“We Were Liars” by E. Lockhart

I have only been to Martha’s Vineyard one time, in 1974, with my parents, sister and brother. There is nothing like going to Martha’s Vineyard to make a California girl feel she has no roots or history. People from New England or specifically people who summer in Martha’s Vineyard are people with long-standing traditions, a penchant for sailing and fishing, and family connections like no other place I have ever seen. They don’t just talk about their grandmothers and grandfathers, they talk about their great-great grandmothers and great-great grandfathers who also spent summers on Martha’s Vineyard. “We Were Liars” by E. Lockhart is about the uber-rich Sinclair family who own a private island off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard island. “The liars” is the name for three of the Sinclair cousins, as well as an outsider from town named Gat. While the grownups are drinking and eating and talking about how rich they are, the cousins form a special bond during their summers together. Cadence, the oldest cousin, is the book’s narrator and she talks about how the cousins couldn’t wait to see each other every summer. Then suddenly, as the children grow up, the adults in the family begin to fall apart. There is divorce, addiction, and a cascading series of unfortunate money problems. Our narrator Cadence is especially hit hard when she suffers a sudden bout of debilitating amnesia. The fairytale summers on the private island near Martha’s Vineyard become her mystery to solve. Like many mysteries, the narrator is not always as innocent as she seems. “We Were Liars” is a book not only rich with tradition but also full of dark secrets prying to get out. To purchase this book on Amazon click here.