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Lie Lay Lain
Jennifer has a great job and a go-getter fiancé. She's on track for success, until she witnesses a fatal hit-and-run. Mistaking Jennifer for someone else, the dying victim extracts an impossible promise. Jennifer's fiancé wants her to forget the whole incident, but when she closes her eyes, she can still see the bloody face of the woman who asked for her help.
Olivia is in a rut. Burdened with caring for her brain-damaged brother and already feeling like a spinster at 27, she's desperate to escape. In a moment of weakness, she tells a lie that draws an unsuspecting paramedic into her life. As she struggles to expiate the lie, a horrible act of violence will test her resolve to be honest.
Where Jennifer's promise and Olivia's lie intersect, their lives begin to unravel.
Olivia is in a rut. Burdened with caring for her brain-damaged brother and already feeling like a spinster at 27, she's desperate to escape. In a moment of weakness, she tells a lie that draws an unsuspecting paramedic into her life. As she struggles to expiate the lie, a horrible act of violence will test her resolve to be honest.
Where Jennifer's promise and Olivia's lie intersect, their lives begin to unravel.
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First published March 24, 2014
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About the author
Bryn Greenwood
6 books4,613 followersBRYN GREENWOOD is the NYT bestselling author of All the Ugly and Wonderful Things and The Reckless Oath We Made. Her fifth novel is out now: NOBODY KNOWS YOU'RE HERE. She lives in northeast Kansas.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 110 reviews
August 7, 2019
See this full review and many more at: Ashes Books & Bobs.
As my fellow PLNs (Passionate Little Nutcases) know, when Tarryn Fisher recommends a book, you have no choice but to get your hands on it too. So, like everyone else, when Tarryn told the folks in her reader group to pick up Lie Lay Lain by Bryn Greenwood, I added the book to my reading list. Thanks to my new PLN friend, Maureen, I was able to read this before my library was going to be able to get it in for me!
Tarryn mentioned this book was similar to her novel, Marrow, which happens to be my all-time favorite book. While I can see the minor similarities between the two books, Lie Lay Lain just didn't do it for me. I expected to love this book, not only because of the Marrow connection but because All the Ugly and Wonderful Things by Bryn Greenwood is one of the most incredible books I've ever read. I love a controversial read, something that makes me uncomfortable and able to question societal norms. Lie Lay Lain had some of that, especially in terms of racial stereotypes, but I wasn't sold. For the majority of this book, I was wondering what the point of the story was. The plot didn't seem to be moving whatsoever. The story felt like a journal of daily life for the two main characters, rather than a novel with a purpose. It was hard to see how both characters would fit together in the end because their connection to one another was incredibly minor. Eventually, I became so bored with the story, I had to start skimming just to make it to the end, otherwise, this would have been a DNF for me.
I wish I could have loved this book as much as Tarryn did. I wish I felt the connection, but unfortunately, it wasn't for me due completely to the slowness of the story and questionable plot. This was the type of book to make me hang on for the ending, just hoping something big would happen, hoping that maybe the point of the beginning of the story would finally be revealed. While that kind of happened, I was still left scratching my head. I needed a bit more for this book to work and it just wasn't there, making me give two stars. If you're a fellow PLN who picked this book up, I'd love to hear your thoughts.
As my fellow PLNs (Passionate Little Nutcases) know, when Tarryn Fisher recommends a book, you have no choice but to get your hands on it too. So, like everyone else, when Tarryn told the folks in her reader group to pick up Lie Lay Lain by Bryn Greenwood, I added the book to my reading list. Thanks to my new PLN friend, Maureen, I was able to read this before my library was going to be able to get it in for me!
Tarryn mentioned this book was similar to her novel, Marrow, which happens to be my all-time favorite book. While I can see the minor similarities between the two books, Lie Lay Lain just didn't do it for me. I expected to love this book, not only because of the Marrow connection but because All the Ugly and Wonderful Things by Bryn Greenwood is one of the most incredible books I've ever read. I love a controversial read, something that makes me uncomfortable and able to question societal norms. Lie Lay Lain had some of that, especially in terms of racial stereotypes, but I wasn't sold. For the majority of this book, I was wondering what the point of the story was. The plot didn't seem to be moving whatsoever. The story felt like a journal of daily life for the two main characters, rather than a novel with a purpose. It was hard to see how both characters would fit together in the end because their connection to one another was incredibly minor. Eventually, I became so bored with the story, I had to start skimming just to make it to the end, otherwise, this would have been a DNF for me.
I wish I could have loved this book as much as Tarryn did. I wish I felt the connection, but unfortunately, it wasn't for me due completely to the slowness of the story and questionable plot. This was the type of book to make me hang on for the ending, just hoping something big would happen, hoping that maybe the point of the beginning of the story would finally be revealed. While that kind of happened, I was still left scratching my head. I needed a bit more for this book to work and it just wasn't there, making me give two stars. If you're a fellow PLN who picked this book up, I'd love to hear your thoughts.
October 31, 2016
After reading "All the Ugly and Wonderful Things", I knew I want to read more of Bryn Greenwood's work. So I one-clicked and read "Lie Lay Lain."
I went into the story not really knowing what to expect but I was fairly sure it would be a book that would have me captivated and would make me think and feel a lot. I was right.
This book is so different from most things I've read lately. It's in a way very low-key. Best way to describe it maybe: It's life. In it's most honest form. It's ugly and pretty at the same time. Sad and happy. And at times it's so damn hard to navigate.
Both Jennifer and Olivia are trying to do that. To just get by, find their place and maybe some happiness.
Jennifer has a demanding job, a fiance and then she witnesses an accident that throws her for a loop and knocks her off balance. Trying to figure out how to get passed it, how to fulfill a promise and still live up to the demands of her life, she's really struggling. She completely loses her footing and getting it back seems impossible as everytime she feels like she's making progress, something happens that has her floundering again.
I liked Jennifer and then I didn't like her, before I started liking her again. It was hard at times as she was someone who wasn't in touch with her feelings, who seemed a bit robotic. She was flawed - no doubt about that. And I suppose in a way it's those characters that make us reflect on our own faults, which is uncomfortable at best. So Jennifer and I....we didn't necessarily click. And some of her actions pissed me off, but in the end, I could sympathize with her pain and her need for balance, but wanted to shake her or slap her a few times as well.
I wanted to shake Olivia as well, but mainly to get her to stand up for herself. Living with her parents and working at her church, with a bit too much weight on her hips and not enough self-esteem to carry it around, she was mostly existing but not living. Her parents are douchebags - and that's the diplomatic version of my thoughts. They treat her like crap, make her feel bad about herself. In case it's not clear - I hated them. Olivia on the other hand, she was really likable. A sweet girl with a big heart. Her problem was that she didn't see her beauty and she had it - inside and out. No matter the number on her scale, she was attractive. She just didn't see it. Couldn't see it with all the stuff her parents said. It took Rindell to change that and he really did. She started to come out of her shell and shed her family's limiting beliefs. I loved seeing that happen. I enjoyed witnessing her grow. It was really amazing.
