The Lie Tree

By Frances Hardinge

Costa Book of the Year: This novel of science, magic, murder, and a determined Victorian-era teenager is a “heady concoction . . . absolutely unforgettable” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review).

Faith Sunderly leads a double life. To most people, she is modest and well mannered—a proper young lady who knows her place. But inside, Faith is burning with questions and curiosity. She keeps sharp watch of her surroundings and, therefore, knows secrets no one suspects her of knowing—like the real reason her family fled to the close-knit island of Vane. And that her father’s death was no accident. In pursuit of revenge and justice for the father she idolizes, Faith hunts through his possessions, where she discovers a strange tree. A tree that bears fruit only when she whispers a lie to it. The fruit, in turn, delivers a hidden truth. The tree might hold the key to her father’s murder. Or, it might lure the murderer directly to Faith herself, for lies—like fires, wild and crackling—quickly take on a life of their own.

“Frances Hardinge has joined the ranks of those writers of young-adult fiction, like Philip Pullman, whose approach to fantasy proves so compelling that they quickly develop an adult following, and The Lie Tree is a good demonstration of why this is so . . . [a] page-turner.” —Locus

“The time is nineteenth-century England just after Darwin’s theory of evolution has thrown the scientific world into turmoil; the setting is the fictional island of Vane, between land and sea; the main character is a fourteen-year-old girl caught between society’s expectations and her fierce desire to be a scientist. . . . A stunner.” —The Horn Book (starred review)

“A murder mystery that dazzles at every level, shimmering all the more brightly the deeper down into it you go.” —Chicago Tribune

“Haunting, and darkly funny . . . features complex, many-sided characters and a clear-eyed examination of the deep sexism of the period, which trapped even the most intelligent women in roles as restrictive as their corsets.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Hardinge, who can turn a phrase like no other, melds a haunting historical mystery with a sharp observation on the dangers of suppressing the thirst for knowledge.” —School Library Journal (starred review)

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Apr 19, 2016
• ISBN: 9781613128992

Frances Hardinge

Frances Hardinge spent a large part of her childhood in a huge old house that inspired her to write strange stories from an early age. She read English at Oxford University, then got a job at a software company. However, a few years later a persistent friend finally managed to bully Frances into sending a few chapters of Fly By Night, her first children's novel, to a publisher. Macmillan made her an immediate offer. The book went on to publish to huge critical acclaim and win the Branford Boase First Novel Award. She has since written many highly acclaimed children's novels including, Fly By Night's sequel, Twilight Robbery, as well as the Carnegie shortlisted Cuckoo Song and the Costa Book of the Year winner, The Lie Tree.

Book preview

Chapter 1

IN ONE PIECE

The boat moved with a nauseous, relentless rhythm, like someone chewing on a rotten tooth. The islands just visible through the mist also looked like teeth, Faith decided. Not fine, clean Dover teeth, but jaded, broken teeth, jutting crookedly amid the wash of the choppy gray sea. The mailboat chugged its dogged way through the waves, greasing the sky with smoke.

Osprey, said Faith through chattering teeth, and pointed.

Her six-year-old brother, Howard, twisted around, too slow to see the great bird, as its pale body and dark-fringed wings vanished into the mist. Faith winced as he shifted his weight on her lap. At least he had stopped demanding his nursemaid.

Is that where we are going? Howard squinted at the ghostly islands ahead.

Yes, How. Rain thudded against the thin wooden roof above their heads. The cold wind blew in from the deck, stinging Faith’s face.

In spite of the noise around her, Faith was sure she could hear faint sounds coming from the crate on which she sat. Rasps of movement, breathy slithers of scale on scale. It pained Faith to think of her father’s Chinese snake inside, weak with the cold, coiling and uncoiling itself in panic with every tilt of the deck.

Behind her, raised voices competed with the keening of the gulls and the phud-phud-phud of the boat’s great paddles. Now that the rain was setting in, everybody on board was squabbling over the small sheltered area toward the stern. There was room for the passengers, but not for all of the trunks. Faith’s mother, Myrtle, was doing her best to claim a large share for her family’s luggage, with considerable success.

Sneaking a quick glance over her shoulder, Faith saw Myrtle waving her arms like a conductor while two deckhands moved the Sunderly trunks and crates into place. Today Myrtle was waxen with tiredness and shrouded to the chin with shawls, but as usual she talked through and over everyone else, warm, bland, and unabashed, with a pretty woman’s faith in others’ helpless chivalry.

Thank you, there, right there—well, I am heartily sorry to hear that, but it cannot be helped—on its side, if you do not mind—well, your case looks very durable to me—I am afraid my husband’s papers and projects will not endure the weather so—the Reverend Erasmus Sunderly, the renowned naturalist—how very kind! I am so glad that you do not mind . . .

Beyond her, round-faced Uncle Miles was napping in his seat, blithely and easily as a puppy on a rug. Faith’s gaze slipped past him, to the tall, silent figure beyond. Faith’s father in his black priestly coat, his broad-brimmed hat overshadowing his high brow and hooked nose.

He always filled Faith with awe. Even now he stared out toward the gray horizons with his unyielding basilisk stare, distancing himself from the chilly downpour, the reek of bilge and coal smoke, and the ignominious arguing and jostling. Most weeks she saw more of him in the pulpit than she did in the house, so it was peculiar to look across and see him sitting there. Today she felt a prickle of pained sympathy. He was out of his element, a lion in a rain-lashed sideshow.

On Myrtle’s orders, Faith was sitting on the family’s largest crate, to stop anybody from dragging it out again. Usually she managed to fade into the background, since nobody had attention to spare for a fourteen-year-old girl with wooden features and a mud-brown plait. Now she winced under resentful glares, seared by all the embarrassment that Myrtle never felt.

Myrtle’s petite figure was positioned to impede anybody else from trying to insert their own luggage under cover. A tall, broad man with a knuckly nose seemed about to push past her with his trunk, but she cut him short by turning to smile.

Myrtle blinked twice, and her big blue eyes widened, taking on an earnest shine as if she had only just noticed the person before her with clarity. Despite her pink-nipped nose and weary pallor, her smile still managed to be sweet and confiding.

Thank you for being so understanding, she said. There was the tiniest, tired break in her voice.

