What I Saw and How I Lied

What I Saw and How I Lied - What I Heard and How I Lied is a coming of age novel set during the time period of post-World War II. The novel is full of nostalgic descriptions of full skirts, pumps dyed to match dresses, late afternoon cocktails, pot roast with mashed potatoes, smoking as sexy habit, and Palm Beach as an exotic location. What I Heard And How I Lied also addresses in a very subtle manner issues of segregation, anti-Semitism, soldiers recovery from war trauma, war time opportunism, gender roles, sexual politics and dark greedy motives. This book took me completely by surprise. I am not sure what I was expecting, but it was definitely not a novel that begins slowly with a young and naïve teenager and progresses into a story of a young adult learning the truth about her parents. The subject matter is not unique, but Judy Blundell manages to present the story in a very fresh way.There is something is so appealing about the coming of age story, the abandoning of naïveté, and first feelings of love; is there a better setting for these themes than post-World War II 194os? Ms. Blundell gives us a back a time in our history when smoking was sexy and lipstick was always apple red. The set-up is done so well, the reader is able to easily settle back into the idea that America used to be comfortable, predictable and simple. But this story is not about a simplistic free time in America. Once the reader relaxes back into the past, the thread of darkness and greed slowly winds itself around the book. I could not put this book down (or actually, I could not turn off the audio book), while the setting and characters seemed familiar nothing about it was typical or rehashed. I highly recommend this book to readers who enjoy historical novels driven by characters and young adult novels.