The Little Liar by Mitch Albom ~ A Review

by Susan Roberts

 

A powerful novel of hope and forgiveness that moves from a coastal Greek city during WWII to America in the golden age of Hollywood, as the intertwined lives of three young survivors are forever changed by the perils of deception and the grace of redemption.

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November 2023; Harper; 978-0062406651
audio, ebook, print (352 pages); historical fiction

I have been a long-time fan of Mitch Albom and for me, this was his best book yet. It's a story of family and love, truth and lies, redemption and forgiveness. It's a World War II story but unlike any other stories that I've read about this time in history. The story is centered around three main characters in Greece before, during, and after the war:

• Nico is eleven years old and has never told a lie.  He always told the truth no matter what the consequences.
• Frannie is a schoolmate of Nico's and loves him from a young age.
• Sebastian is Nico's older brother and resents him because everyone favors him plus he is in love with Frannie.

When the Germans invade Greece, all of Nico's family is put on trains to what they are told are work camps.  Nico had been out all day and when he returns to find his family gone, he is confronted by a German officer who tells him that he can save his family if he agrees to go to the train station and tell the Jewish people that they are being sent to a place with jobs and new homes.  He agrees to this plan knowing that it will help to save his family.  However, it's all a ruse and the German officer is using Nico's reputation as someone who doesn't tell lies to trick the Jewish passengers who are being sent to concentration camps.  Nico doesn't learn the truth until after all of the Jewish people have been sent to Auschwitz.  After that, he vows to never tell the truth again.  He then attempts to get to Auschwitz with a plan to save his family.  The author goes into vivid detail over daily life in the camp and the effects on Sebastian and his family.  The book follows the lives of the three main characters during and after the war.  I don't want to go into much detail about their lives after the war because I don't want to give any spoilers but I will say that even though the war is finished, all three characters are dramatically affected by their memories of life in Greece before the war and the cruelty that were inflicted on them and their families during the war.

The narrator of the story is TRUTH and it's a  story about the power of love to ultimately redeem us, no matter how deeply we blame ourselves for our mistakes. 

This book is a must-read for anyone who reads WWII fiction for the way it looks at truth and the consequences of lies.

Buy The Little Liar at Amazon

Susan Roberts grew up in Michigan but loves the laid-back life at her home in the Piedmont area of North Carolina where she is two hours from the beach to the east and the mountains in the west.  She reads almost anything but her favorite genres are Southern Fiction and Historical Fiction.   

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