Bryn Greenwood doesn't sugarcoat things in her books. She writes things how they are. I love that about her books. There is ugliness in life and she isn't afraid to write about it. People have faults and make mistakes and that too is something she tackles.
4 not-everything-is-shiny-and-pretty stars.
I went into the story not really knowing what to expect but I was fairly sure it would be a book that would have me captivated and would make me think and feel a lot. I was right.
This book is so different from most things I've read lately. It's in a way very low-key. Best way to describe it maybe: It's life. In it's most honest form. It's ugly and pretty at the same time. Sad and happy. And at times it's so damn hard to navigate.
Both Jennifer and Olivia are trying to do that. To just get by, find their place and maybe some happiness.
Jennifer has a demanding job, a fiance and then she witnesses an accident that throws her for a loop and knocks her off balance. Trying to figure out how to get passed it, how to fulfill a promise and still live up to the demands of her life, she's really struggling. She completely loses her footing and getting it back seems impossible as everytime she feels like she's making progress, something happens that has her floundering again.
I liked Jennifer and then I didn't like her, before I started liking her again. It was hard at times as she was someone who wasn't in touch with her feelings, who seemed a bit robotic. She was flawed - no doubt about that. And I suppose in a way it's those characters that make us reflect on our own faults, which is uncomfortable at best. So Jennifer and I....we didn't necessarily click. And some of her actions pissed me off, but in the end, I could sympathize with her pain and her need for balance, but wanted to shake her or slap her a few times as well.
I wanted to shake Olivia as well, but mainly to get her to stand up for herself. Living with her parents and working at her church, with a bit too much weight on her hips and not enough self-esteem to carry it around, she was mostly existing but not living. Her parents are douchebags - and that's the diplomatic version of my thoughts. They treat her like crap, make her feel bad about herself. In case it's not clear - I hated them. Olivia on the other hand, she was really likable. A sweet girl with a big heart. Her problem was that she didn't see her beauty and she had it - inside and out. No matter the number on her scale, she was attractive. She just didn't see it. Couldn't see it with all the stuff her parents said. It took Rindell to change that and he really did. She started to come out of her shell and shed her family's limiting beliefs. I loved seeing that happen. I enjoyed witnessing her grow. It was really amazing.
Bryn Greenwood doesn't sugarcoat things in her books. She writes things how they are. I love that about her books. There is ugliness in life and she isn't afraid to write about it. People have faults and make mistakes and that too is something she tackles.
4 not-everything-is-shiny-and-pretty stars.
October 28, 2014
As I read the other reviews I was surprised by the less than positive ratings. One reviewer said it made her want to gauge her eyes out. I think she meant gouge, but nevertheless, I absolutely loved the book.
For all the POV comments there were in the reviews, to my count (and I was never that great at math), there were only two point of views. I didn't struggle to keep up with just the two. In fact with two heroines it was great to switch between their perspectives.
Perhaps some of the reviewers were looking for an escape into never-never-land and weren't interested in reading a story about REAL people living through the craziness of real life. The characters were well developed and although I didn't particularly "like" some of their behavior I did become completely engrossed in the grittiness of their lives and situations.
There were plenty of uncomfortable scenes that some readers might like to pretend don't exist in life. The heroines and supporting cast are challenged with difficult family dynamics, racial adversity, making their way in the world and deep personal growth. Unbeknownst to them, both the heroines have the inner strength and ability to find their bliss.
I could NOT put this book down!
For all the POV comments there were in the reviews, to my count (and I was never that great at math), there were only two point of views. I didn't struggle to keep up with just the two. In fact with two heroines it was great to switch between their perspectives.
Perhaps some of the reviewers were looking for an escape into never-never-land and weren't interested in reading a story about REAL people living through the craziness of real life. The characters were well developed and although I didn't particularly "like" some of their behavior I did become completely engrossed in the grittiness of their lives and situations.
There were plenty of uncomfortable scenes that some readers might like to pretend don't exist in life. The heroines and supporting cast are challenged with difficult family dynamics, racial adversity, making their way in the world and deep personal growth. Unbeknownst to them, both the heroines have the inner strength and ability to find their bliss.
I could NOT put this book down!
December 16, 2016
“I like laying here with you,” he said.
“I like lying here with you, too.”
“That’s not right, huh? It’s not laying?”
“No,” she said, embarrassed.
“I can always count on you to know which is which, but that’s weird. Lying. I don’t like how lie has the two meanings. I don’t want to lie here with you. Been enough lying already. Why does it mean two different things?”
“I don’t know.”
“If it’s okay, I’m just gonna keep saying lay. I like laying here with you,” he said.
“I like laying here with you, too.”
The title is intriguing, because there are multiple discussions throughout the story of lie vs lay and lie vs truth, but not once does anyone say "lain."
At its heart, this is about lies, and the effect they can have, the harm they can do, and when it can sometimes be better to tell a lie rather than the truth.
But it's about more than that, too. And it's about less than that. This is a very character-driven novel, and usually I get all antsy-pants with those, but Ms Greenwood has a talent for creating characters I just want to spend time with. She's pretty amazing in how she does it, too. Rindell was a gimme, I would love Rindell no matter what. But Olivia and Jennifer and the supporting cast are characters that I normally wouldn't connect with. In Ms Greenwood's hands, I connected. Olivia is a doormat church secretary with low self esteem, but she is so much more than that, too. Olivia is not a cardboard cut-out. Yeah there were moments when I was silently screaming, "just say 'no,' Olivia!" But I never became completely fed up with her. And Jennifer, who rewards herself with expensive shoes and handbags, is normally the type of character I would have NO time for, but in Ms Greenwood's hands, she is complex and sympathetic. The characters all feel like real people; I never got the impatient sense that a character was just a plot device (even when the character - like Gayle - IS just a plot device!).
Ms Greenwood really tricked me with her opening lines:
Jennifer would have walked more quickly if she hadn’t been wearing new shoes, but she couldn’t stop glancing down to admire the way the slender black t-strap bisected her foot. They were easily the most elegant shoes she had ever owned.
That is such a trite opening line, so common in sub-par contemporary romances! (Exhibit A: Eyes on You) I couldn't believe it! I was so disappointed! Because I don't give a fuck about your shoes! But Greenwood plays with it, and spins it around, and stretches out her hands and suddenly you (the reader) realize she's woven the most intriguing cats cradle, rather than just giving you a piece of string.
And Ms Greenwood also has that magical ability to capture the surprising magic of everyday moments, and the irreverent humor that can be found in solemn moments. Passages such as these keep me coming back for more:
Tracey offered a bottle of pills and Jennifer swallowed one, not knowing what it was. After that, she floated in a haze, numb. It was not the numbness of childhood illness, where familiar hands take on the task you cannot do. It was like the well-meaning but alien care people offer an injured or abandoned baby animal. How you scoop and coddle a tiny rabbit, cupped in your hands.
