The Lying Game

Ruth Ware A dark secret from a long-forgotten summer gnaws at the heart of this impressive new novel from Ruth Ware, who won plaudits for her debut, In A Dark, Dark Wood. Her style is more assured in this pacy and claustrophobic coming-of-age tale. Returning to their old boarding school, Isa, now a young mother, is tormented by her hazy and unreliable memories of the weeks surrounding the disappearance of Kate’s father 17 years ago, and the consequences of the so-called “Lying Game” the girls had loved to play. The dreamy narrative leaps from present to past as the horror and guilt is slowly peeled away before reaching a dramatic close. Ware perfectly captures the overwhelming, heart-wrenching intensity of female teenage friendships, which lie at the very core of the novel, as well as the universal experience of love, betrayal and grief. What could have been a well-trodden idea becomes gripping and urgent. 8/10