The Truth Teller

by Katherine Govier

Katherine Govier was immersed in writing a magazine article for Toronto Life about violent girl gangs when she realized she wanted to use the material in a novel. Having two teenaged children at home allowed her to eavesdrop as she researched the characters for her novel. One character in particular intrigued Cassandra, the truth teller. In The Truth Teller, the Manor School for Classical Studies is an exclusive private institution in a leafy enclave of Toronto, dedicated to redeeming the wayward children of the well-to-do. For generations, Headmaster Dugald Laird and his wife, Francesca Morrow, united by romance and a common purpose, have laboured to fill their students' hearts and minds with the ideals of truth and beauty. Now, increasingly, the classes only divide the students' time between cigarette breaks, graffiti wars and drug deals; the teenagers have "headphones clamped to their ears and rings pierced into their crotches," and a habit of carving their own flesh. Enter the new girl, Cassie. Overweight, unfashionable and nervous, she also has an annoying habit of blurting out uncomfortable truths. Offering assistance during a savage street fight, she is recruited into the rebel girl gang known as the Dead Ladies. Meanwhile, cracks are beginning to show in the perfect marriage shared by Dugald and Francesca. Dugald is haunted by memories. As if waking from a dream, he realizes that, immersed in his love for ideals, the classics, and Francesca, he has left behind what now seems so real - the family he spurned fifty years ago. For her part, Francesca is convinced Dugald's spirit will be revived during the school's annual pilgrimage to the ancient ruins of Delphi. Under the hot Greek sun, however, the fabric of illusion will be burned away. The Truth Teller, Govier's sixth novel, became a national bestseller.

Genres: Fiction, Canada

416 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Katherine Govier is the author of eleven novels, three short story collections, and a collection of nursery rhymes. Her most recent novel is The Three Sisters Bar and Hotel (HarperAvenue). Here previous novel, The Ghost Brush (published in the US as The Printmaker's Daughter), is about the daughter of the famous Japanese printmaker, Hokusai, creator of The Great Wave. Her novel Creation, about John James Audubon in Labrador, was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year in 2003.

Katherine's fiction and non-fiction has appeared in the United Kingdom, the United States, and throughout the Commonwealth, and in translation in Holland, Italy, Turkey, Spain, Japan, Romania, Latvia and Slovenia. She is the winner of Canada's Marian Engel Award for a woman writer (1997) and the Toronto Book Award (1992). Creation was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year in 2003.

Katherine has been instrumental in establishing three innovative writing programs. In 1989, with teacher Trevor Owen, she helped found Writers in Electronic Residence. In 2011 she founded The Shoe Project, a writing workshop for immigrant and refugee women. She continues as the Chair of its Board of Directors. In 2019 Katherine was made a member of the Order of Canada.

She has edited two collections of travel essays, Solo: Writers on Pilgrimage and WIthout a Guide.

Reviews

[Lauren · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sheesh, I thought that was a mess. There's just so much.....extra. An alternative school on the edge of Toronto, an enigmatic headmaster and his lady wife, girl gangs, a (literal) Cassandra and a trip to the acropolis that leads to self-immolation and a walk through deadly bees.

Ouch.

The characters of the gods and goddesses are interesting, but they are not nuanced and if you are looking to them as a base for your novel, you may find it difficult to create characters that anyone really cares much about. I found the same to be true in Groff's Fates and Furies last year - I did not give a shit about that couple. Likewise, here. So it's very hard to get past the surface gloss, cause there's just no there there.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

“The Truth Teller” was published almost two decades ago. I returned to it for a second read wondering whether it would hold up over time and was pleased to discover that it does.

“The Truth Teller” is rooted in the myths and history of ancient Greece as filtered and interpreted through modern eyes. Dugald Laird and Francesca Morrow, after decades of what has seemed like the perfect marriage, continue to run their private school that champions truth, art, poetry and classical learning. They dedicate themselves to the troubled children of well-to-do families who have been cast aside by the public school system.

But not unlike ancient Greece that they honour and keep alive, the missteps of their past are now exacting a price as failing health takes its inevitable toll. The catalyst for change is the new girl, Cassie, at their school – an awkward loner who has an instinct for uncomfortable truths. Amelia, Francesca’s trusted but less than perfect assistant at the school, also plays a role as she dares fate by her actions.

The final crumbling of Dugald and Francesca’s world comes during their annual trip to Greece with a small group of their youngest students. Their world falters and splinters, appropriately but tragically, among the ancient ruins of Greece they so love.

“The Truth Teller” showcases Govier’s meticulous research and her ability to dive deep into the psyches of her characters. Another gem of literary fiction by one of Canada’s finest novelists.

[Chaimpesach · Rating 1 out of 5]

Found it on the side of the road. It was not good.

[Joyce · Rating 2 out of 5]

Who am I to be critical of a writer with as many accolades as Katherine Govier? Reading this book was a real drag. I slugged through it thinking I was missing the point and that I'd turn a page and find some redemption for the boredom. Not so. It seemed to be one of those books crammed with long paragraphs of "previously written technical notes meant to be used somewhere some day'. Pages of information about Greek mythology which didn't parallel the story or action of the book.
The girl gang was believable and had she written primarily about them it would have been a better book.

[Elaine Robinson LaBar · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did not like this book at all and liked the characters even less. The protagonists, Dugald and Francesca are self-indulgent, self-absorbed people, more concerned with feeding their own egos than any noble goal of educating young minds. Amelia, tagging along for the ride, also concerned for her own welfare above all else. The girls, the “rat gang” intent only on hurting someone for no other reason than that they could. The only sympathetic character in the whole book was poor trusting Ferdinand who got the shit kicked out of him by the aforesaid girls, and perhaps poor Meryl, who along with her children was abandoned by Dugald years earlier to pursue his own selfish needs and fantasies. The book reads rather like a lesson or lecture in Greek Mythology, poetry and art, with a few side trips along the way to develop some sort of a plot. Many books I read are so good, I am sorry when they’re finished. This was not one of those, I absolutely could not wait to be finished with this one! The only reason I kept with it is because I don’t give up easily on a book and kept waiting in vain for it to get better.

[Frank Ashe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Trying too hard to be significant. And you can see the effort.

But a lovely cover.

[Marsha · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was very disappointed in this book. I picked it up as I was curious about the author whom I was not familiar with prior to reading this book. However I would say that she did not accomplish the goal she may have set out to accomplish. I found that there were no characters in this book that I felt any connection to or liking for. Perhaps that’s not necessary for everybody but I do like to feel that I understand the motivations of at least one character and feel at least some sympathy for them. Here I did not. In fact I even ended up disliking many of the characters or perhaps even worse, having no feelings for them whatsoever. I found Francesca and Dugald to be somewhat offensive. They seem are teachers who are supposed to have a lifelong mission to improve the lives and minds of their young students. But really they just seemed to want to hear their own voices. Even the author herself seem to be preaching at the reader. She seemed to be obsessed about Greek history and wanted us to be impressed by how much she knew. This paralleled the way her characters seemed to be doing the same thing with their students. Unfortunately I am very unlikely to read any other books by this author.

[Karin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Still wasn't into the story by pg.116. Decided that i had lots of other books i wanted to read. I looked at reviews and didn't find a good reason to keep going. Found a couple of good quotes to keep tho near the beginning of the book.

[Karena · Rating 2 out of 5]

I couldn't get into this one. I'm not a private school girl.