The Liar's Diary

by Patry Francis

Book Overview

Answering the question of Rwhat is more powerful--family or friendship?, S this debut novel unforgettably shows how far one woman would go to protect either. This chilling tour of troubled minds signals the launch of an immensely talented new novelist who knows just how to keep her readers guessing.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0452289157
• ISBN13: 9780452289154
• Release Date: January 2008
• Publisher: Plume Books
• Length: 311 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.4" x 8.0"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Good Story

Good story and good writing style but certainly not a 5 star book as based on the review of other readers. Melodramatic and Touchy subject matter but all together a predictable who done it.

Dark and haunting

The Liar's Diary is an excellent story of secrets and truth-telling. Jeanne Cross's life seems to be perfect: a secretary at the local high school, se is married to Wonderful Dr. Gavin Cross and has a seemingly normal teenage son, Jamie. That year, Ali Mather comes to the town to teach music at the high school. She has an uncanny effect upon men, and her arrival in town sends shock waves through the community and especially through Jeanne and her family. Both women keep diaries, but it is only Jeanne's that we ever see. It seems that everyone is this tight, fast-paced, dark, and haunting novel has a secret to conceal, and it is only at the very end that those secrets are revealed. This is an absolute must-read that kept me guessing until the very end.

She'll keep you guessing

The Liar's Diary begins innocuously at first - a new teacher arrives at the school where Jeanne Cross, a suburban wife and mother works as a secretary. Ali Mather is beautiful, charismatic, and willful. She is a brilliant composer and violinist. Students, fellow teachers, and even crusty old janitors fall under her spell. Jeanne, whose initial distrust and jealousy melts as Ali and she form an unlikely friendship is similarly captivated despite herself. Ali is outspoken, forthright, and sexual. Jeanne is quite the opposite - a woman who does not know what she thinks or feels and who prefers not knowing rather than attempting to probe the shadowy questions and challenges that confront her on a daily basis. A strong undertone of psychological and emotional abuse runs through The Liar's Diary, though Francis is such a fine writer that she never labels it as such. Instead, she reveals through narrative the master manipulator that Jeanne's handsome doctor husband has become -- soft spoken, icily rational, subtly demoralizing. She shows Jeanne wither emotionally from his hostility but it is Jaime who suffers the most. His father's contempt and criticism, cloaked under a guise of false camaraderie, send him to the refrigerator for comfort. He gorges on junk food and hides the evidence while his mother, though worrying about his weight, plies him with the food he loves to assuage the pain that she cannot quite get herself to acknowledge. Ali, though, sees through the façade of niceness that pervades the Cross household and challenges Jeanne to confront it. I will stop here, because to tell you more would be to share too much of a story that grows more complex and intriguing as it builds in intensity.

Secrets and Surprises

You better set yourself aside a good chunk of time when you pick up The Liar's Diary (the stunning debut novel by Patry Francis) because I can tell you from personal experience that once you start reading, you're not going to want to stop until you've finished. On the surface, this is a book about the seemingly perfect Cross family, living their slightly flawed lives out in the suburbs (the only flaw appears to be the superficial flaw of the son who is overweight) and the woman, the unwanted element, who enters their lives--Ali Mather. Below, the surface, however, this is a book about betrayal; it's about secrets and lies and years of abuse and denial and how all of these things if not uncovered and dealt with in some healthy way, can lead to disaster, which in this case, they most certainly do. It is also about Jeanne Cross's awakening and her realization that she has been stuffing down her emotions for close to 20 years. As is typically the case with such repression, when the pressure cooker reaches its limit--it explodes. Most heartbreaking of all, this book about errant mothers, abusive fathers, and lost children. And while there are certainly villans (Gavin Cross being the most obvious choice for villan, but Ali being cast as one as well from time to time), these villans are also human beings, who are damaged and hurting and acting out in the only way they know how. I will not (because I don't want to ruin it for you) go into details of the plot (there are many surprises in store, though!), but I will say without hesitation that if you don't pick up this book and read it, you're going to be missing out.

Not to be missed

Patry Francis' debut novel is one that will haunt you long after you've put it down. With rich characters and unbelievable plot twists, you won't believe the stunning conclusion. This author is one to read and watch.

Woohoo, what a ride!

Author Patry Francis kept me guessing the whole way through this book. THE LIAR'S DIARY offers much more than an intriguing read with its compelling plot and so many memorable characters' conflicting loyalties, desires, and motives. Ali especially is one character who will linger for a long while. I only wish I could hear her music!