Little Liar by Lisa BallantyneMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is a compelling,emotionally charged He said/She said tale about abuse,parenting,relationships,trust,betrayal,secrets and lies.Due to it being about an alleged sexual assault on a twelve year old girl and other issues that are raised,some parts are difficult to read but the subject is written with sensitivity and the story is not overly graphic.
We first meet the alleged victim Angela Furness just before she is suspended from school after being involved in a fight in the playground.So our first impression of her is that she is a disruptive,attention seeking,bully with a bad attitude.She doesn't get on with her mum Donna and adores her dad Stephen.
Part time actor Nick Dean has been running a drama workshop at Angela's school. His nightmare starts on a normal Friday night.He has just put his two young children to bed and is ready for a peaceful.evening with his wife Marina. Their cosy evening is interrupted by the arrival of two police officers who inform Nick that he is under arrest for the sexual assault of a minor.
Nick insists he is innocent,Angela insists he assaulted her.Who is telling the truth?
This riveting story is told from the alternating points of view of Angela,Nick,Donna,Stephen and Marina.It's very hard to feel any empathy for a character that you dislike and I definitely did not like Nick.For someone who insisted he hadn't done anything wrong,he seemed quite happy to sit around feeling sorry for himself while his and Marina`s lives feel apart around them.It's frightening how swiftly a person's life can be destroyed,despite any real evidence just because someone accuses you of doing something that you may or may not have done.In the case of an alleged sexual.assault or rape,it is understandable that the victim`s name remains anonymous but surely the name of the accused should also remain anonymous until the accused is actually found guilty.If there is overwhelming evidence that the accused is likely to reoffend then that person should be locked up until they stand trial but they should still remain anonymous.A person's life can be torn apart by the press and people on the internet and then if that person is found innocent,often or not they never receive an apology and are just expected to move on and get on with their lives.Wether Nick is proven innocent or guilty,there would always be people who believed the old addage that there is no smoke without fire.I also didn't like Stephen very much,my feelings about Donna changed as the story unfolded and I learnt more about her character.Despite her behaviour and attitude I did feel a bit of empathy towards Angela but was she an innocent victim or a manipulative liar? My favourite character and the person I felt the most empathy with was Marina as she struggled to keep life as normal as possible for their two young children and her see sawing feelings and doubts about her husband.
This well written,thought provoking story keeps you guessing and evokes a mixed bag of emotions in the reader as the drama unfolded.The characters were vivid and believable,no parts of the story came across as padding and the ending was realistic and true to life.The story would definitely cause some interesting discussions if it was read by a book group.Despite the subject matter I did enjoy this book which is the first book I have read by this author and it definitely will not be my last.
AUTHOR BIO
Lisa Ballantyne was born in Armadale, West Lothian, Scotland and studied English literature at University of St Andrews. She lived and worked in China for many years and started writing seriously while she was there. She now lives in Glasgow.
Website : http://www.lisaballantyne.com/
Twitter : ballantyne_lisa
E Book Publication Date 2nd August 2018
Paperback Publication Date : 21st February 2019
Publisher : Little Brown Book Group UK
Genre : Crime,Thriller & Mystery
PURCHASE HERE...
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Little-Liar-bestselling-author-Guilty-ebook/dp/B079M14TRM/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1533214526&sr=1-3&keywords=little+liar
No comments:
Post a Comment