The rabbit is not comforted—you’re a giant monster booming, “Aw, look at his little earsies,” with none of the familiar shapes and smells of its mother. Even so, the baby rabbit is relieved to be dry, to be fed, to be unharmed.
and
Marco’s words gnawed at her. The least I can do. That was what Jennifer had done. The very bare minimum. The inside of her head felt like a mouth full of sore and loose teeth. No matter where her thoughts wandered, they landed on something painful.
and
... she pulled bottle after bottle of polish out of her drawer, and set them on the vanity. The glass bottles clinked together musically, a sound that had always cheered Olivia up. Now it teased her as she tried to decide on a color. What was the color of betrayal? What color was The Truth? After all the bottles were lined up before her, she could see that whatever the color was, she didn’t own a bottle of it.
I read this because I read Ms Greenwood's recent book, All the Ugly and Wonderful Things, and it just blew me away. That was a five star book that was really twenty stars. This is a five star book that is five stars. And I don't hand out five stars all that often.
ETA: I read most of this book while I was in an airport or airplane, flying home (I had lots of reading time, because my home airport closed due to heavy snow while we were in the air, so we were diverted to another airport in another state, blah blah blah ... it took me a long time to get home), and today while I'm getting my house back in order and trying to get to work, I think about these characters, and I have to remind myself that they were NOT real people that I encountered at the airport, these were just characters in a book!
February 14, 2014
This book was awful. I really don't even know how to write this review because it was that bad. This book was extremely slow & monotonous. The writing was just ok, the characters made me want to gauge my eyes out, the alternating pov's didn't work at all, and the storyline was weird. I couldn't tell if the author was trying to write a romance with some church & christianity thrown in or if she was writing a christian romance with god awful sex thrown in. Either way, it didn't work. The story revolves around these 2 heroines so you get their alternating pov's. I didn't see the need in both their pov's. Both of those girls were spineless, pushovers, who got stepped on by everyone around them & didn't stick up for themselves. One of the heroines was also very overweight so I thought there was some fat shaming when it came to her character. The whole book just didn't work for me.
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March 28, 2025I am not sure how to rate or how to review this novel. I am a huge fan of Bryn Greenwood, ATUAWT was one of my favourite books ever, and I more or less enjoyed all her other works althought not at the same level. This one was a strange creature... the writing is faboulous as always, the story is a slow burn but I quite liked it, the ending is nice..but I didn't feel the spark. It was a bit too similar to real day do day life for my taste I guess...
February 17, 2023
I loved The Reckless Oath we Made, was a bit on the fence about All the Ugly and Wonderful Things and absolutely did not enjoy this one.
The story follows two women who's only connection is the church they attend and for the most part their lives does not really intersect.
Neither character felt like they had any substance and I just could not care about them in any way that could keep me invested in the story.
I can't help but feel that this author has better to offer.
The story follows two women who's only connection is the church they attend and for the most part their lives does not really intersect.
Neither character felt like they had any substance and I just could not care about them in any way that could keep me invested in the story.
I can't help but feel that this author has better to offer.
February 20, 2014
To be blunt, and polite - this didn't really appeal to me and it didn't leave me wanting more! I gave it 2 stars.
I'm a bit confused about this next book review as I was expecting great things. It was recommended to me by the publishing agency after I had reviewed another of its books. It just goes to show that one person's opinion is simply just that - an opinion. And, in this particular, one that is far removed from my own.
The book in question is Lie, Lay, Lain by Bryn Greenwood.
Although it sounded promising, this was a real slow burner, which unfortunately fizzled out and left no real impression on me. With each chapter dealing with the two main characters alternately, it was sometimes difficult to see the very tenuous connection between their lives. Frequently I was tempted to give up and not even finish the book. I made a mental note at the point that the story really came to life - it was at 81% (on my Kindle), which was far too late to really make any impact. By then I was bored with the characters.
The two women are poles apart, but attend the same church. There are many scenes at one church or another, but the worshippers are all putting on a show for each other, not wishing for their true lives to be seen and gossiped about by the congregation. It does showcase the hypocrisy of the church-goers and their bigoted views of those outside of their group.
The story does not seem to come to a convincing end either. There is no real closure regarding the fate of the little girl, merely a concession to a debate to improve how the child care system operates. Olivia is transformed from the stereotypical ugly duckling with low self-esteem to a confident young woman in a happy relationship. However, Jennifer is left reeling from the initial accident, her unfaithful boyfriend, an over-demanding boss and finally the turmoil caused by the missing child.
There is a recurrent issue over the use of the word 'lying' versus 'laying' which, as the title suggests is a clever way of mixing up the two meanings of the word 'lie' and it goes on to debate whether the truth should always be told, regardless of its consequences.
I'm glad I persevered with the story, as it does leave the reader with lots to consider - although whether that is what everyone wants from a work of fiction is entirely subjective.
As with the previous book I read from this publisher, there are far too many formatting issues and mixed up phrases. They implied that the issue is with individual devices last time, and I guess the same will be said this time. However, I hasten to add that I have read many books on my Kindle, downloaded from both Amazon & NetGalley, and have never had these issues in such abundance as with this particular publisher.
I imagine I wont be get any recommendations from them again!
I'm a bit confused about this next book review as I was expecting great things. It was recommended to me by the publishing agency after I had reviewed another of its books. It just goes to show that one person's opinion is simply just that - an opinion. And, in this particular, one that is far removed from my own.
The book in question is Lie, Lay, Lain by Bryn Greenwood.
Although it sounded promising, this was a real slow burner, which unfortunately fizzled out and left no real impression on me. With each chapter dealing with the two main characters alternately, it was sometimes difficult to see the very tenuous connection between their lives. Frequently I was tempted to give up and not even finish the book. I made a mental note at the point that the story really came to life - it was at 81% (on my Kindle), which was far too late to really make any impact. By then I was bored with the characters.
The two women are poles apart, but attend the same church. There are many scenes at one church or another, but the worshippers are all putting on a show for each other, not wishing for their true lives to be seen and gossiped about by the congregation. It does showcase the hypocrisy of the church-goers and their bigoted views of those outside of their group.
The story does not seem to come to a convincing end either. There is no real closure regarding the fate of the little girl, merely a concession to a debate to improve how the child care system operates. Olivia is transformed from the stereotypical ugly duckling with low self-esteem to a confident young woman in a happy relationship. However, Jennifer is left reeling from the initial accident, her unfaithful boyfriend, an over-demanding boss and finally the turmoil caused by the missing child.
There is a recurrent issue over the use of the word 'lying' versus 'laying' which, as the title suggests is a clever way of mixing up the two meanings of the word 'lie' and it goes on to debate whether the truth should always be told, regardless of its consequences.
I'm glad I persevered with the story, as it does leave the reader with lots to consider - although whether that is what everyone wants from a work of fiction is entirely subjective.
