The Liar

Product Description

From the award-winning author of Waking Lions, a novel about how one lie can change everything, when a teenaged girl's scream -- and the false assumption that comes from it -- radiates through a street, a neighborhood, and a city, and turns lives upside down.

Nofar is an average -- very average -- teenage girl working in an ice cream parlor at the end of summer. Dozens of customers come to the shop every day, but no one gives her a second glance--she is not one of those girls that the eye lingers on.

But Nofar's world changes completely when a well-known TV presenter comes into the shop. Bitter about his own failures, he insults and humiliates her and she flees in tears. The presenter, who is still waiting for his change, chases her and the girl screams. Nofar's shouts alert the neighbors, and to her surprise everyone is convinced that the man tried to sexually assault her. And she decides to let them believe it.

For the first time in her life, Nofar finds herself the center of attention. Her lie turns her into a kind of Cinderella, as the plain, awkward ice cream seller becomes a media princess. Meanwhile, one of the only people who knows what really happened demands a price for his silence.

Written with dark humor and deep insight into the shadowy side of human nature, The Liar is a story about how one little lie can make a huge difference. In a world of media connectivity and alternate facts, the scream of one girl can make an entire city tweet and howl.

About the Author

Ayelet Gundar-Goshen was born in Israel in 1982 and holds an MA in clinical psychology from Tel Aviv University. She has worked for the Israeli civil rights movement, and is an award-winning screenwriter. She won Israel's prestigious Sapir Prize for best debut. Waking Lions, her first novel published in the U.S., has been translated into nine languages.