Module 10: What I Saw and How I Lied

Summary
In 1947, Evie, her mother, and her veteran stepfather Joe take a vacation to Palm Beach. The hotel is nearly empty, as it is the off-season, but they make friends with the Graysons, a couple staying at the hotel, and Evie becomes interested in Peter, a young man her stepfather knew in the war, and who seems to make her stepfather uncomfortable.
Evie learns that her stepfather and Peter got up to some shady things during the war, and Joe is now trying to get out of some promises he made. When Peter dies under mysterious circumstances, Evie learns that her mother was having an affair with him. She lies to cover for her family's probably-crimes.

Citation
Blundell, J. (2008). What I saw and how I lied. New York, NY: Scholastic.

Impression
One word impression? Meh. I had seen this book for a while and been intrigued by the gorgeous cover, so I decided to use this opportunity to finally pick it up. The post war Florida setting made me think of Starring Sally J. Freedman as Herself, which I loved as a kid. But overall, What I Saw and How I lied was not really worth the time. Evie was dull and really oblivious, her parents were petty and obnoxious, the "romance" with Peter fell flat. The one thing I did like was Evie's relationship with Arlene Grayson--there is a relative lack of female mentors in fiction, and it was really refreshing to see this relationship. Overall though, I was pretty disappointed with this one. I didn't hate it, but it wasn't particularly good either.

Reviews


"This smart 1940s coming-of-age novel is steeped in noir mystery, suspense, deceit, scandal, and lies. Fifteen-year-old Evie lives in the shadow of her mother's glamorous beauty, amidst the intense changes wrought upon daily civilian life by the impact and the ending of the Second World War. Her stepfather Joe's return from war put the family on a new track headed down to Florida where they stay in a posh hotel, meet wealthy and intriguing guests with secrets of their own, and Peter, a young, handsome veteran and the focus of Evie's first crush. The reader finds herself peeling awkward little Brooklyn Evie like an onion, page by page, until a confident, in-control, and mature Palm Beach Evelyn emerges. The courtroom inquest drama is both suspenseful and pleasurably unpredictable near the end. The author's use of stylish language and imagery carries the reader through a full range of greed, desire, hidden agendas as well as an underlying layer of anti-Semitism. The use of dialogue is impressive. Her mother says I loved him like a fever. Then he left. He kicked through love like it was dust and he kept on walking, when explaining Evie's birth father. This exceptional 2008 National Book Award-winner develops into a page turner within the first few chapters, and it would make a great pleasure read or classroom assignment to get the flavor of the era, but it unfortunately may take some selling because of the setting and period."

Ehde, A. (2009, February 1). [Review of the book What I Saw and How I Lied, by J. Blundell]. Voice of Youth Advocates. Retrieved from http://www.voya.com/

"In this sophisticated thriller, 15-year-old Evie grows up quickly when she discovers her adored parents are not the people she thought they were. While on vacation in Palm Beach in 1947, Evie's parents, Joe and Bev, get involved in a shady business deal with the Graysons, another couple on holiday. Meanwhile, Evie begins a flirtation with Peter, a handsome ex-GI who served with Joe and just happens to be staying at their hotel. Evie soon learns that Peter's presence is no coincidence and that he threatens to uncover a terrible secret that Joe has kept since the war. Then Bev, Joe, and Peter go boating, but only two of them return. Evie must sort through secrets, lies, and her own grief to find the truth. Using pitch-perfect dialogue and short sentences filled with meaning, Blundell has crafted a suspenseful, historical mystery that not only subtly explores issues of post-WWII racism, sexism, and socioeconomic class, but also realistically captures the headiness of first love and the crushing realization that adults are not all-powerful"

Hubert, J. (2008, November 1). [Review of the book What I Saw and How I Lied, by J. Blundell]. Booklist. Retrived from http://www.booklistonline.com/

Uses
It really is very pretty. It would be served well by being displayed somewhere.