As with the previous book I read from this publisher, there are far too many formatting issues and mixed up phrases. They implied that the issue is with individual devices last time, and I guess the same will be said this time. However, I hasten to add that I have read many books on my Kindle, downloaded from both Amazon & NetGalley, and have never had these issues in such abundance as with this particular publisher.
I imagine I wont be get any recommendations from them again!
June 16, 2014
Jennifer and Olivia are two women on very different trajectories at the beginning of this interesting, well-written novel. (Yes, it unfolds slowly, but that's a good thing--the reader truly gets to know these women and their problems, mistakes, and situations well ... I think some of the reviewers who think this book is too slow must not read much literary fiction. There is faster action/plot drive in the second half of the novel, and it's enough to satisfy anyone who prefers mysteries or thrillers, but you have to KNOW the characters first, so I applaud Greenwood's pacing decisions here.)
Anyway, Jennifer and Olivia's lives overlap in interesting ways, and the woman who seems to have it all slips and the beaten down woman finds her voice. That's not to say the downfall or rise of either character is complete, because many questions remain at the end, but it's fulfilling to see Olivia gain confidence, and to see Jennifer become less shallow. The title has extra resonance because each character is both the perpetrator and the victim of a lie and, like making the grammatically correct decision about which word to use, the way forward for each woman is muddled by complications.
This is a very good, thoughtful novel.
Anyway, Jennifer and Olivia's lives overlap in interesting ways, and the woman who seems to have it all slips and the beaten down woman finds her voice. That's not to say the downfall or rise of either character is complete, because many questions remain at the end, but it's fulfilling to see Olivia gain confidence, and to see Jennifer become less shallow. The title has extra resonance because each character is both the perpetrator and the victim of a lie and, like making the grammatically correct decision about which word to use, the way forward for each woman is muddled by complications.
This is a very good, thoughtful novel.
January 2, 2024
This is a well-written story with well-developed characters who are real people who are transformed over the course of the book due to various events and people they meet. It's not packed with action or thrills but there's something so compelling about it that I had a hard time putting it down at night and I ended up staying up much later than intended, reading one more chapter, one more chapter. I would have done better to sit and read larger chunks of it on the weekend and get more rest during the week. Anyway, I am not going to get into specifics about the plot but I don't understand why people are confused about this book. Some reviewers found the POV confusing, because it switched between "so many" characters. TWO. Not difficult to keep track of. Also people seem confused about the church part of it because the characters spend so much time at church yet it's not a religious book. What is confusing about that? Because it is set in a church, is it expected to have a bunch of moralizing and preaching?
Anyway, I am terrible at writing reviews but this is a very good book.
Anyway, I am terrible at writing reviews but this is a very good book.
February 19, 2014
I'm sorry but this just did not work for me. I was confused. Was it about Christianity? There certainly were enough church references along with the not so great sex scenes. There were too many POVs for me and frankly I just struggled with this author's writing. Perhaps this is just one of those that did not connect with me. :(:( Sorry
January 8, 2018
This was just a fair book. There was never really a climax to the story, and the Christianity confused me. It really had no part of the plot. Jennifer and Olivia are the two main characters in the book, but they’re not really good friends. The book was readable but definitely wasn’t as good of a read for me as All the Ugly and Beautiful things.
March 11, 2019
I was really excited to read this book. It was recommended to me by both readers and authors, so I had high hopes. The first chapter drew me in right away and tugged at my heartstrings, but the majority of the book dragged and was anticlimactic. Sure there were some dramatic moments but most were predictable and fizzled out.
September 14, 2022
tbr challenge- read a book by an author who wrote a book you didn't like
I liked this much better. Characters had gritty backstories but not like the other book I read by her where the back stories went a way I couldn't stomach.
My favorite character was yet another feisty secretary at a church. Her character development is the best part of the story, and the way she gets her first date.
I liked this much better. Characters had gritty backstories but not like the other book I read by her where the back stories went a way I couldn't stomach.
My favorite character was yet another feisty secretary at a church. Her character development is the best part of the story, and the way she gets her first date.
February 27, 2023
This book was equivalent to an atmospheric and angsty movie! It was so real/raw, sad/happy, and BG captured it all perfectly. It was told from two different points of view, which I loved! I listened to the audio book, and like a movie that sticks with you, this book did the same! The ending left me happy and sad….. X
September 2, 2025
Second book I’ve listened to by this author… and second time I’ve had mixed feelings. If measured by impact, the first was five stars as I continue to think about it months after I listened to it. Perhaps this will be the same. Took me a while to care about the plot or the characters, but they grew on me and I was eager to let it play out.
July 18, 2014
I won Bryn Greenwood's second novel by entering a contest on her blog. I have never in my life won anything in this type of contest. Publisher's Clearing House Sweepstakes, the lottery, even a door prize. Nope. Never. I tried to convey to Ms Greenwood how momentous this was but I'm not sure she got it.
My copy arrived sometime in early May just as I was struck down by the virus that put me in the hospital. The deal on winning the book was I agreed to write an honest review and put it on Goodreads.
Lie Lay Lain features a young church secretary, Olivia. She has plenty of problems in her life but is basically a decent person, a prerequisite for the role of church secretary. My mom was our church secretary for a while and she was one of the most decent people I've known. I guess she passed some of that on to me, because I wrote a note to Bryn explaining my situation and she, very decently, forgave me for my delay in writing the review.
To continue the decent and honest theme, I have to say that I loved Bryn Greenwood's first novel, Last Will but I only liked Lie Lay Lain.
One of her strongest talents as a novelist is the way she creates characters who feel true, like ordinary everyday people you might know. Olivia and her antagonist Jennifer are young women who suffer from a tendency to avoid the truth in uncomfortable situations, especially with overbearing men. Both are extremely capable women as well as hard workers. They get themselves in sticky situations, even with each other, but you care about their fates.
Possibly because the story is so rife with issues (racism, military veterans, foster care, mental illness, religion, and truth) I felt the pace was too slow at times. The issues provided more action than the characters and somewhere in the middle of the novel, it began to seem too long.
I liked the way Greenwood handled the issues and for a book with so many scenes in church, it never had an overly Christian message. The characters and dialogue get high marks but she let me down on the plot.
One more thing. Some reviewers made derogatory comments on the sex writing. I thought it was good, realistic, even erotic at times. Basically, I will always read novels by this author, I will probably always like them, and sometimes I will love them.
My copy arrived sometime in early May just as I was struck down by the virus that put me in the hospital. The deal on winning the book was I agreed to write an honest review and put it on Goodreads.
Lie Lay Lain features a young church secretary, Olivia. She has plenty of problems in her life but is basically a decent person, a prerequisite for the role of church secretary. My mom was our church secretary for a while and she was one of the most decent people I've known. I guess she passed some of that on to me, because I wrote a note to Bryn explaining my situation and she, very decently, forgave me for my delay in writing the review.
To continue the decent and honest theme, I have to say that I loved Bryn Greenwood's first novel, Last Will but I only liked Lie Lay Lain.