It was one of Myrtle’s tricks for handling men, a little coquetry she summoned as easily and reflexively as opening her fan. Every time it worked, Faith’s stomach twisted. It worked now. The gentleman flushed, gave a curt bow, and withdrew, but Faith could see he was still carrying his resentment with him. In fact, Faith suspected that her family had antagonized nearly everybody on the boat.

Howard shyly adored their mother, and when she was younger Faith had seen her in the same honeyed light. Myrtle’s rare visits to the nursery had been almost unbearably exciting, and Faith had even loved the ritual of being groomed, dressed, and fussed over to make her presentable for each encounter. Myrtle had seemed like a being from another world, warm, merry, beautiful, and untouchable, a sun nymph with a keen sense of fashion.

However, over the last year Myrtle had decided to start taking Faith in hand, which appeared to involve interrupting Faith’s lessons without warning and dragging her away on impulse for visits or trips to town, before abandoning her to the nursery and schoolroom once more. Over this year, familiarity had done its usual work, picking off the gilded paint one scratch at a time. Faith had started to feel like a rag doll, snatched up and cast down according to the whims of an impatient child with an uncertain temper.

Right now the crowds were receding. Myrtle settled herself on a stack of three trunks next to Faith’s crate, with an air of deep self-satisfaction.

I do hope the place that Mr. Lambent has arranged for us has a decent drawing room, she remarked, "and that the servants will do. The cook simply cannot be French. I can scarcely run a household if my cook can choose to misunderstand me whenever she pleases . . ."

Myrtle’s voice was not unpleasant, but it trickled on, and on, and on. For the last day her chatter had been the family’s constant companion, as she shared it with the hackney-carriage driver who had taken them to the station, the guards who had stowed the family’s luggage in the trains to London, and then Poole, the surly custodian of the chilly inn where they had spent the night, and the captain of this smoky mailboat.

"Why are we going there?" interrupted Howard. His eyes were glassy with tiredness. He was at the fork. Ahead lay either compulsive napping or helpless tantrums.

You know why, darling. Myrtle leaned across to stroke wet hair out of Howard’s eyes with a careful, gloved finger. There are some very important caves on that island over there, where gentlemen have been discovering dozens of clever fossils. Nobody knows more about fossils than your father, so they asked him to come and look at them.

"But why did we come? Howard persisted. He did not take us to China. Or India. Or Africa. Or Mongia." The last was his best attempt at Mongolia.

It was a good question, and one that a lot of people were probably asking. Yesterday a flurry of cards carrying excuses and last-minute cancellations would have turned up in households all over the Sunderlys’ home parish like apologetic, rectangular snowflakes. By today, word of the family’s unscheduled departure would be spreading like wildfire.

In truth, Faith herself would have liked to know the answer to Howard’s question.

Oh, we could never have gone to those places! Myrtle declared vaguely. Snakes, and fevers, and people who eat dogs. This is different. It will be a little holiday.

Did we have to go because of the Beetle Man? asked Howard, screwing up his face in concentration.

The Reverend, who had shown no sign of listening to the conversation, suddenly drew in his breath through his nose and let it out in a disapproving hiss. He rose to his feet.

The rain is easing, and this saloon is too crowded, he declared, and strode out on to the deck.

Myrtle winced and looked over at Uncle Miles, who was rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

Perhaps I should, ah, take a little constitutional as well. Uncle Miles glanced at his sister with a small, wry lift of the eyebrows. He smoothed down his mustache at the corners of his smile and then followed his brother-in-law out of the saloon.

Where did Father go? asked Howard in piercing tones, craning his neck round to peer out toward the deck. Can I go too? Can I have my gun?

Myrtle closed her eyes briefly and let her lips flutter in what looked like a small, exasperated prayer for patience. She opened her eyes again and smiled at Faith.

Oh, Faith, what a rock you are. It was the smile she always gave Faith, fond but with a hint of weary acceptance. You may not be the liveliest company . . . but at least you never ask questions.

Faith managed a flat, chilled smile. She knew who Howard meant by the Beetle Man and suspected that his question had been dangerously close to the mark.

For the last month the family had been living in a frozen fog of the unsaid. Looks, whispers, subtle changes in manner and gently withdrawn contact. Faith had noticed the alteration but had been unable to guess the reason for it.

And then, one Sunday while the family was walking back from church, a man in a brown homburg hat had approached to introduce himself, with much bobbing and bowing and a smile that never reached his eyes. He had written a paper on beetles, and would the respected Reverend Erasmus Sunderly consider writing a foreword? The respected Reverend would not consider it and became ever more coldly irate at the visitor’s persistence. The stranger was scraping an acquaintance in breach of all good manners, and at last the Reverend flatly told him so.

The beetle enthusiast’s smile had drooped into something less pleasant. Faith still remembered the quiet venom of his reply.

"Forgive me for imagining that your civility would be the equal of your intellect. The way rumor is spreading, Reverend, I would have thought that you would be glad to find a fellow man of science who is still willing to shake you by the hand."

As Faith remembered those words, her blood ran cold again. She had never dreamed that she would see her father insulted to his face. Worse still, the Reverend had turned away from the stranger in furious silence, without demanding an explanation. The chill haze of Faith’s suspicions began to crystallize. There were rumors abroad, and her father knew what they were, even if she did not.

Myrtle was wrong. Faith was full of questions, coiling and writhing like the snake in the crate.

Oh, but I cannot. I must not give way to that.

In Faith’s mind, it was always that. She never gave it another name, for fear of yielding it yet more power over her. That was an addiction, she knew that much. That was something she was always giving up, except that she never did. That was the very opposite of Faith as the world knew her. Faith the good girl, the rock. Reliable, dull, trustworthy Faith.

It was the unexpected opportunities that she found hardest to resist. An unattended envelope with the letter peeping out, clean and tantalizing. An unlocked door. A careless conversation, unheeding of eavesdroppers.

There was a hunger in her, and girls were not supposed to be hungry. They were supposed to nibble sparingly when at the table, and their minds were supposed to be satisfied with a slim diet too. A few stale lessons from tired governesses, dull walks, unthinking pastimes. But it was not enough. All knowledge—any knowledge—called to Faith, and there was a delicious, poisonous pleasure in stealing it unseen.

Right now, however, her curiosity had a focus and an urgent edge. At that very moment, her father and Uncle Miles might be talking about the Beetle Man and the reasons for the family’s sudden exodus.

