From the co-author of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society comes a wise witty and exuberant novel perfect for fans of Lee Smith that illuminates the power of loyalty and forgiveness memory and truth and the courage it takes to do whatrsquos right Annie Barrows once again evokes the charm and eccentricity of a small town filled with extraordinary characters Her new novel The Truth According to Us brings to life an inquisitive young girl her beloved aunt and the alluring visitor who changes the course of their destiny forever In the summer of Layla Beckrsquos father a United States senator cuts off her allowance and demands that she find employment on the Federal Writersrsquo Project a New Deal jobs program Within days Layla finds herself far from her accustomed social whirl assigned to cover the history of the remote mill town of Macedonia West Virginia and destined in her opinion to go completely mad with boredom But once she secures a room in the home of the unconventional Romeyn family she is drawn into their complex world and soon discovers that the truth of the town is entangled in the thorny past of the Romeyn dynasty At the Romeyn house twelve-year-old Willa is desperate to learn everything in her quest to acquire her favorite virtues of ferocity and devotionmdasha search that leads her into a thicket of mysteries including the questionable business that occupies her charismatic father and the reason her adored aunt Jottie remains unmarried Laylarsquos arrival strikes a match to the family veneer bringing to light buried secrets that will tell a new tale about the Romeyns As Willa peels back the layers of her familyrsquos past and Layla delves deeper into town legend everyone involved is transformedmdashand their personal histories completely rewrittenPraise for The Truth According to Us ldquoAs delightfully eccentric as Guernsey yet refreshingly different an epic but intimate family novel with richly imagined characters an intriguing plot and the social sensibilities you would expect of a story set in the South Willarsquos indomitable spirit keen sense of adventure and innate intelligence reminded me of two other motherless girls in literature Scout Finch in Harper Leersquos To Kill a Mockingbird and Flavia de Luce in Alan Bradleyrsquos big-hearted British mystery series Just as we did in Guernsey we empathize with the characters as if theyrsquore our neighborsrdquomdashThe Washington PostldquoFans of Annie Barrowsrsquos bestseller The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society will recognize the authorrsquos affinity for breathing life into her characters Barrows has crafted a luminous coming-of-age tale that is sure to captivate her grown-up audience Against a lively historical setting the joys and hardships of the rollicking Romeyn family will keep readers eagerly turning pagesrdquomdashBookPageldquoIn The Truth According to Us Annie Barrows leaves no doubt that she is a storyteller of rare caliber with wisdom and insight to spare As she subtly unpacks the emotional intricacies of the Romeyn family and their small West Virginia town in the wake of the Great Depression wersquore struck by the slipperiness of history Barrows is at her best hereEvery page rings like a bellrdquomdashPaula McLain author of The Paris WifeldquoThe Truth According to Us is an irresistible novel a tribute to the power of love and forgiveness to heal even the most heartbreaking betrayalsrdquomdashMelanie Benjamin author of The Aviatorrsquos WifeFrom the Hardcover edition.
