, by your best, not be the best. I'm not sure that Julia has got that memo yet.”
― Harriet Tyce, The Lies You Told

“Nothing should be unforgivable," he says. We should always strive to see both sides of the story.”
― Harriet Tyce, The Lies You Told