Mother . . . may I walk on the deck a little while? My stomach . . . Faith almost made herself believe her own words. Her insides were indeed churning, but from excitement, not the boat’s jarring lurches.

Very well—but do not answer anyone who talks to you. Take the umbrella, be careful not to fall overboard, and come back before you catch a chill.

As Faith paced slowly alongside the rail, the faltering drizzle drumming on her umbrella, she admitted to herself that she was giving in to that again. Excitement pumped dark wine through her veins and sharpened all her senses to painful edges. She wandered slowly out of sight of Myrtle and Howard and then dawdled, acutely aware of each glance directed her way. One by one these gazes wearied of her and slid off once more.

Her moment came. Nobody was looking. She sidled quickly across the deck and lost herself among the crates that clustered at the base of the boat’s shuddering, discolored funnel. The air tasted of salt and guilt, and she felt alive.

She slipped from one hiding place to another, keeping her skirts gathered close so that they did not flare in the wind and betray her location. Her broad, square feet, so clumsy when anybody tried to fit them for fashionable shoes, settled silently on the boards with practiced deftness.

Between two crates she found a hiding place from which she could see her father and uncle a mere three yards away. Seeing her father without being seen felt like a special sacrilege.

To flee my own home! exclaimed the Reverend. It smacks of cowardice, Miles. I should never have let you persuade me to leave Kent. And what good will our departure do? Rumors are like dogs. Flee from them and they give chase.

Rumors are dogs indeed, Erasmus. Uncle Miles squinted through his pince-nez. And they hunt in packs, and on sight. You needed to leave society for a while. Now that you are gone, they will find something else to chase.

"By creeping away under cover of darkness, Miles, I have fed these dogs. My departure will be used as evidence against me."

Perhaps it will, Erasmus, answered Uncle Miles with unusual seriousness, "but would you rather be judged here on a remote island by a couple of sheep farmers, or in England among persons of consequence? The Vane Island excavation was the best excuse I could find for your departure, and I remain glad that you chose to accept my arguments.

"Yesterday morning that article in the Intelligencer was read out at breakfast tables all over the country. If you had stayed, you would have forced your entire circle to decide whether they would support or snub you, and the way rumor has been spreading you might not have liked the decisions they would have made.

Erasmus, one of the most widely read and respected newspapers in the nation has decried you as a fraud and a cheat. Unless you want to subject Myrtle and the children to all the barbs and trials of scandal, you cannot return to Kent. Until your name is clear, nothing good awaits any of you there.

Chapter 2

VANE

A fraud and a cheat.

The words buzzed in Faith’s head as she continued her damp promenade, staring distractedly at the passing islands. How could anybody suspect her father of fraud? His bleak and terrible honesty were the plague and pride of the family. You knew where you stood with him, even if where you stood was within the blizzard of his disapproval. And what did Uncle Miles mean by fraud anyway?

By the time she returned to the shelter of the saloon, Uncle Miles and her father were back in their seats. Faith sat down on the snake crate again, unable to meet anyone’s eye.

Uncle Miles squinted at a rain-spotted almanac through his pince-nez, for all the world as if the family really were on holiday, then peered out across the seascape.

There! He pointed. "That is Vane."

The approaching island did not look large enough at first, but Faith soon realized that it was drawing up to them end on, like a boat with a tapering prow. Only as the ferry navigated around the island and began traveling down its longer flank could Faith see how much larger it was than the rest of the shoal. Great black waves shattered themselves against the deep brown cliffs, throwing up wild arcs of foam.

Nobody lives here, was her first thought. Nobody could ever live here by choice. It must be where the outcasts live. Criminals, like the convicts in Australia. And people running away, like us.

We are exiles. Perhaps we will have to live out here forever.

They passed pitted headlands and deep coves where solitary buildings skulked along the shoreline. Then the ferry slowed, turning laboriously with a churn of water to enter a deeper bay with a harbor ringed by a high wall, and beyond that ascending rows of blank-eyed houses, slate roofs slicked with rain. Dozens of little fishing boats tilted and shrugged, their cat’s cradles of ropes ghostly in the mist. The gulls became deafening, all squabbling with the same broken note. There was motion on the ferry, a communal letting out of breath and readying of luggage.

The rain became fierce again just as the ferry came to rest beside the quay. Amid the shouting, rope-throwing, and maneuvering of gangplanks, Uncle Miles dropped coins into a couple of palms, and the Sunderly luggage was manhandled ashore.

The Reverend Erasmus Sunderly and family? A thin man in a black coat stood drenched on the quay, water spilling off the broad brim of his hat. He was clean-shaven, with a pleasant, worried sort of face, currently a little blue from the cold. Mr. Anthony Lambent sends his compliments. He bowed formally and handed over a rather damp letter. As he did so, Faith noticed the tight-fitting white stock round his neck and realized that he was a clergyman like her father.

Faith’s father read the letter, then gave a nod of approval and extended his hand.

Mr. . . . Tiberius Clay?

Indeed, sir. Clay shook him respectfully by the hand. I am the curate on Vane. Faith knew that a curate was a sort of under-priest, hired to help out a rector or vicar who had too many parishes or too much work. Mr. Lambent asked me to apologize on his behalf. He wished to meet you himself, but the sudden rain . . . Clay grimaced up at the leaden clouds. The new holes are in danger of filling up with water, so he is making sure that everything is covered. Please, sir—will you permit me to have some men assist with your luggage? Mr. Lambent has sent his carriage to take you and your family and belongings to Bull Cove.

The Reverend did not smile, but his murmured acquiescence was not without warmth. The curate’s formality of manner had clearly won his approval.

They were drawing looks, Faith was sure of it. Had the mysterious scandal reached Vane already? No, it was probably just the fact that they were strangers, loaded down with absurd amounts of luggage. Subdued murmurs around them caught her ear, but she could make no sense of them. They seemed to be a mere soup of sound with no consonants.

With difficulty, the Sunderly luggage was arranged into an ungainly and alarming tower on the roof of the large but weathered carriage and strapped into place. There was just enough room for the curate to squeeze inside with the Sunderly family. The carriage set off, jouncing over the cobbles and making Faith’s teeth vibrate.

Are you a natural scientist, Mr. Clay? asked Myrtle, gamely ignoring the growl of the wheels.

In present company, I can but claim to be a dabbler. Clay gave the Reverend a small, damp bow. However, my tutors at Cambridge did succeed in hammering a little geology and natural history into my thick skull.

