A True Story Based on Lies - Hardcover

Clement, Jennifer

3.78

223 ratings by Goodreads

9781841952765: A True Story Based on Lies

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1841952761 ISBN 13: 9781841952765

Publisher: Canongate Books Ltd, 2002

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Set in contemporary Mexico, the book charts the consequences of a sexual relationship between Leonora, a servant in the wealthy O'Connor home, and her master. When a child, Aura Olivia, is born from this union she is brought up as the daughter of the house. As the novel unfolds, the "true" story gradually emerges.

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Review:

"This bold and innovative novel. . . is a persuasive construction of the consciousness of a young woman wronged by the class system . . . superbly drawn." (Times Literary Supplement)

"You would be forgiven for mistaking Clement's first novel for a book of poetry, such is its lyricism and lightness of touch; yet what we are given here is a narrative that not only pays tribute to Clement's background as a poet, but uses the tricks of the mast storyteller to delight and engross. Clement's simple lilting prose poetry belies a dark complexity hidden below the surface and draws the reader on to the book's chilling conclusion." (The Times)

"This is an unusual and graceful book that, in beautiful and precise prose, tells of unimaginable human suffering and manages, in an unexpected climax, to suggest at least the possibility of redemption." (New Internationalist)

"A lyrically told, deeply moving tale." (Sunday Tribune)

"The unfolding emotional and physical complications are fraught with trauma, which the writer's particular style heightens into an emotionally wracking story." (Big Issue)

About the Author:

Jennifer Clement is the President of PEN International and the first woman to be elected since the organisation was founded in 1921. She is the author of three novels: Prayers for the Stolen, A True Story Based on Lies and The Poison That Fascinates. Prayers for the Stolen was a New York Times Book Review Editor's Choice, a PEN/Faulkner Award finalist, winner of the Grand Prix des Lectrices de ELLE 2015, an NEA Fellowship and the Sara Curry Humanitarian Award. The novel appeared internationally on many 'Best Books of the Year' lists, including the Irish Times. She has also published four books of poetry including The Next Stranger (with an introduction by W.S. Merwin). Clement's books have been translated into 30 languages and she was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship for her new novel Gun Love, which is forthcoming in March 2018.

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