The Liar

By: Ayelet Gundar-Goshen

Narrated by: Ajjaz Awad

Length: 8 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's summary

"A brilliant fable about the lure of lying and the lure of fame. The writing is wonderful." (Joan Silber, National Book Critics Circle and PEN/Faulkner award-winning author of Improvement)

From the award-winning author of Waking Lions, a provocative novel about how one mistake can have a thousand consequences

Nofar is an average teenage girl - so average, in fact, that she's almost invisible. Serving customers ice cream all summer long, she is desperate for some kind of escape.

But one afternoon, a terrible lie slips from her tongue. And suddenly everyone wants to talk to her: the press, her schoolmates, and even the boy upstairs. He is the only one who knows the truth, and he is demanding a price for his silence.

Then Nofar meets Raymonde, an elderly immigrant whose best friend has just died. Raymonde keeps her friend alive the only way she knows how, by inhabiting her stories. But soon, Raymonde's lies take on a life of their own.

Written with propulsive energy, dark humor, and deep insight, The Liar reveals the far-reaching consequences of even our smallest choices, and explores the hidden corners of human nature to reveal the liar, and the truth-teller, in all of us.

©2019 Ayelet Gundar-Goshen (P)2019 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"Slyly edgy.... Gundar-Goshen explores the thin line between lying and story-telling.... Both sardonic and touching, the novel raises questions of morality for which there are no easy answers. Its timely subject matter and intriguing, unpredictable plot are sure to prompt discussion among readers." (Booklist, starred review)

"This tender and satisfying coming-of-age story leads readers to question how a split second can change lives." (Publishers Weekly)

"Such a good book that touched me so strongly and deeply.... Wonderful." (Amos Oz)

not my favorite

i found it hard to follow and a bit confusing. it seemed to be very repetitious

Learn pronunciation of ethnic names.

My listening to this wonderful book was a disappointment due to the reader’s lack of knowledge of the pronunciation of Hebrew names. I cringed at every name I heard.

Not like her first

Ok but Does not compare -
Characters are good but missing some pizzazz
What happened???
Still worth a listen

Sensitive, clever beautifully written

Irrespective of your age, this poignant story is touching. You feel the protagonist’s embarrassments and clumsiness, the humanness of all the characters and their fragility and strength. Quick, engrossing and lovely.

What a disservice a reader’s mispronunciation of foreign names can do to a wonderful story.

The Liar is more beautifully written than Gunder-Goshen’s very enjoyable Waking Lions and the reader here has a lovely voice. What is galling however is that obviously no effort was made to correctly pronounce the Hebrew names of the characters. Does the fault lie with audible or the publisher that gives license to audible — or the narrator? With every mispronounced name the listener instinctively corrects the reader - ruining the flow of the story. This has been true of almost every novel translated from the Hebrew that I’ve downloaded from audible. AUDIBLE: PLEASE FIX THIS IRRITATING & AGGRAVATING FEATURE OF YOUR RECORDED ISRAELI NOVELS. Make the effort!

A great story wtih brilliantly created characters

This is an extraordinary story. I love how all the characters are so brilliantly created, each with a distinct personality and motivations that all ring true. I was very moved and touched by this book. I've already recommended it to a book club and to several friends, it's very much worth the read. I was bothered by the narrator, who clearly is not familiar with Hebrew. She butchers most of the characters' names (even a little preparation or effort could have solved this!) and sometimes I found the narrator's voice hard to understand.