The Lie Tree: Frances Hardinge

A teenage girl unravels lies and magic to solve her father’s murder in The Lie Tree, an unforgettable and thought-provoking YA historical fantasy from award-winning novelist Frances Hardinge.

Named A Best Book of the 21st Century (So Far) by Kirkus * Winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Young Adult Literature and a Boston Globe–Horn Book Award for Fiction

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 Kent 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 is the winner of the Costa Book of the Year for The Lie Tree, one of just two young adult novels to win the major UK literary prize. She is the author of several books for children, including Cuckoo Song, The Lost Conspiracy, Fly by Night, Well Witched, and Fly Trap. She lives in England.