What I Saw and How I Lied

It's 1947, and with the return of servicemen from overseas, all of America -- including Evie Spooner and her parents -- are determined to embrace the promise of a postwar boom, to realize anew the promise of the American dream of success and plenty, uninhibited by wartime rationing and shortages. At fifteen, Evie is caught between the comfort of childish things, the known, and the irresistible pull of adulthood -- the mystery of filling out a stylish dress, red lipstick, and nylons. It's the mystery of being desired -- of finding within herself when she looks in the mirror some version of her glamorous mother Bev, something more than the Plain Jane she sees, the one her parents refuse to release into adulthood.The Spooner family has everything to gain thanks stepfather Joe has plans to expand his string of electronics stores, but beneath the veneer of success and respectability lurks the specter of wartime deprivation and secrets. Following a mysterious phone call, Joe packs the family in the car on a whim and they head to Palm Beach, Florida -- a promised land of milk and honey. But the glamour of Palm Beach is a patchwork fraud, as the city is closed for the season, and in this land of thinly-veiled artifice Evie begins to see the first cracks in her family's happy facade. With ex-GI Peter Coleridge, an wartime acquaintance of Joe's, she feels the first stirrings of love -- but her obsession with Peter blinds her to the havoc he wreaks in parents' relationship. When a deadly hurricane bears down on the Florida coast, ripping away Evie's security, she's left with to pick up the shambles of her adolescent dreams -- and the price of a maturity hard-won and come far too soon.What I Saw and How I Lied is a deliciously atmospheric coming-of-age story amid the possibilities and optimism that exploded within the postwar decade. Blundell has succeeded in penning a novel that reads like a film noir classic come to life on the page. Evie's story possesses the shadowed, moral ambiguity found within classic noir films like of The Big Sleep, the romantic obsession of love gone wrong in Laura, and the collision of untamed nature and man's basest instincts in Key Largo. With the finesse of a finely-edited film and the wry sensibilities of a noir master like Raymond Chandler, Blundell has crafted a remarkably atmospheric novel, steeped in not only the history of the time period, but its entertainment sensibilities as well, wrapped up with a timeless understanding of the heartache attendant with growing up hard and fast.I absolutely loved Evie's unvarnished honesty. Her desire to experience the trappings of adulthood without (as yet) a measurable understanding of the cost is heartbreakingly relatable. There is a timeless quality in her desire to find love, her idolization of her parents, and I suspect her drive to keep peace between them -- to ignore any fissure in their relationship -- will ring all too true for many who read her tale. Quite frankly, I found her story highly disturbing in many respects -- Evie's utter naivete, the increasingly, glaringly apparent fact that those adults she should be able to rely upon for advice and protection are falling woefully short alternately broke my heart and left me deeply chilled, wondering just how many unknown Evies are out there, facing their own impossible choices all in the name of survival.With What I Saw and How I Lied, Blundell has succeeded in crafting a pitch-perfect, beautifully realized historical imbued with a timeless, chilling intensity. I loved how she sprinkled the history of the war and its impact on those who fought and those who survived throughout the narrative, from war profiteering to the tragic blight of prejudice and the unfathomable horror faced by the realization of what that prejudice wrought in the Nazi camps. Evie's coming-of-age is delicately fashioned on the page, absolutely heartrending in how Evie's adolescent daydreams collide with the stark adult reality of her parents' secrets. A twisty, thought-provoking period piece, timeless in its emotional intensity and honesty, What I Saw and How I Lied is a gorgeously-rendered coming-of-age story told with the grace and shadows of the finest noir tale. A chilling, unforgettable story sketched with a filmic sensibility that brings Evie's postwar world to vibrant life on the page -- very well done, very well-told.

Interesting history from WWII and will read more about that topic based on authors recommendations. Good plot line and enjoyable storytelling

I have wanted to read 'What I Saw and How I Lied' by Judy Blundell as soon as I finished reading 'No Strings Attached'. I was amazed in so many ways by that book and here I am again! I know how Judy Blundell does it. This is a totally different story but she worked her magic again.The story starts out a simply coming of age story and slowly at first and then a fever pitch turns into a story with suspense, murder, adultery and ends without knowing who did it. Few books can do that without making you feel cheated. But this one did.The main character is Evie Spooner who seems very naïve at first but aching to grow up. Then she had some experiences that she shouldn't have to deal with at her age. She was only 15 years old bonded closely with her mother but wondered why she seemed to hold her back when it came to putting on makeup and dating. Her step father, Joe Spooner, seems like a pretty good guy, standing up for her and protecting her when needed. But how much does she really know about her parents? Can she really trust them? Were they "normal"?Into life comes Peter Coleridge, 23 years old, an ex -GI who served under her father in WWII. Why doesn't her father like him? Why does her mother act the way she does when Peter is there? The family meets Peter on a trip to Palm Beach, a vacation trip that each one of them wished they had never gone on.This book brings up many questions about parents, secrets and trust. Plus the story starts twist and twist as revelations about the parents and more are disclosed. I really enjoyed this book and have lots more things to think about. Ethical questions abound in this book.I highly recommend `What I Saw and How I Lied'.

"When Alice fell down the rabbit hole, she fell slow. She had time to notice things on her way down—Oh, there’s a teacup! There’s a table! So things seemed almost normal to her while she was falling. Then she bumped down and rolled into Wonderland, and all hell broke loose."I really love it when I turn to the last page of a book, and the ending is so thoroughly perfect, but not too perfect. Some questions still remain, retribution is administered, and sometimes there's cake. I think, however, that what makes a Bildungsroman so amazing is when the adolescent protagonist matures, and their view of the world is altered in the most beneficial way possible. This book followed that recipe to the "t" and I love the author for it!"Truth, justice…I always thought they were absolutes, like God. And Mom. And apple pie. But you could make apple pie from Ritz crackers. You could make cakes without sugar. We learned how to fake things, during the war."Set in Queens and Palm Beach in 1947, Blundell created a world that was utterly believable and rich, down to the cigarette jingles. I felt like an awkwad, gawky fifteen year-old that hadn't quite grown into my bra and didn't really stick up for my values. That's good character writing. But Evie is also an observer, and the reader's only medium to the sinister events that take place that autumn in '47. Seeing things through her eyes, innocent but questioning, was so accurate and foreboding. I was fully invested from the first page.I also loved Blundell's gregarious "Acknowledgments" where I learned that David Leviathan was her editor, and listed memoirs and history books about the era that helped her shape the novel. I'd love to read more by her and can't wait to look into the referenced works.

I ordered a used copy which said very good, so I was expecting very good. It came and there was a mark on the front from a sticker and a sticker on the back which left another mark when took off-the book itself is good though, I can read everything and seeing as I only paid two or three pounds opposed to six it was worth it-maybe not good for a present though.

I read this book after hearing a lot about it and all the good reviews it had been given. It has been the best book i've read in a long time. The characters were so real and you warm to Evie straight away. An extremely good read. Would definately recommend it.

A gift for my granddaughter so unable to say more. It was recommended on the best reads for girls of 12 - 14 and I was pleased with quality and service.

It grabbed me till the last second. All I wanted to do is read on and on. One of my favourite s

It was not spectacular, I feel like the story lacked something but saying that it was well paced so i wasn't bored and didn't have to stop reading