Faith heard this without surprise. Many of her father’s friends were clergymen who had stumbled into natural science in the same way. Gentlemen’s sons destined for the Church were sent to a good university, where they were given a respectable, gentlemanly education—the classics, Greek, Latin, and a little taste of the sciences. Sometimes that taste was enough to leave them hooked.

My chief contribution to the excavation is as a photographer—it is a pursuit of mine. The curate’s voice brightened at the mention of his hobby. Alas, Mr. Lambent’s draftsman had the misfortune to break his wrist on the first day, so my son and I have been recording the discoveries with my camera.

The carriage headed out of the little town, which to Faith’s eyes looked more like a village, and climbed a rugged, zigzag lane. Every time the carriage jolted, Myrtle clutched nervously at the window frame, making everyone tense.

That edifice out on the headland is the telegraph tower, remarked Clay. Faith could just make out a broad, dingy brown cylinder. Shortly afterward a small church with a tapering spire passed on the left. The parsonage is just behind the church. I do hope that you will do me the honor of calling in for tea while you are on Vane.

The carriage seemed to be struggling with the hill, creaking and rattling so badly Faith expected a wheel to fall off. At last it juddered to a stop and there was a sharp double rap on the roof.

Excuse me. Clay opened the door and climbed out. An animated conversation ensued above, in a blend of English and French that Faith’s untrained ear could not disentangle.

Clay appeared in the doorway, his face drawn with distress and concern.

My most profuse apologies. It seems that we have a dilemma. The house you have leased is in Bull Cove, which can only be reached by a low road that follows the shoreline, or by the high track that passes over the ridge and down the other side. I have just learned that the low road is flooded. There is a breakwater, but when the tide is high and the breakers fierce . . . He crinkled his forehead and cast an apologetic glance toward the lowering sky.

I assume that the high road is a longer and more wearisome journey? Myrtle asked briskly, with one eye on the morose Howard.

Clay winced. It is . . . a very steep road. Indeed, the driver informs me that the horse would not be equal to it with this carriage in its, ah, current state of burden.

"Are you suggesting that we will have to get out and walk?" Myrtle stiffened, and her small, pretty chin set.

Mother, whispered Faith, sensing an impasse, I have my umbrella, and I do not mind walking a little—

No! snapped Myrtle, just loud enough to make Faith’s face redden. If I am to become mistress of a new household, I will not make my first appearance looking like a drowned rat. And neither will you!

Faith felt a rising tide of frustration and anger twisting her innards. She wanted to shout, What does it matter? The newspapers are tearing us to pieces right now—do you really think people will despise us more if we are wet?

The curate looked harassed. Then I fear the carriage will need to make two journeys. There is an old cabin nearby—a lookout point for spotting sardine shoals. Perhaps your boxes could be left there until the carriage can return for them? I would be happy to stay and watch over them.

Myrtle’s face brightened gratefully, but her answer was cut off by her husband.

Unacceptable, Faith’s father declared. "Your pardon, but some of these boxes contain irreplaceable flora and fauna that I must see installed at the house as soon as possible, lest they perish."

"Well, I am quite happy to wait in this cabin and spare the horse my weight," declared Uncle Miles.

Clay and Uncle Miles dismounted, and the family’s personal trunks and chests were unloaded one by one, leaving only the specimen crates and boxes on the roof. Even then the driver stared at the way the carriage hung down, grimacing and gesturing to indicate it was still too low.

Faith’s father made no move to step out and join the other men.

Erasmus— began Uncle Miles.

I must remain with my specimens, the Reverend interrupted him sharply.

Perhaps we could leave just one of your crates behind? inquired Clay. There is a box labeled ‘miscellaneous cuttings’ that is much heavier than the rest—

"No, Mr. Clay. The Reverend’s answer was swift and snow-cold. That box is of particular importance."

Faith’s father glanced at his family, his eyes cool and distant. His gaze slid over Myrtle and Howard, then settled on Faith. She flushed, knowing that she was being assessed for weight and importance. There was a dipping sensation in her stomach, as if she had been placed in a great set of scales.

Faith felt sick. She could not wait for the mortification of hearing her father voice his decision.

She did not look at her parents as she stood up unsteadily. This time Myrtle said nothing to stop her. Like Faith, she had heard the Reverend’s silent decision and had turned meekly to toe the invisible line.

Miss Sunderly? Clay was clearly surprised to see Faith climbing out of the carriage, her boots splashing down into a waiting puddle.

I have an umbrella, she said quickly, and I was hoping for some fresh air. The little lie left her with a scrap of dignity.

The driver examined the level of his vehicle again and this time nodded. As the carriage rattled away, Faith avoided her companions’ eyes, her cheeks hot with humiliation despite the chill wind. She had always known that she was rated less than Howard, the treasured son. Now, however, she knew that she was ranked somewhere below miscellaneous cuttings.

The cabin was set into the hillside facing out to sea, and was rough-hewn from the dark, glossy local rock, with a slanting slate roof and small, glassless windows. The floor inside was scattered with earth-colored puddles. Overhead, the rain’s drum-roll was slowing.

Uncle Miles and Clay dragged in the family’s trunks and boxes one by one, while Faith shook out her dripping bonnet, feeling numb and useless. Only when her father’s strongbox landed with a thump at her feet did Faith’s heart skip. The key had been left in the lock.

The box contained all her father’s private papers. His journals, his research notes, and his correspondence. Perhaps it held some clue to the mysterious scandal that had driven them here.

She cleared her throat.

Uncle—Mr. Clay—my . . . my kerchief and clothing are very wet. Could I have a little while to . . . She trailed off, gesturing toward her sodden collar.

Ah—of course! Clay looked a little alarmed, as gentlemen often did when something mysterious involving female clothing was in danger of happening.

It looks as if the rain is letting up again, observed Uncle Miles. Mr. Clay, shall we take a little turn on the cliff, so that you can tell me more about the excavation? The two men stepped outside, and after a while their voices receded.

Faith dropped to her knees next to the strongbox. Its leather was slick under her fingers, and she considered peeling off her wet, skintight kid gloves, but she knew that would take too long. The buckles were stiff, but yielded to her hasty tugging. The key turned. The lid opened, and she saw creamy papers covered in various different hands. Faith was no longer cold. Her face burned and her hands tingled.