One of her strongest talents as a novelist is the way she creates characters who feel true, like ordinary everyday people you might know. Olivia and her antagonist Jennifer are young women who suffer from a tendency to avoid the truth in uncomfortable situations, especially with overbearing men. Both are extremely capable women as well as hard workers. They get themselves in sticky situations, even with each other, but you care about their fates.
Possibly because the story is so rife with issues (racism, military veterans, foster care, mental illness, religion, and truth) I felt the pace was too slow at times. The issues provided more action than the characters and somewhere in the middle of the novel, it began to seem too long.
I liked the way Greenwood handled the issues and for a book with so many scenes in church, it never had an overly Christian message. The characters and dialogue get high marks but she let me down on the plot.
One more thing. Some reviewers made derogatory comments on the sex writing. I thought it was good, realistic, even erotic at times. Basically, I will always read novels by this author, I will probably always like them, and sometimes I will love them.
September 1, 2024
I so loved reading Bryn Greenwood's "The Reckless Oath We Made" that I've been on a mission to find and read all her earlier novels: this one wasn't easy to find but was worth the search: by the last pages I decided I loved this one too. Too bad it didn't make a bigger splash when it was published in 2014. This is another of her detailed characters studies of troubled people with complicated lives -- people so different from my own experience that it was eye opening to walk alongside them for a few hours. "Lie Lay Lain" is set in Tampa Florida and revolves at first around two young white women who know each other only through their attendance at a big Christian church. Olivia is overweight and insecure, still living at home, still disappointing her parents (her mother would dearly love to be able to announce a wedding, or at the very least a boyfriend for her daughter!), still doing her best to support a brain damaged brother who will never be the same after a motorcycle accident. Jennifer, on the other hand, is blonde, slim, successful and soon to be married. But it is Jennifer who, in a moment of shock, makes a promise to look out for the daughter of a dying woman -- and whose efforts to do that upend her carefully curated life. Olivia and Rindell (a mixed race man who lost everything in the horror of Hurricane Katrina, and who is building a new and better life for himself now) are pulled into Jennifer's efforts despite themselves with life-changing results. I love the way Greenwood brings readers deeply into her characters and makes us care about them; I love the way she makes us confront complexity and realize that "truth" is not always what it seems. And I also loved the hopeful ending -- without it the world she created might have seemed unbearable.
June 12, 2017
Geesh. No real climax. I kept waiting for it… I thought the story was pretty good but nothing overly exciting ever really happened… The ending just fizzled out
January 29, 2018
This book has two main protagonists, Olivia and Jennifer, who are very different young women with nothing in common but the same church and troubled families.
Jane is a successful, beautiful, stylish, businesswoman engaged to marry her perfect partner. Then she is involved in a fatal hit and run, and her perfect life slowly unravels as she deals with the aftermath.
Olivia is overweight, low self esteem, always single, working in the office of the church and living with her parents to help take care of them and her brain damaged brother.
At the beginning it feels like chick-lit, but guickly gets into some serious themes (loss, addiction, mental health, infidelity, class mobility, racism, sexism) and character development.
I loved the (often heartbreaking but ultimately inspiring) story and characters.
*I also don’t understand why a bunch of reviews are referring to too many points of view, there are only two, they usually alternate and are always clearly identified... it’s not confusing at all!
*I am not into religious fiction, even though a lot of this book takes place in church and there was a fair amount of discussion about church and went to go to church, it is not, in my opinion, “Christian literature”. Rather, church is a backdrop.
Jane is a successful, beautiful, stylish, businesswoman engaged to marry her perfect partner. Then she is involved in a fatal hit and run, and her perfect life slowly unravels as she deals with the aftermath.
Olivia is overweight, low self esteem, always single, working in the office of the church and living with her parents to help take care of them and her brain damaged brother.
At the beginning it feels like chick-lit, but guickly gets into some serious themes (loss, addiction, mental health, infidelity, class mobility, racism, sexism) and character development.
I loved the (often heartbreaking but ultimately inspiring) story and characters.
*I also don’t understand why a bunch of reviews are referring to too many points of view, there are only two, they usually alternate and are always clearly identified... it’s not confusing at all!
*I am not into religious fiction, even though a lot of this book takes place in church and there was a fair amount of discussion about church and went to go to church, it is not, in my opinion, “Christian literature”. Rather, church is a backdrop.
February 4, 2019
Bryn Greenwood does not care about what you think. She tells stories that haven’t been told. And she ends them exactly the way I want her too. And I’m a weirdo. This story had some strong racial issues in it, and that’s brazen coming from a white woman author. I really felt it was an important story to tell even though I understand why some people called it “ boring” or whatever. This book reallly helped me with grey areas and taught me about “the truth”. I do strongly think it would have been beneficial to have a better editor, because it did drag in some places and there were a few spelling errors.
April 7, 2025
.
Lie Lay Lain
by Bryn Greenwood,
pub. 2014, about 350 pages.
Book blurb: "Jennifer [age 29] has a great job and a go-getter fiancé [Kevin]. She’s on track for success, until she witnesses a fatal hit-and-run. Mistaking Jennifer for someone else [someone named Renee, "best friend" & sister], the dying victim [Gayle Prichard] extracts an impossible promise [to look after her daughter, little Shanti]. Jennifer’s fiancé wants her to forget the whole incident, but when she closes her eyes, she can still see the bloody face of the woman who asked for her help.
Miss Olivia Holley [church secretary for 4 years & still living with her parents] is in a rut. Burdened with caring for her brain-damaged brother [Richard "Rich"] and already feeling like a spinster at 27...In a moment of weakness, she tells a lie that draws an unsuspecting paramedic [Rindell James] into her life. As she struggles to expiate the lie, a horrible act of violence [Richie kills a coworker] will test her resolve to be honest.
Where Jennifer’s promise and Olivia’s lie intersect, their lives begin to unravel." edited for accuracy
.
Starts out in the July heat of Tampa, Florida with Jenn crossing the street near her office building while admiring her new shoes. The car struck Gayle as she walked behind Jennifer & she was thrown against Jenn's back, both women hitting the sidewalk. After Jenn is treated at the hospital, but with her skinned hands still in bandages, she started looking into what became of Gayle's daughter. Both women worked for TampaFuture Inc a mega real estate development company, glamorous Jenn with her own office & poor dead Gayle as a custodian who lived in the projects.
As the story begins the date isn't given. Katrina (2005) was about 3 years back, so it's probably 2007 & 2008 since Obama is in the mix. The various chapters alternate between Jennifer's story & Olivia's. Both gals attend the same big church (multiple services) & that's where Olivia tells the lie that inexplicably troubles her so much.
