The Truth According to Us by Annie Barrows is told in two voices: a narrative voice and that of Willa, a twelve year old girl who decides to spy on the adults in her life and learn the truth about what is going on around her. The year is 1938 and the setting is a small town in Alabama.
Her family is nothing if not complicated. Her parents are separated and her mother is living with another man. Her father Felix may be a bootlegger although once his father owned a successful shoe factory. His younger brother Emmett is a good guy who wonders why his older brother seems to always come out on top. Aunt Jottie takes care of them all, including her two married twin sisters who visit their husbands only on weekends. The tragic death of Felix's dad's best friend, and Jottie's beau, haunts them all.
The family takes in a boarder from the Federal Writer's Project, Layla, who is to write the town history. Layla is beautiful and was rich--before she refused to marry for money and left home to make it on her own. Layla brings an outsider's view to the town and is quite willing to listen to the 'unofficial' truth behind the acccepted legends. Meanwhile, Felix takes her 'under wing' with a mind to bed her.
The book is sheer delight. Jottie and Willa are real 'characters' with wry senses of humor and I loved them both. Felix is complicated and attractive, keeping everyone guessing about his past and his motives. Layla may be a pampered high society gal but she shows great spunk and handles herself well. You will enjoy this story from the author of the bestseller book The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society.
I received a free ebook through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.
The Truth According to Us
Annie Barrows
Penguin Random House
Publication June 9, 2015
$28 hard cover
ISBN: 9780385342940
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