She began opening letters, teasing them out of their envelopes and holding them by their edges so as not to smudge or crumple them. Communications from scientific journals. Letters from the publisher of his pamphlets. Invitations from museums.

It was a slow, painstaking task, and she lost track of time. At last she came upon a letter whose wording seized her attention.

. . . challenging the authenticity of not one but all the fossils that you have brought to the eye of the scientific community and upon which your reputation is based. They claim that they are at best deliberately altered, and at worst out-and-out fakes. The New Falton find, they say, is two fossils artfully combined, and report traces of glue in the wing joints . . .

A knock sounded at the door, and Faith jumped.

Faith! It was her uncle’s voice. The carriage has returned!

One moment! she called back, hastily folding the letter.

As she did so, she noticed a large, blue stain on her wet, white gloves. With horror she realized that she had smudged the letter, leaving a thumb-shaped smear.

Chapter 3

BULL COVE

As the carriage rattled along the high route, Faith kept her hands tightly balled to hide the mark on her glove. She was sick with self-hate. If her father looked through his letters, he would spot the evidence of her crime instantly. Who else had been alone with the strongbox? He would soon deduce that she must be responsible.

She would be caught. She deserved to be caught. What was wrong with her?

And yet all the while her mind gnawed at the wording of the letter, simmering with outrage on her father’s behalf. How could anybody believe that any of his finds were fakes, let alone his famous New Falton fossil?

Everybody had agreed that it was real. Everybody. So many other gentlemen experts had examined it, prodded it, exulted over it, written about it. One journal had named it The New Falton Nephilim, though her father never called it that, and declared it the find of the decade. How could they all be wrong?

He must have enemies. Somebody must be trying to destroy Father.

Dusk was settling as they crested the hill, then zigzagged down a rough and winding road. At last the carriage slowed, and Faith made out the yellow glow from an open doorway.

It was an old farmhouse, slate-roofed and built of jagged brown stone that looked like shattered caramel. On the other side of the cobbled courtyard stood a stables and barn. Behind them rose a domed greenhouse, its panes milky in the half-light. Beyond lay a lawn, then the edge of a dark, ragged copse, and a dim outline that might have been another building.

The carriage splashed its way through the puddles and came to a halt. Clay leapt out and handed Faith from the carriage while Uncle Miles settled with the driver.

Good evening! The curate gave Faith and Uncle Miles a hasty bow. I shall not keep you in the rain!

A manservant ran out and started unloading the luggage. Under the cover of the umbrella, Uncle Miles and Faith ran to the open door. A gaunt, middle-aged woman stood aside to let them enter.

Mr. Miles Cattistock and Miss Sunderly? I am Jane Vellet—the housekeeper. She had a deep, mannish voice, and small, shrewd, unforgiving eyes. Her dress was striped in shades of dark green and buttoned high at the throat.

The hall was darker than expected, the only light coming from two lanterns perched on sills. There were black timber beams in the ceiling. Faith could taste paraffin on the air, and a host of other smells that told her the house was old, and had settled into its own way of being, and was not her home.

Soon Faith was sitting in front of a blazing hearth next to Uncle Miles and Myrtle, with a bowl of hot soup in her hands. If Myrtle felt any remorse at having left her daughter by the roadside, she hid it well. She was pink

Reviews for The Lie Tree

[jennybeast · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Holy literary fiction disguised as teen lit, batman!

I mean, not like teens can't read literary fiction. One assumes that, given the immense popularity of literary fiction, there must be budding literary aficionados among the teens even now. I wasn't expecting it, however, and felt caught off-guard. But I digress.

A dark, brooding, historical fiction bildungsroman, with a clever and sly young woman protagonist who desires to become a naturalist. Well written, hypnotic, and strange. Not really likeable, per say, but certainly engrossing.

[fromthecomfychair · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Excellent writing. Middle school appeal, but I enjoyed it as an adult. Thought-provoking. Set in Victorian England, the women's history aspect was well covered, from corset-wearing to women's place and only source of agency.

[riida_3 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

when i acquired this book a long time ago, i thought it was a YA fantasy with a tantalizing premise and book cover. I was wrong about the YA fantasy bit, and usually this sets up a wrong expectation that spoils the reading experience for me. this was thankfully not the case here.the author's prose is beautiful. i kept drawing comparisons with the movie 'pan's labyrinth' and the book 'the binding', but i feel this was better. i loved the characters, but specially Faith, a precocious 14-year old girl living in times when women were looked down on, and young women have it even harsher. it really made me want to see Faith prove her courage and cleverness. On top of this, the narration of the audiobook by Emilia Fox was absolutely sublime! Her performance really pulled me into the book and characters. it was better than watching a movie (although i would not mind a movie adaptation of this book).i loved this quote too:“Faith had always told herself that she was not like other ladies. But neither, it seemed, were other ladies.”

[whitewavedarling · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

With the feel of a fairy tale, this is one of those books that seems to straddle middle grade and YA territory, but be stronger for it. The protagonist, Faith, is someone who a reader can't help but fall in love with (particularly if they love natural science and snakes, like I do), and the writer's attention to historical detail, historical customs, and details of natural science and archaeology bring what is a sort of fantastical mystery to another level of intrigue and magic. For animal lovers, I feel like I do have to mention that there's a quick scene related to the game of a dog catching rats, and as much as I'm not a fan of rats particularly, it was graphic enough that it was hard for me to read it. In fact, I'd planned on finishing a chapter and going to bed, but ended up deciding there was no way I could stop or go to sleep on that scene. I know that, if I'd read that as a child, it would have bothered me a lot more, which is why I mention it--if you're a parent considering this book for your child, and they're an animal lover, it's worth considering.That said, this was a quick bad moment in a book that's otherwise smart, magical, and absolutely worth falling into. I'm sure I'll read more of Hardinge's work in the future.

