Sunday 28 February 2016

After the Lie - Kerry Fisher



An addictive and gripping read about love, life and living a lie. 

One little lie can make one big difference … 

Lydia has the ‘right’ kind of friends, her children are at the ‘right’ kind of school and she’s married to the ‘right’ sort of man – kind, steady, reliable Mark. Her wedding business is flourishing and even though she is at loggerheads with her mother, she couldn’t ask for anything more from life.

But the truth is that Lydia has been lucky. She has been living a lie for years and Mark has no idea who he is really married to. But nothing lasts forever and the past has a funny way of catching up with the present. When the person who knows all of Lydia’s dark little secrets turns up at the school gates, his presence threatens to blow Lydia’s life apart.

What is Lydia’s terrible truth? Once the secret is out, you can’t put it back … 

A powerful and heartbreaking story, perfect for fans of Liane Moriarty and Jane Green. 


What did I think?

This was such a riveting story and a very close examination of Lydia and Mark's marriage.  My heart went out to Lydia as she tried to keep her secrets buried, and Mark is so lovely that I kept yelling 'tell him' but completely understand that the longer you take to tell somebody something, the harder it is.  Lydia is so troubled with her burden that it isn't any wonder that she makes reckless decisions that put her marriage in further jeopardy.

We all know that secrets don't stay buried for long, and it's so typical that Sean McAllister, the one person Lydia never wanted to see again ended up living in her village and she was unable to avoid him.  I could feel the tension crackling through the pages every time Lydia came into contact with Sean.  It was no surprise that she started to take her angst out on her husband and two children.  It is so true that we always hurt the ones we love.

After the Lie certainly highlighted the dangers of our 'snap your fingers and it's all over the internet' day and age we live in.  If Lydia had been a teenager in present times, she wouldn't have a secret to keep buried as the whole world would know about it!

Whilst all of this tension and drama is going one, we have some laugh out loud moments to lighten the mood courtesy of the family dog, Mabel and Lydia's busybody mother, Dorothy.  Mabel had me in absolute kinks of laughter as she virtually sprang to life out of the page - the inspiration for Mabel was Kerry Fisher's own naughty dog, Poppy, who I'm sure could provide enough entertainment for a whole book!  Lydia's mother was so funny how she still treated 40-odd year old Lydia as a child, trying to tell her what clothes to buy and how to live her life.  Her heart is in the right place but Lydia's exasperation is completely understandable and it's heartening to see what a close and strong family unit they have.

Having now read two of Kerry Fisher's books (see also The Island Escape that I named as one of my top reads of 2015), I am becoming quite a fan.  Kerry's books are so true to life that you feel as if you are one of the family, I find that I care about the characters and I relive moments from the book long after I have turned the final page.

After the Lie is a thought-provoking, poignant and funny book that doesn't disappoint.  The eye-opening comparison between then and now of a moment that should have remained private was simply marvellous.

I received this e-book from the publisher, Bookouture, via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

My rating:




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