She dropped out of the Christian Singles group which made Jenn & others presume Olivia was now dating. To put an end to their questions, Olivia invents a single dinner date with a paramedic, but it only arouses more curiosity & her mom wants to meet him. Mom (Mrs. Holley), also a churchgoer, is a habitual liar, telling little lies for convenience, avoiding embarrassment & sympathizing with others. In the distant past Mom lied about little Olivia's hand deformity, an extra thumb on one hand that was removed prior to kindergarten. The offending hand had been concealed with a mitten & the lie of discouraging thumb sucking. To Olivia's annoyance, Mom at times still uses the nickname, Mitten.
There is in fact an unwelcome paramedic in Olivia's life. When she takes her early morning exercise walk Olivia passes by an ambulance driver who takes his break in the same location. Being a friendly sort the medic, a tattooed ex-marine, always greets Olivia as she approaches & alarmingly he once stepped out of the ambulance to chat. She's a bit of a recluse & is annoyed with being forced to change her route to avoid any further encounters.
Rather than just admit she fibbed, Olivia decides to change her lie into a truth by going on a date with that paramedic. Quite unlike herself she walks up to Rindell (Rin) sitting in his ambulance & after introductions they agree on a dinner date. Dating is unusual for Olivia who's nearing 30 & has had only one guy over to the house, Dan, who disappeared from her life.
Olivia, the youngest at 27, lives at home & says she's saving to buy a house. Her sister Cynthia married & moved away & her brother Rich, also living with their parents, suffered some brain damage in a motorcycle wreck. After Olivia's dinner out with Rindell she accepted a ride on his motorcycle. Dieting, but still feeling plump & plain she's surprised by his interest. Their second date is Sunday dinner with the family, along with Kevin & Jennifer from church & Jenn's parents. Then the brand new couple takes a walk over to Rindell's nearby trashy rental trailer, where Olivia suddenly looses all inhibitions & lets him strip away her church secretary clothes [uh-huh, with sarcasm].
Jenn is still obsessing over her promise to look after the dead gal's child & Olivia agrees to go with her biracial boyfriend (Rindell) to visit Gayle's apartment in the public housing neighborhood. Freddy the boyfriend still lives there & gives Olivia a box of Gayle's stuff, family photos, Shanti's birth certificate, bronzed baby booties & more. The child, Shanti, was picked up by a social worker & Freddy describes the sister, Renee, as a crazy white girl who lives in a trailer year round & travels between campgrounds.
While Olivia is coerced into church work, Rindell travels with Jenn to Renee's camp site. They find a large hostile woman raising her own son (Lamar) in a small, smoke-filled trailer. Apparently, poor dead Gayle had an affair with her sister's hubby which produced Shanti Williams & ended the marriage, so "no" Renee is not interested in the box of keepsakes nor raising the kid. On the long drive back Rindell comforts the sobbing Jenn which she turns into passion in the front seat, but it's a brief indiscretion & unfinished. Oops. Jenn suggests they don’t tell Olivia.
Rindell sees Olivia in tears (over something else) & assumes Jenn told (she didn't) & he spills all the beans. His name is actually DeVaun James; he grew up a petty criminal, joined the Marines at 19 with his straight-laced cousin Rindell James & they served in Iraq. Rindell developed PTSD, was discharged & became an EMT. DeVaun excelled & received: a medal for valor, the purple heart, an injury that got him addicted to painkillers & a dishonorable discharge for drug addiction. During Katrina he collapsed while doing rescues & woke at the Red Cross with everyone calling him Rindell; the name on his dog tag boots, his cousin's boots. With the family dead or drowned, he plans a fresh start by assuming his upstanding cousin's identity, quits the drugs to qualify as an EMT/paramedic & moves to Florida where he isn't known.
Rindell ends their love affair, not wanting to face Olivia's revulsion, since he knows of her distaste for lies. [Some confusion here, since it seems Olivia didn't want to end it]. At first Olivia trys to reconnect with Rindell, walking past his new break location & baking holiday cookies, but soon realizes it's fruitless, especially after he takes a job in Miami & moves away.
Richie, Olivia's brain-damaged brother, has a conflict with his coworker, Brian the obstinate blind guy, at their special needs job & Rich ends it using his homemade nunchakus. Both are hospitalized after the fight, but Brian succumbs & Rich is arrested. Distraught, Olivia visits Rindell & they relapse, forgetting the past long enough to accommodate one another in bed. After stressing about lies of omission, Olivia comes clean to the detective: her brother said he was going to kill Brian, he made the weapon, knew how to use them since his youth & was recently more aggressive.
[What's weird is they were both (Rich & blind Brian) hospitalized with severe head trauma. Richie beat a blind man with nunchakus. The guy was blind & uses a white cane, so how did Rich get so hurt? Did Richie whack himself in the head? The story doesn't say, but Rich was hospitalized for weeks].
Jenn finally finds peace of mind about Shanti by hiring a PI who reports the girl is with a nice foster family in the area. Even though they've never met, Jenn still feels a little possessive about Shanti (now age 6) & sometimes parks nearby just to watch her at play, safe & happy like her mother wanted.
As Jenn & Kevin's wedding date approaches things go awry & Jennifer's pleasant life unravels. Shanti goes missing. Jenn calls the cops, the foster parents claim a case worker relocated her & child services insist the kid hasn't been moved. Jenn's BFFs are Tracey the smoker & Carrie her maid of honor. After seeing some suspicious texts & Kev's Lexus at Carrie's apartment Jenn finds her fiance in her best friend's bedroom. Yes, the 2 affairing away just weeks before the nuptials.
Then the news reports of missing Shanti, the foster parents arrested, case worker fraud & the cadaver dog identified places where a body had been in the house, garage and vehicle. The child is presumed dead, but can't be found. Her feeling of having failed Shanti (& her promise to poor dead Gayle) sends Jenn over the edge. She holes up in her childhood bedroom at her parent's house & quits her lucrative job when her boss calls demanding she return to work.
Jennifer's breakdown isn't a complete surprise. The same thing happened to her mother (Moira) when she lost her first child (Rebecca). When Jenn's ailing big sister died, mom holed up in her bedroom for years leaving dad to raise little Jennifer.
Olivia's home life turns hostile after she talked to the cops, her parents blaming her for Rich's bail being revoked. With her newly-divorced sister returning home with her three kids, Olivia takes the opportunity to move out & quit her church.
The story ends with Olivia moving to Miami, reconnecting with Rindell, her paramedic lover & assuring him that his identity theft was OK. After all it motivated him to change his life & avoid ending up in prison like his daddy. She gets a job with a child protection agency & pays Jennifer a visit, wanting her to testify at the governor's upcoming hearing on fixing the foster care system. The story of trying to save Shanti would be an important example of how the system failed to protect the child. Jenn is still deep in her depression & the thought of all that is overwhelming, so she concentrates on just the first step; "What would I wear?"
The last chapter is Olivia & Rindell in their new apartment that overlooks the ocean beach & furnishing the place with all the new things they'll need. The also have a fancy bedding set courtesy of Jennifer & still in its Nordstrom's bag. Jenn bought it for after her wedding that never happened.
.
