Editorial Content for Truth and Other Lies
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Reviewer (text)
Packed into this engaging debut novel are many women's issues. In TRUTH AND OTHER LIES, Maggie Smith introduces us to Megan Barnes, who relocates to Chicago and moves in with her mother, Helen, after getting fired from her job as an investigative reporter in New York and breaking up with her boyfriend.
Helen’s house, the same house in which Megan grew up, has not changed. Everything is Martha Stewart perfect, as is her controlling, conservative, unemotional mother. But paradoxically, that same person is overly smothering and worries about Megan constantly. We see her advising Megan to take an umbrella because of possible rain and wanting her daughter to be safe in other ways that Megan, sometimes unreasonably, sees as intrusive. While Megan loves her mother, they are practically polar opposites in their beliefs. She can't wait to get a job and move out so she can regain her independence.
"We come to like Megan even as we acknowledge her faults, youth and lack of judgment. She reminds us of ourselves when we were young, and we understand her naiveté."
There are surprises waiting for Megan when she finds out that her mother is running for a US Congressional seat. It would be very difficult to get a job as an investigative reporter until the election is over because her ability to be impartial would be questioned. When she happens to catch the attention of Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jocelyn Jones, whom she has idolized, she hopes that her connection will help her get a job. She does get one through Jocelyn, but it’s not what she expected.
In fact, there is a great deal that happens in this novel that is not what Megan expects. The two older women in her life, one whom she put on a pedestal and the other from whom she tried desperately to escape, become extremely important in the story. And what we are led to believe about each of them might just be turned on its head. We also see Megan's relationship with her best friend, Becca. When Becca's needs conflict with Jocelyn's, we wonder who will win.
THE TRUTH AND OTHER LIES is an easy read. We come to like Megan even as we acknowledge her faults, youth and lack of judgment. She reminds us of ourselves when we were young, and we understand her naiveté. We also get to know Helen and Jocelyn, both of whom are savvy and successful, each in her own way. Older readers especially will identify with them; perhaps reflecting on them will make us revisit what we've done that we've kept secret, or what was done to us that we've kept secret.
We all have things that we'd rather not tell others, and the question becomes how far we will go to ensure that our secrets stay that way. Because such decisions more clearly demonstrate who we are now.
Teaser
After losing both her job as a reporter and her boyfriend in the same day, Megan Barnes retreats to Chicago and moves in with Helen, her overprotective mother. Before long, the two are clashing over everything from pro-choice to #MeToo, not to mention Helen's run for U.S. Congress, which puts Megan's career on hold until after the election. Desperate to reboot her life, Megan gets her chance when an altercation at a campus rally brings her face-to-face with Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jocelyn Jones, who offers her a job on her PR team. Before long, Megan is pulled into the heady world of fame and glamour that her charismatic new mentor represents. Until an anonymous tweet brings it all crashing down. To salvage Jocelyn's reputation, Megan must locate the online troll and expose the lies.
Promo
After losing both her job as a reporter and her boyfriend in the same day, Megan Barnes retreats to Chicago and moves in with Helen, her overprotective mother. Before long, the two are clashing over everything from pro-choice to #MeToo, not to mention Helen's run for U.S. Congress, which puts Megan's career on hold until after the election. Desperate to reboot her life, Megan gets her chance when an altercation at a campus rally brings her face-to-face with Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jocelyn Jones, who offers her a job on her PR team. Before long, Megan is pulled into the heady world of fame and glamour that her charismatic new mentor represents. Until an anonymous tweet brings it all crashing down. To salvage Jocelyn's reputation, Megan must locate the online troll and expose the lies.
About the Book
Megan Barnes' life is in free fall. After losing both her job as a reporter and her boyfriend in the same day, she retreats to Chicago and moves in with Helen, her overprotective mother. Before long, the two are clashing over everything from pro-choice to #MeToo, not to mention Helen's run for U.S. Congress, which puts Megan's career on hold until after the election.
Desperate to reboot her life, Megan gets her chance when an altercation at a campus rally brings her face-to-face with Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jocelyn Jones, who offers her a job on her PR team. Before long, Megan is pulled into the heady world of fame and glamour that her charismatic new mentor represents.
Until an anonymous tweet brings it all crashing down. To salvage Jocelyn's reputation, Megan must locate the online troll and expose the lies. But when the trail leads to blackmail, and circles back to her own mother, Megan realizes if she pulls any harder on this thread, what should have been the scoop of her career could unravel into a tabloid nightmare.
Readers who love Jodi Picoult's topical plot twists and Liane Moriarty's character-driven novels will devour this fast-paced tale of three women whose lives converge as one fights a devastating accusation, another campaigns for a contested seat in Congress, and one --- the young reporter with ties to both --- navigates the tricky line between secrets and lies.
Audiobook available, read by Amy McFadden