[carriewuj · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

YA. Interesting mix of historical fiction and almost science fiction. Set in the late 1800s in England (the island of Vane), the story is mainly about 14-year old Faith Sunderly and her family. Her father, Erasmus is an esteemed clergyman and natural scientist -- also an interesting mix for the times and he moves the family to Vane to escape scandal in Kent that alleges he falsified fossils findings. There is an excavation in progress there and the hope is his reputation is still intact in this out-of-the-way place. This is not exactly an open era of father-daughter communication, so Faith pieces much of this together through eavesdropping and spying like any disenfranchised person would. She has a younger brother Howard, who is only 6 and very immature, and she ends up minding him much of the time since they are not properly staffed with servants. Her mother, Myrtle is very beautiful and uses this to advantage when necessary, for example when Faith's father is found dead, she flirts with the coroner to try to sway the cause of death. Faith learns two different power dynamics from her parents and has to work within the confines of the times. With courage and grit to spare, she acquires and hides her father's papers and specimens despite her Uncle Miles' interest and manly right to them. One of these items is a curious plant, the Mendacity Tree that she learns of in Erasmus' journal. It is fed with lies, lives only in darkness and produces a fruit that when eaten reveals dark truths. Cunning Faith is able to use this plant to solve the mystery of her father's death, though it comes at a cost to her. The story is a little unevenly told at times, and is occasionally heavy-handed with its Girl Power! message, but overall it works and Faith is a worthy role model and heroine. There are some great truths and discussion points here too as Faith has to confront the things she has always believed in, and ultimately re-define faith.

[froxgirl · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This thriller, a mashup of Alice in Wonderland and Little Shop of Horrors, takes place on the island of Vane off the coast of England, where the exiled Sunderly family flees after the Reverend Erasmus, patriarch, is exposed in a London newspaper for falsifying fossil finds (Falsified Fossil is a good band name). He is a skeptic about Darwin's recent publications of his theories of evolution and, as a man of the church, is unwilling to concede that his ancestors were simian and not divinely created. Daughter Faith, fifteen, is feeling stifled in her role as a bland young lady of the era. Burning with scientific curiosity, yearning to be more than a decoration, yet bound by love and intimidation to her neglectful father and frivolous mother, Faith finds a role for herself by joining her father's research team. But when he is murdered, Faith reads his papers and determines that his death was caused by the attempted theft of a strange plant, a Lie Tree, that he went to great lengths to possess and bring to Vane. While investigating his killing, Faith feeds the plant with the lies which serve as its nutrition, and then ingests the fruit of the plant, resulting in psychedelic visions showing the secret, evil motives of all the involved parties on the island. This is a strange, convoluted story, with its primary strength being Faith's indomitable energy, smarts, and determination.

[infjsarah · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed this novel but it is hard to define what it is - fantasy? family drama? I enjoyed it a lot though.

[asxz-2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Genuinely suspenseful gothic thriller with a fantastic feminist heroine battling to save her father's reputation and to carve her own path in a world unwelcoming to women. The only time the book really betrays its intentions as a young person's novel is in the neatly wrapped up ending. It's an easily forgiven flaw when there is so much good stuff to offer.

[ashleytylerjohn · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Marvelous and surprising, and better and better as it went along--a surprising (to me at least) twist near the end, and a turn of events that wrung some unexpected tears from me. My favourite of her books thus far. Terrific, different protagonist, well-wrought secondary characters (I rather want a Miss Hudson sequel), an unusual premise, and even more unusual unfolding of the premise--a girl must lie, and lie big, in order to solve a crime.

She's rapidly becoming one of my favourite authors--each book unlike its predecessors, and all good so far.

(Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s).

[billiebook · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A well-written mystery for the 12-14 reader that never talks down or panders to its intended audience. And, if you read much MR, you know how rare that can be.

[scatlett-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Set during the age of Darwin when Christianity's fundamental belief in the origins of man began to crumble in the minds of many scientists. I detested the way the main character loved her abusive father. Rev. Sunderly was awful and yes I understand that the tree was supposed to have twisted him, but at his core he was just mean spirited. However, Frances Hardinge has written a book that I won't forget and the plot turns were absolutely marvelous and unexpected.

[bodachliath · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I don't read children's books very often, but the fact that this one won the overall Costa prize, backed up by a couple of positive friend reviews here, persuaded to make an exception. The basic premise of a plant that thrives on human lies takes some swallowing, but if you accept that, it is a terrific feminist subversion of the classic adventure story genre, and a very enjoyable read.

[kimpiddington · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Plucky heroine. A real page turner.

[cathishaw · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The premise is intriguing. A young, intelligent girl takes on investigating her father's murder when everyone else thinks he has killed himself due a scandal related to falsification of his scientific discoveries. And the book does toy with the paradox of science versus nature. And while I wanted to love this book I found myself ... drifting at times. This was the kind of book where I would send up reading a few pages and then wonder what I had read because my mind had drifted. I tend to either love or hate a book. This one, while it had an interesting setting and premise, just didn't engage me. If you enjoy historical literature and girl power books, you might feel otherwise.

[tiffanyak_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It's an interesting concept, with a clever twist. I wouldn't consider it to be a must-read title, but I thought that it included a lot of very interesting discussion points which readers may appreciate. It also might make more effective use of gender role dynamics than I've seen in a YA novel in quite some time. To that end, right when I thought it to be predictable, it'd straighten itself out and take a whole new turn, leading to a finale that captured me to the very last moment.

[asomers_8 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I thought the cover and the blurb on the inside cover where very misleading. It was probably a good story , but I could not get passed the fact that I felt as if I had been deceived in some way.

[brangwinn · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Great fantasy with a young female protagonist is set in Victorian England when fossils are being discovered. Faith chafes at the life she is expected to lead—that of playing second fiddle to males. Her father and mother seem to look at her as a babysitter for her younger brother, and yet her mind is sharp. She wants to be a scientist. When her father, a minister who is looked at as an expert in fossils, is sent to a remote island because some of his findings are hoaxes, Faith discovers lots more to the story including a tree that grows stronger when told lies. How she survives others looking for this same tree and in the process, finds out the best lies allow for those hearing the lie to embellish the facts themselves, makes for gripping reading.

[ladycato · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Hardinge writes excellent gothic fantasies featuring teenage girls. I think I enjoyed The Lie Tree even more than her previous Norton nominee, Cuckoo Song. It's a dark murder mystery set on a remote island, as Faith manipulates islanders to create a harvest on her father's Lie Tree as she tries to solve his murder.

