A novel of sexuality, morality, and Catholic guilt in a faltering marriage. Lying takes a sharp look at our whole culture of mendacity, in which hype and spin rule supreme, statistics are manipulated, history is rewritten, hoaxes abound on the internet, bogus guests appear on TV chat shows, and the travel, beauty, and health industries peddle expensive dreams. Lying is also a love story. Alison Ward, an idealistic young editor in a publishing house, falls obsessionally in love with an older man, James Egerton, ...
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A novel of sexuality, morality, and Catholic guilt in a faltering marriage. Lying takes a sharp look at our whole culture of mendacity, in which hype and spin rule supreme, statistics are manipulated, history is rewritten, hoaxes abound on the internet, bogus guests appear on TV chat shows, and the travel, beauty, and health industries peddle expensive dreams. Lying is also a love story. Alison Ward, an idealistic young editor in a publishing house, falls obsessionally in love with an older man, James Egerton, seemingly out of reach on both social and religious grounds. Why should a Cambridge-educated accountant from a well-to-do, ultra-Catholic family be attracted to someone of modest means and background who has rarely set foot inside a church (and whose father moreover dismisses all religion as claptrap)? Against the odds, she wins his love but, five years into their marriage, finds herself leading a double life, upholding "truths" in public which privately she abhors. The strain of this deception, coupled with deep sadness at their failure to conceive a longed-for child, eventually leads her into an affair. As lie piles on lie, she is horrified at her own faithlessness. Why, when she loves her devout and devoted husband, is she sloping off with a scruffy, layabout barman she doesn't even like? She begins to see falsehood everywhere--in advertising and politics, even science and medicine--and above all in the constricting religion of her husband and his family. Yet James's faith is an essential part of him, his virtue and integrity the very qualities that first attracted her; thus the discovery that even he is entangled in deception comes as a profound shock.
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Add this copy of Lying to cart. $4.28, very good condition, Sold by Books From California rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Simi Valley, CA, UNITED STATES, published 2001 by Peter Owen Publishers.
Add this copy of Lying (Peter Owen Modern Classic) to cart. $16.47, very good condition, Sold by Halcyon Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from LONDON, LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2000 by Peter Owen Ltd.
Add this copy of Lying to cart. $29.60, like new condition, Sold by Rooke Books rated 3.0 out of 5 stars, ships from BATH, SOMERSET, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2000 by Peter Owen.
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Seller's Description:
None. Fine in Fine jacket. Alison-a publisher's assistant of modest means and background-falls for James, a Cambridge-educated accountant from a prominent Anglo-Catholic family. Against the odds, she wins his love, but finds herself compelled to live a double life. As lie piles upon lie, she begins to see falsehood everywhere-and will be shocked to discover the extent of the deception her husband is engaged in. A lovely copy of this signed, first edition from critically acclaimed novelist Wendy Perriam. In the original publisher's cloth binding, with the original dustwrapper. Externally, smart. Very light shelfwear. Minor edgewear to the dustwrapper. Very light marks to the fore edge Internally, firmly bound. Pages are bright and clean. Author's signature on frontispiece. Fine.