Not a happy ending, but hopeful & mostly a tale that holds your interest, however it seems designed to specifically ridicule church folk & Christian religion.
Some out-of-character detail strains credulity. For example, the demure church gal, Olivia, who tells the fib is distraught over the additional lies she's forced to tell to cover up the first lie, but fornication with a stranger is no problem at all for her? It may also be the author's way of disparaging Christians as devote hypocrites.
The lack of morality by the parishioners makes some of the story implausible & may exemplify the author's lack of knowledge about evangelicals.
Includes the bizarre story Dog's Body, which Rin reads to Olivia to explain his regret over the death of his aunt & uncle during Katrina. Auntie was trapped & sick, but Rin evacuated his uncle who died anyways. If he'd left well enough alone the couple could have died peacefully together.
In the story (Dog's Body) Jarvis wrecked his bike & literally lost his head, but his pal saved him by sewing Jarvis's head on to the body of his pet dog. Jarvis the dog-man has a miserable life as a dog & has to be kept out of sight, but at least he's alive. When the girlfriend wants to move in something has to change & the pal suggests Jarvis's life may be at an end, after all he was as good as dead after the wreck. Jarvis fights back & kills his well-meaning friend. When the girlfriend finds her dead beau she calls the cops & they wait for animal control, hearing the weeping dog in the next room. So, good intentions ruined everyone's life. All that to say: "There's worse things than dying."
..
NOVELS by Bryn Greenwood
Last Will (2012). A kidnapped little boy is traumatized by the ordeal and grows up to be a man with psychological problems which hampers his ability to charm the love of his life, even with the fortune he recently inherited, and she comes from a family claiming to be victims of numerous alien abductions.
• Lie Lay Lain (2014)
All the Ugly & Wonderful Things (2016). A little girl (& her baby brother) are in desperate need of rescue by CPS, instead a big lug who works for her drug dealing parents befriends and helps the child. She loves & wants to marry this much older biker, but that doesn't happen until she's an adult and he's out of prison.
The Reckless Oath We Made (2019). A streetwise teen spent years on her own, having left her hoarder mother's filthy house. Now as a young women, a do-gooder on the autism spectrum has appointed himself her protector and he loves her. Being an expert swordsman he accompanies her on a quest to save her big sis. The big sister ends up in prison, an accomplice to a prison break & the young women settles down to help raise her sister's kid.
.
Lie Lay Lain
by Bryn Greenwood,
pub. 2014, about 350 pages.
Book blurb: "Jennifer [age 29] has a great job and a go-getter fiancé [Kevin]. She’s on track for success, until she witnesses a fatal hit-and-run. Mistaking Jennifer for someone else [someone named Renee, "best friend" & sister], the dying victim [Gayle Prichard] extracts an impossible promise [to look after her daughter, little Shanti]. Jennifer’s fiancé wants her to forget the whole incident, but when she closes her eyes, she can still see the bloody face of the woman who asked for her help.
Miss Olivia Holley [church secretary for 4 years & still living with her parents] is in a rut. Burdened with caring for her brain-damaged brother [Richard "Rich"] and already feeling like a spinster at 27...In a moment of weakness, she tells a lie that draws an unsuspecting paramedic [Rindell James] into her life. As she struggles to expiate the lie, a horrible act of violence [Richie kills a coworker] will test her resolve to be honest.
Where Jennifer’s promise and Olivia’s lie intersect, their lives begin to unravel." edited for accuracy
.
Starts out in the July heat of Tampa, Florida with Jenn crossing the street near her office building while admiring her new shoes. The car struck Gayle as she walked behind Jennifer & she was thrown against Jenn's back, both women hitting the sidewalk. After Jenn is treated at the hospital, but with her skinned hands still in bandages, she started looking into what became of Gayle's daughter. Both women worked for TampaFuture Inc a mega real estate development company, glamorous Jenn with her own office & poor dead Gayle as a custodian who lived in the projects.
As the story begins the date isn't given. Katrina (2005) was about 3 years back, so it's probably 2007 & 2008 since Obama is in the mix. The various chapters alternate between Jennifer's story & Olivia's. Both gals attend the same big church (multiple services) & that's where Olivia tells the lie that inexplicably troubles her so much.
She dropped out of the Christian Singles group which made Jenn & others presume Olivia was now dating. To put an end to their questions, Olivia invents a single dinner date with a paramedic, but it only arouses more curiosity & her mom wants to meet him. Mom (Mrs. Holley), also a churchgoer, is a habitual liar, telling little lies for convenience, avoiding embarrassment & sympathizing with others. In the distant past Mom lied about little Olivia's hand deformity, an extra thumb on one hand that was removed prior to kindergarten. The offending hand had been concealed with a mitten & the lie of discouraging thumb sucking. To Olivia's annoyance, Mom at times still uses the nickname, Mitten.
There is in fact an unwelcome paramedic in Olivia's life. When she takes her early morning exercise walk Olivia passes by an ambulance driver who takes his break in the same location. Being a friendly sort the medic, a tattooed ex-marine, always greets Olivia as she approaches & alarmingly he once stepped out of the ambulance to chat. She's a bit of a recluse & is annoyed with being forced to change her route to avoid any further encounters.
Rather than just admit she fibbed, Olivia decides to change her lie into a truth by going on a date with that paramedic. Quite unlike herself she walks up to Rindell (Rin) sitting in his ambulance & after introductions they agree on a dinner date. Dating is unusual for Olivia who's nearing 30 & has had only one guy over to the house, Dan, who disappeared from her life.
Olivia, the youngest at 27, lives at home & says she's saving to buy a house. Her sister Cynthia married & moved away & her brother Rich, also living with their parents, suffered some brain damage in a motorcycle wreck. After Olivia's dinner out with Rindell she accepted a ride on his motorcycle. Dieting, but still feeling plump & plain she's surprised by his interest. Their second date is Sunday dinner with the family, along with Kevin & Jennifer from church & Jenn's parents. Then the brand new couple takes a walk over to Rindell's nearby trashy rental trailer, where Olivia suddenly looses all inhibitions & lets him strip away her church secretary clothes [uh-huh, with sarcasm].
Jenn is still obsessing over her promise to look after the dead gal's child & Olivia agrees to go with her biracial boyfriend (Rindell) to visit Gayle's apartment in the public housing neighborhood. Freddy the boyfriend still lives there & gives Olivia a box of Gayle's stuff, family photos, Shanti's birth certificate, bronzed baby booties & more. The child, Shanti, was picked up by a social worker & Freddy describes the sister, Renee, as a crazy white girl who lives in a trailer year round & travels between campgrounds.
While Olivia is coerced into church work, Rindell travels with Jenn to Renee's camp site. They find a large hostile woman raising her own son (Lamar) in a small, smoke-filled trailer. Apparently, poor dead Gayle had an affair with her sister's hubby which produced Shanti Williams & ended the marriage, so "no" Renee is not interested in the box of keepsakes nor raising the kid. On the long drive back Rindell comforts the sobbing Jenn which she turns into passion in the front seat, but it's a brief indiscretion & unfinished. Oops. Jenn suggests they don’t tell Olivia.