[wyvernfriend · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Left me a bit meh.I did want to like this but it just didn't sit right with me. The concept of a tree that has to be kept in darkness and fed lies is intriguing, but the characters didn't ring true to me, it felt in parts like I was being preached to and I dislike that in books.A girl having to deal with the death of her childhood and her father and trying to use the tree to find out the truth about her father while also using mob rule to wreak her revenge, and learning what happens when you sow a seed of a rumour and what can happen afterwards.It is a good story, but I felt that sometimes the story overcame the characters and some of what was said rang badly for me and I just felt uneasy by the end. It's a coming of age story and you can see how it's also a coming of age of science story and of feminism and of a lot of things that came of age in the early 20th century but still haven't reached adulthood. It was also interesting to see the treatment of left-handed children. Post-mortem photography and training corsets also feature.It's not a bad read and parts of it were very interesting but it's not my favourite by this author.

[cat3lib · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

An excellent read, unlike any children's book I have ever read. The author has an fantastic imagination and writes a story that is entertaining but not an easy read. It covers religion, superstition, moral truths, greed, family love and most importantly the understanding that the female of the species is just as intelligent as the male.

[brittanylyn · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Enthralling YA book, about a curious young girl coming of age. In a family full of secrets and taking the back burner to her brother, the protagonist takes it upon herself to learn the truth. Also love the historical feature of this book.

[jnwelch_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

“Listen, Faith. A girl cannot be brave, or clever, or skilled as a boy can. If she is not good, she is nothing. Do you understand?” This is what her father tells our main character in [The Lie Tree], and that attitude, along with the apparent foolishness of her mother, made this a hard read at the beginning. Bright, perceptive Faith is either ignored or squashed in much of the early book. She dotes on her natural scientist father, and wants to be the same, but appears to have zero chance to do so. We're in Victorian times, post-[Origin of the Species], and her ambitions outstrip a woman's possibilities. A craniometrist points out women's brains are smaller than men's, and should not be overloaded.As you can tell, author [[Frances Hardinge]] explores a woman's place in that society, and we come to see that Faith's mother is not so foolish, and that clever women find ways to subvert the system. The story begins with Faith's support being taken from under her, as her worshipped father is first vilified for fraud and then apparently kills himself on the island they've retreated to. Faith stashes his scientific papers, and hopes to clear his name and solve the mystery of his death.This Costa Award winner was a worthwhile and entertaining read. [[Hardinge]] is a clever writer, and provides provocative and persuasive detail about the time period - Faith's brother is being trained not be left-handed, for example, and reverends try to reconcile Darwin's theories and the fossil record with the Bible.The one aspect I found a bit odd was the title character, the Lie Tree. Found by Faith's father on one of his sojourns, it feeds on lies it's told, SPOILER: that are spread in the community. It then provides vision-inducing fruits, that seem to provide answers to difficult questions. Faith whispers lies to it, and spreads them, using its fruits to help unravel the mystery. END SPOILER It is a bizarre premise, but it does allow the author to examine the nature and effects of lying. This is an entertaining book that also is thought-provoking.

[nbmars · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Faith Sunderly, 14, narrates this novel for young adults about her family’s rapid departure in 1865 from London to Vane Island off the south coast of England, allegedly for an archeological excavation. She hasn’t been told why they had to leave so fast, but quickly learns through eavesdropping that her father, Reverend Erasmus Sunderly, a renowned natural scientist, has just been exposed in the newspapers as “a fraud and a cheat.”Darwin’s On the Origin of the Species had only been published for nine years, but “the world had shuddered, like a boat running aground.” Yet Faith’s father claimed to have found the fossilized bones of one of the ancient Nephilim (half-angels who were were offspring of the "sons of God" and the "daughters of men" before the flood according to Genesis 6:4). But it was subsequently discovered that these bones had been carefully fabricated.Reverend Sunderly doesn’t seem concerned about the breaking scandal; instead, he is totally obsessed with a certain plant specimen that he hides in an old tower on the property of their new house on Vane. He forbids anyone to enter the tower. But Faith, our intrepid nosy Nancy Drew, sneaks in and finds a bizarre plant that shrinks from the light.When her father asks her to help him in a clandestine operation, taking the specimen and hiding it in a nearby cave, Faith jumps at the chance. Later that night, however, the Reverend Sunderly is found dead, an apparent suicide. Faith is convinced he was murdered, and sets out to prove it. First she examines his papers, and finds background about his mysterious plant specimen, the so-called Mendacity Tree. According to her father’s notes, the tree was a symbiote - “a species that survives by cooperating with another species.” If you “feed” the tree a lie, and then circulate the lie successfully, the tree will bear fruit. If you then eat of this fruit, you will gain the most secret knowledge that no one else knows, that could “unpeel the mysteries of the world.” The temptation posed by this is surely as great as that presented to Adam and Eve. (Apparently Reverend Sunderly forgot the lesson of that particular biblical story.)Faith figures that she can use the power of the tree to find out who killed her father, and starts spreading lies, taking into consideration the notation in her father’s diary that the best lies are those “that others wish to believe.”Faith’s interference unleashes a veritable Pandora’s box of troubles, and the pace of the action picks up enormously. After Faith's enlistment of the help of a local boy, there are some Tom Sawyer/Becky Thatcher moments, as well as wild chase scenes, gun fights, and more attempted murders. Although Faith’s life is at risk, she is fearless and resourceful.But what of the tree and the secrets it has shown?Discussion: Faith is mostly unnoticed not only by the world-at-large but even by her family. Her father is cruel and asks only that she be “dutiful.” He even told Faith:"You will never be anything but a burden, and a drain on my purse. Even when you marry, your dowry will gouge a hole in the family coffers.”Nevertheless, Faith idolizes her father and craves his attention and recognition.Her mother provides no succor at all; rather, she is obsessed with appearances, using Faith to take care of Faith’s six-year-old brother Howard, while she flirts with other men to soften the effect of her husband’s icy demeanor. Faith struggles with accepting the world’s definition of her as unworthy because of her “mousey” looks and her gender, and it has worn her down:"She no longer fought to be praised or taken seriously. Now she was humbled, desperate to be permitted any part in interesting conversations. Even so, each time she pretended ignorance, she hated herself and her own desperation.”The ongoing theme of the underappreciation of the female gender, the strictures imposed on them, and the unsavory options for advancement left open to them - especially in the 19th Century - has many interesting aspects that will occasion discussion. I love Faith’s characterization of her mother in light of their situation:"My mother is not evil. . . . She is just a perfectly sensible snake, protecting her eggs and making her way in the world as best she can.”But Faith herself quietly rebels against all of this. She is determined that she is going to be different, and that maybe someday, it can be different for all girls.I also liked Faith’s thoughtful interpretation of the processes by which the Mendacity Tree worked. While there is a bit of magical realism in this story, Faith the scientist-in-the-making comes up with counter-narratives that go a long way to explain not only what happens in the story, but how the world works generally. Evaluation: This book was the 2015 Costa Book of the Year. (The Costa Book Awards honor the most outstanding books of the year written by authors based in the UK and Ireland.) I thought it was very thought-provoking and well-written, but for me the first two-thirds of the book dragged. Nevertheless, I suspect this book will be well-loved by reviewers and book clubs for its challenge to gender roles, societal mores, and double standards, and for the dedication to scientific discovery, that has, over the years, repeatedly changed what everyone thought was known.

