Book Review: The Lies They Told
Here’s my review of The Lies They Told by Ellen Marie Wiseman. Don’t forget to leave a comment if you’ve read it or plan to read it, or if you have any other book recommendations to share.
The Lies They Told by Ellen Marie Wiseman offers an important and somewhat neglected historical perspective— that of a German immigrant in the US in the 1920s. Yet it is relevant to the current times we’re living in too, and I would recommend it to those readers who enjoy historical fiction that resonates and reverberates across decades.
Be forewarned that this book explores emotionally difficult topics like eugenics, suicide, displacement, kidnapping, and losing loved ones in tragic ways. It also explores the complexities of immigrating to a new place and all the uncertainties and horrors that can bring. From the first page you will be transported to an uncertain world with an uncertain future with characters who are simply trying to survive and do the best they can to protect those they love.
Mainly, I appreciated how well this novel captures the capriciousness and cruelty of immigration enforcement, and how citizens and immigrants alike can fall prey to subjective means of control by those in power— especially when those people in power flat-out lie to get what they want or uphold racist, classist ideas and institutions. We see this when Lena’s brother is deported without sufficient evidence, then again when Lena is detained and her daughter is kidnapped, and again when Silas has his land and children stolen from him.
I also appreciated how Lena and the children were able to have moments of happiness and love amid their uncertainty and suffering. Though they suffered unimaginable heartbreak, they were also able to find moments of happiness and ultimately form a family of their own. And this made the overarching heartbreaking narratives easier to digest and believe. While there were a lot of horrible things happening to them, they were still able to enjoy simple lives in a beautiful setting to some extent.
And while I appreciated the ‘authentic’ language that was used throughout the book for the most part, it was still obvious (sorry to say) that the author was not born and raised in the South, which was a bit off-putting and distracting to me. So, if you were born and raised in the South, you might cringe a little here and there as you read some of the dialogue in this book.
Additionally, the middle of the novel drug on a bit too long for me, making the suspense for what was going to happen to Lena and the children lag a bit— not too much, but a bit. So, if you find yourself tuning out a third of the way through the book, keep reading, the pace will pick back up in the last third of the book.
All in all, I did enjoy reading this novel and will recommend it to historical fiction readers.
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