Truth and Other Lies
Description
WINNER, 2022 NATIONAL INDIE EXCELLENCE JUROR'S GRAND PRIZE
WINNER, BEST DEBUT FICTION 2022 AMERICAN WRITING AWARDS
FIRST PLACE, WOMEN'S FICTION, 2022 PENCRAFT BOOKS AWARDS
2022 GREAT GROUP READS, WOMAN'S NATIONAL BOOK ASSOCIATION
The Devil Wears Prada meets All the President's Men
Megan Barnes' life is in free fall. After losing both her job as a reporter and her boyfriend in the same day, she retreats to Chicago and moves in with Helen, her over-protective mother. Before long, the two are clashing over everything from pro-choice to #MeToo, not to mention Helen's run for U.S. Congress, which puts Megan's career on hold until after the election.
Desperate to reboot her life, Megan gets her chance when an altercation at a campus rally brings her face-to-face with Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jocelyn Jones, who offers her a job on her PR team. Before long, Megan is pulled into the heady world of fame and glamour her charismatic new mentor represents.
Until an anonymous tweet brings it all crashing down. To salvage Jocelyn's reputation, Megan must locate the online troll and expose the lies. But when the trail leads to blackmail, and circles back to her own mother, Megan realizes if she pulls any harder on this thread, what should have been the scoop of her career could unravel into a tabloid nightmare.
Readers who love Jodi Picoult's topical plot twists and Liane Moriarty's character-driven novels will devour this fast-paced tale of three women whose lives converge as one fights a devastating accusation, another campaigns for a contested seat in Congress, and one, the young reporter with ties to both, navigates the tricky line between secrets and lies.
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About the Author
Maggie Smith began her career as a nursery teacher in Birmingham. She has worked as a peripatetic teacher for an under-5's EAL Team and went on to become the Foundation Stage manager of an Early Years Unit in inner London. Maggie helped to set up an innovative unit for young children with behavioural difficulties and has also worked supporting families of children with special needs. She has taught on Early Years BTEC and CACHE courses at a college of higher education. Maggie currently works part time as an Area SENCO supporting Special Needs Co-ordinators and managers in a range of early year's settings. She is also one half of 'earlymatters' training and consultancy, is co-author of the Hands on Guides series of books and writes for various early years' publications.
Reviews
Twisty, timely, and rivetingly thought-provoking, Smith mines the intensity of competition, the duplicity of the human psyche, and the terrifying knowledge that with one wrong decision, your life can be changed forever. This author knows her journalism-the pressure, the stress and the compulsion for the big story-and deeply understands the tension and conflicts women battle when their professional and personal lives are set on a collision course.
-Hank Phillippi Ryan, Emmy-winning investigative reporter and USA Today bestselling author of Her Perfect Life
The political skews personal in this debut, which focuses on the bonds of powerful women in the rough-and-tumble world of politics and government. Smith's characters sometimes do each other in, more often do each other proud, always with an awareness of the fragility of reputation set against the abiding strength of spirit. Smith leads with boldness and heart from the first page.
-Jacquelyn Mitchard, author of The Deep End of the Ocean and The Good Son
Truth and Other Lies is my favorite kind of novel-one that tackles tough topics in a breezy, compulsively readable way. Maggie Smith is a welcome new voice in fiction.
-Camille Pagán, bestselling author of Don't Make Me Turn This Life Around
Expert storytelling, and a sharp exploration of the complex relationships between women-mothers and daughters, mentors and protégés, best friends and frenemies-are at the heart of Maggie Smith's compelling and savvy page-turner. Good thing books are calorie-free, I gobbled it down in a single afternoon.
-Karen Karbo, author of In Praise of Difficult Women
Keenly observant, tense, and smart, Smith unravels the complexity of being a journalist in a time where loyalty, motherhood, and the medium itself are in a constant state of flux. Truth and Other Lies has everything you want in a book and more.
-Ann Garvin, USA Today bestselling author of I Thought You Said This Would Work
This ambitious debut tackles not only mother-daughter dynamics and family secrets, but also the workplace and real-world politics affecting modern women. Written with an engaging, conversational tone, the story conflicts are both realistic and substantial.
-Jamie Beck, Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling author
Truth and Other Lies promises three women, two secrets, and one lie and boy does it deliver. Smith deftly weaves serious social issues such as abortion, sexual harassment, and toxic social media with the more typical women's fiction themes of female friendship, mother-daughter conflict, and romantic relationships, resulting in a taut and timely story.
-A.H. Kim, author of A Good Family
In the thrilling novel Truth and Other Lies, a young reporter works to uncover the truth, which could have ruinous implications for others.
-Foreword Reviews
An engaging and topical tale of politics and journalistic ethics with a feminist slant.
-Kirkus Reviews
An impressively original, inherently engaging, fully entertaining, and truly memorable read from first page to last.
-Midwest Book Review
Truth and Other Lies captures the essence of newsrooms, political campaigns, and Chicago itself.
-Catherine Johns, professional speaker, former broadcast journalist for 25 years, primarily at WLS Chicago