[teunduynstee · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I was intrigued when I heard that The Lie Tree had won the Costa book award as a young adult book in the general category. I normally don't read children's or young adult lit and I must say that it did bother me here and there. Sometimes things were over-explained, themes were iterated a few times too much for my taste (womens rights). Then again, I was deeply impressed by the overall story telling. The narrative is great, the main characters have depth. The idea of a plant that feeds on lies (the more widely believed, the better), and delivers a fruit that reveals secrets is a brilliant one. I like that it is never completely cleared up if this magic property is real or imagined, but it drives the narrative in an exciting way. Definitely not a predictable plot. There is some Agatha Christy here, some R.L. Stephenson and some Mary Shelley. The time pressure for Faith's puzzle solving reminded me of Eco's Name of the Rose. Definitely recommended.

[beamis12 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

3.5 After the publishing of The Origin of Species, the natural sciences were very popular. This book is a mixture of Victorian mores, natural sciences, a little fantasy and a mystery. It is told remarkably well, Faith at fourteen wants more than to be a a decorative object for some monied man. She wants to study the sciences and earn recognition in her own right. But, this was not acceptable in those times and Faith soon finds herself acting as a unacceptable Victorian young lady. This is where the mystery and fantasy come in.Not a big fantasy lover, but this had just the right mix. The food, the dress, the delight in scandal and the hypocrisy are all true to this time period. Found out there was apparently such a thing as a training corset, who knew? Anyway I really enjoyed this mixing of genres. Found it entertaining and a welcome detour from what I normally read. It is really well done.ARC from Netgalley.

[acargile-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A bit of a plodding novel, The Lie Tree, is a murder mystery.Faith and her family arrive in Vane so that her can help with the local excavation, as he is the pre-eminent expert on the subject. Faith’s father, Erasmus, is a distant and harsh man, not loving, but Faith almost worships him for his intelligence. One day Faith would like to be a natural scientist, but women are not to have professional careers. A woman’s place is in the home, raising a family, running a house, and being invisible. Her father treats her this way, so Faith studies his books to learn. She, however, is confused on why they are moving. With a little snooping Faith discovers some secrets about her father.On Vane, Faith and her family have a contrary welcome, from friendly to hostile. Only when her father dies suddenly and his death is presumed to be suicide does Faith decide to investigate. She’ll do whatever she must do--be mean, experiment on herself, question people ruthlessly. The author is very clever. There are clues throughout the book, but you’ll never catch them all and will be surprised at the ending. To be honest, it’s a well-written book, but it’s slow. The book is all clues, so you have to be patient. I was not patient, so it took me forever to read. I liked the ending.

[mandy42990 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I was very pleasantly surprised by how many provocative themes this book explored. Far from being merely a teenage read, it examines the illicit component of man's craving for knowledge and what happens to a person when they embark down a soul-darkening path, even for a justified reason. Showcasing redemption kept it far from the depressing path I might have expected. There were many other themes as well: feminism, parent/child relationships, and humanity's place in the world to name a few. The feminism was a bit too loud for my liking, and I thought the ending was a bit rushed with relationships too easily resolved. Nevertheless, this novel was engaging, smart, and really thoughtful. I am quite interested in Frances Hardinge's other books now.

*I received a digital ARC from Netgalley*

[atreic · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I loved this. Reached the ‘can’t put it down, I’ll just read 4 more pages and _then_ go back to what I need to be doing’ stage, absolutely whizzed through it. It’s the story of Faith, an upper class Victorian girl whose father is an eminent natural scientist. It’s a lot of stories – the story of her relationship with her father, and how she stops lying to herself about the asymmetry of their feelings for each other, the story of women’s place in Victorian England, and how to play the game with the cards you are dealt, the story of Faith’s relationship with her mother, and how she grows to see and respect her from a more adult perspective. It’s a murder mystery. It’s a creepy magical realism story about a tree that lives in the dark and is fed by lies. It’s a morality story about how the people you overlook in the margins are real people too. A story about discovering your parents are both more fallible and much stronger than you knew. A story about the consequences of lying, and about doing the right thing to make amends even when it is hard and not in your own best interests. It’s a ‘science is awesome and let’s grow up and learn All The Things’ story. A story about finding friends in unlikely places and having to make the jump of trusting people. It is hugely richly peopled, and everyone is sympathetically and three dimensionally drawn. Everyone is flawed, and yet you can see why they do the things they do, and there is a surprising amount of good in all of them. Also, so much gently drawn detail in the corners, including a lovely pair of awesome stealth lesbians who save the day. Also, snakes, rat fights, row boats on the wild sea near rocks, guns, skulls, cliff top struggles and explosions.

[sues7 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Intriguing concept, obtaining a truth by spreading a lie. Set in what I assume is Victorian times when natural science was popular. Faith is a teenage girl who has taken up an interest in science just like her father. However she is in an era where females were considered inferior to men. This theme is carried throughout the story, such as the doctor who measures the size of skulls to prove that female brains are smaller. When Faith's father dies in mysterious circumstances, Faith determines to uncover the truth. Keeps you guessing to the end. A good read.

[rivkat_2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Faith is the ignored daughter of a curate/natural scientist working in Darwin’s wake and a mother she despises for her embrace of feminine wiles. A scandal sends the family to an isolated island, where Faith learns that almost everything she believes about her family only scratches the surface of the truth. Investigating a tree that feeds on lies, Faith learns of her own dangerous ability to spread lies and has to choose how to use it. Not my favorite of Hardinge’s books, but very good nonetheless.