Little Liar by Lisa Ballantyne
Genre: Psychological Thriller
Read: 3rd October 2018
Purchase: Amazon
★★★★★ 5 stars
This is the first book by Lisa Ballantyne I have read and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was compelling and emotionally charged, and had me hooked as I had to keep reading to see how it would end and to discover who was telling the truth. LITTLE LIAR is a different tale about the sexual abuse of a child in the sense that it deals with the other side of the story.
Mud sticks. It's the truth. A statement of fact. Reputation, character, truth and trust all take years to develop...and just one second and a few words to lose.
This is what happens to Nick Dean, a creative art teacher and actor. He is happily married to Marina with two beautiful children, Luca and Ava. Although he hasn't had an acting gig in some time he does own and run a business called ActUp, as well as contracting out to schools in the art of drama. With Marina the main breadwinner of the family, Nick enjoys his teaching role at Croydon Academy helping young aspiring teenagers out of their shells during the day, and doting dad to his children the rest of the time.
When we meet 12 year old Angela Furness she is suspended from school (again) after being involved in an horrific and violent fight with another girl in the playground. Almost at once we form the impression that she is disruptive, attention seeking and a bully with a bad attitude. She doesn't appear to get on with anyone, least of all her mum Donna, but she does adore her father Stephen - probably moreso he doesn't live with them, which is fairly normal when from a broken home. This turns out to be the case when she has a fight with her mum and goes to live with her dad - in the end she decides she doesn't want to live there after all and prefers to live with her mum. It is apparent from the start that Angela is a very confused little girl who truly hates herself and feels no love and no security from anyone. It was especially sad when she decided at just 12 years old to kill herself.
So when Angela blurts out to her mum one morning that she "didn't want him to touch her anymore", her mother is in complete shock trying to coax from her daughter who was she talking about.
It is then that Nick and Marina's life is thrown into turmoil when their cosy evening is interrupted by police to inform Nick that he is under arrest for the sexual assault of a person under 13. Nick insists he is innocent. Angela insists he assaulted her. So who is telling the truth?
Told from alternating POVs, this riveting story unfolds through the eyes of Nick, Angela, Donna, Stephen and Marina. Due to the nature of this topic being about the alleged sexual assault of a minor, it is cleverly dealt with sensitively without being overly graphic. Multi-layered in nature, it explores the side we don't often get to see in these stories - the harrowing affects it can have on all concerned. We gain insight from both sides, as well as from those also directly affected by the allegations, witnessing how each of them deals with the emotional trauma. It is in no way clear cut or black and white. As I often say, there are three sides to every story - your's, their's and the truth.
Throughout the story I sympathised with most of the characters at some point or another, but I found it very difficult to connect with Angela - or to sympathise with her. From the outset, we see her as a disruptive bully who spits the dummy in a massive way when challenged. In some ways, she appeared younger than 12 going on 13. I found myself wondering if she was as innocent as she seemed or was she a manipulative liar? However, I did feel that it was clear that something had evidently happened to her...but was it Nick? It was hard to connect with Donna at times but as the story evolved it was clear that she struggled with how to best deal with Angela. The character I least liked was Stephen. To me he was the most distant and disconnected, too quick to pass the blame onto his ex-wife for the problems that surrounded their troubled daughter. The fact he was a police officer did not make him immune to blame or guilt.
The people I sympathised most with were Nick and Marina. Whilst I suspected Nick wasn't completely innocent as the story unfolded, there was still no evidence to support an attack of his character based on the allegations made by an unstable and troubled young girl. Too often society is quick to judge the accused without any real evidence of truth or fact. Just because an allegation was made does not make it fact. However each allegation is treated as truth, but why should the accused's life be torn apart by the public as if it were the truth? I understand the need for anonymity with regard to the victim but I also believe that the same rights should be applied to the accused. Because unless there is substantial evidence to state otherwise why should they be branded guilty before any charge or trial? Just because someone has accused another does NOT necessarily mean they are automatically guilty. It is frightening how swiftly someone's life can be destroyed in an instant without any real evidence just because an allegation has been made. In the end, it doesn't matter whether Nick is proven innocent or guilty as there will always be people who believe the old adage that "there is no smoke without fire". His life is all but destroyed because of Angela's accusation.
As for Marina, while I didn't like her very much I did sympathise with her. For her, she is guilty by association (whether Nick is guilty or not) just by being married to him and standing by him. Despite the allegations, she struggles to keep life as normal as possible for their children whilst continuing to support Nick. But we also see her doubts, her rollercoaster of emotions as she learns some things about Nick that she had until then been oblivious to. When the police discover pornography on his computer, phone as well as the tablet they have for the children - even on her work laptop - she finds herself questioning her own feelings for him as well how well she knows him. Is Nick really as innocent as he seems? Does she really know him? But does viewing pornography make him guilty of Angela's allegations?
This is a well written thought provoking story, that will be a difficult read for some, and that keeps you guessing till the very end. Who is guilty? Who is innocent? Is anyone?
However, with a name like LITTLE LIAR is there really any doubt as to who is telling the truth? Or are they just words often said to taunt the accuser? That's the million dollar question. Who do YOU believe?
An intriguing and emotional story, LITTLE LIAR well worth reading despite the subject matter. Highly recommended!
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