The New York Times bestselling author of the Maisie Dobbs series turns
her prodigious talents to this World War I standalone novel, a lyrical
drama of love struggling to survive in a damaged, fractured world.
By July 1914, the ties between Kezia Marchant and Thea Brissenden,
friends since girlhood, have become strained--by Thea's passionate
embrace of women's suffrage, and by the imminent marriage of Kezia to
Thea's brother, Tom, who runs the family farm. When Kezia and Tom wed
just a month before war is declared between Britain and Germany, Thea's
gift to Kezia is a book on household management--a veiled criticism of
the bride's prosaic life to come. Yet when Tom enlists to fight for his
country and Thea is drawn reluctantly onto the battlefield, the farm
becomes Kezia's responsibility. Each must find a way to endure the
ensuing cataclysm and turmoil.
As Tom marches to the front lines, and Kezia battles to keep her ordered
life from unraveling, they hide their despair in letters and cards
filled with stories woven to bring comfort. Even Tom's fellow soldiers
in the trenches enter and find solace in the dream world of Kezia's
mouth-watering, albeit imaginary meals. But will well-intended lies and
self-deception be of use when they come face to face with the enemy?
Published to coincide with the centennial of the Great War, The Care
and Management of Lies paints a poignant picture of love and friendship
strained by the pain of separation and the brutal chaos of battle.
Ultimately, it raises profound questions about conflict, belief, and
love that echo in our own time.