Rindell sees Olivia in tears (over something else) & assumes Jenn told (she didn't) & he spills all the beans. His name is actually DeVaun James; he grew up a petty criminal, joined the Marines at 19 with his straight-laced cousin Rindell James & they served in Iraq. Rindell developed PTSD, was discharged & became an EMT. DeVaun excelled & received: a medal for valor, the purple heart, an injury that got him addicted to painkillers & a dishonorable discharge for drug addiction. During Katrina he collapsed while doing rescues & woke at the Red Cross with everyone calling him Rindell; the name on his dog tag boots, his cousin's boots. With the family dead or drowned, he plans a fresh start by assuming his upstanding cousin's identity, quits the drugs to qualify as an EMT/paramedic & moves to Florida where he isn't known.
Rindell ends their love affair, not wanting to face Olivia's revulsion, since he knows of her distaste for lies. [Some confusion here, since it seems Olivia didn't want to end it]. At first Olivia trys to reconnect with Rindell, walking past his new break location & baking holiday cookies, but soon realizes it's fruitless, especially after he takes a job in Miami & moves away.
Richie, Olivia's brain-damaged brother, has a conflict with his coworker, Brian the obstinate blind guy, at their special needs job & Rich ends it using his homemade nunchakus. Both are hospitalized after the fight, but Brian succumbs & Rich is arrested. Distraught, Olivia visits Rindell & they relapse, forgetting the past long enough to accommodate one another in bed. After stressing about lies of omission, Olivia comes clean to the detective: her brother said he was going to kill Brian, he made the weapon, knew how to use them since his youth & was recently more aggressive.
[What's weird is they were both (Rich & blind Brian) hospitalized with severe head trauma. Richie beat a blind man with nunchakus. The guy was blind & uses a white cane, so how did Rich get so hurt? Did Richie whack himself in the head? The story doesn't say, but Rich was hospitalized for weeks].
Jenn finally finds peace of mind about Shanti by hiring a PI who reports the girl is with a nice foster family in the area. Even though they've never met, Jenn still feels a little possessive about Shanti (now age 6) & sometimes parks nearby just to watch her at play, safe & happy like her mother wanted.
As Jenn & Kevin's wedding date approaches things go awry & Jennifer's pleasant life unravels. Shanti goes missing. Jenn calls the cops, the foster parents claim a case worker relocated her & child services insist the kid hasn't been moved. Jenn's BFFs are Tracey the smoker & Carrie her maid of honor. After seeing some suspicious texts & Kev's Lexus at Carrie's apartment Jenn finds her fiance in her best friend's bedroom. Yes, the 2 affairing away just weeks before the nuptials.
Then the news reports of missing Shanti, the foster parents arrested, case worker fraud & the cadaver dog identified places where a body had been in the house, garage and vehicle. The child is presumed dead, but can't be found. Her feeling of having failed Shanti (& her promise to poor dead Gayle) sends Jenn over the edge. She holes up in her childhood bedroom at her parent's house & quits her lucrative job when her boss calls demanding she return to work.
Jennifer's breakdown isn't a complete surprise. The same thing happened to her mother (Moira) when she lost her first child (Rebecca). When Jenn's ailing big sister died, mom holed up in her bedroom for years leaving dad to raise little Jennifer.
Olivia's home life turns hostile after she talked to the cops, her parents blaming her for Rich's bail being revoked. With her newly-divorced sister returning home with her three kids, Olivia takes the opportunity to move out & quit her church.
The story ends with Olivia moving to Miami, reconnecting with Rindell, her paramedic lover & assuring him that his identity theft was OK. After all it motivated him to change his life & avoid ending up in prison like his daddy. She gets a job with a child protection agency & pays Jennifer a visit, wanting her to testify at the governor's upcoming hearing on fixing the foster care system. The story of trying to save Shanti would be an important example of how the system failed to protect the child. Jenn is still deep in her depression & the thought of all that is overwhelming, so she concentrates on just the first step; "What would I wear?"
The last chapter is Olivia & Rindell in their new apartment that overlooks the ocean beach & furnishing the place with all the new things they'll need. The also have a fancy bedding set courtesy of Jennifer & still in its Nordstrom's bag. Jenn bought it for after her wedding that never happened.
.
Not a happy ending, but hopeful & mostly a tale that holds your interest, however it seems designed to specifically ridicule church folk & Christian religion.
Some out-of-character detail strains credulity. For example, the demure church gal, Olivia, who tells the fib is distraught over the additional lies she's forced to tell to cover up the first lie, but fornication with a stranger is no problem at all for her? It may also be the author's way of disparaging Christians as devote hypocrites.
The lack of morality by the parishioners makes some of the story implausible & may exemplify the author's lack of knowledge about evangelicals.
Includes the bizarre story Dog's Body, which Rin reads to Olivia to explain his regret over the death of his aunt & uncle during Katrina. Auntie was trapped & sick, but Rin evacuated his uncle who died anyways. If he'd left well enough alone the couple could have died peacefully together.
In the story (Dog's Body) Jarvis wrecked his bike & literally lost his head, but his pal saved him by sewing Jarvis's head on to the body of his pet dog. Jarvis the dog-man has a miserable life as a dog & has to be kept out of sight, but at least he's alive. When the girlfriend wants to move in something has to change & the pal suggests Jarvis's life may be at an end, after all he was as good as dead after the wreck. Jarvis fights back & kills his well-meaning friend. When the girlfriend finds her dead beau she calls the cops & they wait for animal control, hearing the weeping dog in the next room. So, good intentions ruined everyone's life. All that to say: "There's worse things than dying."
..
NOVELS by Bryn Greenwood
Last Will (2012). A kidnapped little boy is traumatized by the ordeal and grows up to be a man with psychological problems which hampers his ability to charm the love of his life, even with the fortune he recently inherited, and she comes from a family claiming to be victims of numerous alien abductions.
• Lie Lay Lain (2014)
All the Ugly & Wonderful Things (2016). A little girl (& her baby brother) are in desperate need of rescue by CPS, instead a big lug who works for her drug dealing parents befriends and helps the child. She loves & wants to marry this much older biker, but that doesn't happen until she's an adult and he's out of prison.
The Reckless Oath We Made (2019). A streetwise teen spent years on her own, having left her hoarder mother's filthy house. Now as a young women, a do-gooder on the autism spectrum has appointed himself her protector and he loves her. Being an expert swordsman he accompanies her on a quest to save her big sis. The big sister ends up in prison, an accomplice to a prison break & the young women settles down to help raise her sister's kid.
.
September 12, 2018
People that know me well, know that I have severe secondhand embarrassment. It is not the "oh this is uncomfortable" reaction. It usually propels me to either help/reach out to the person in the situation or to *physically* cringe/walk away/block out the situation. This was the ENTIRE book. I hated and loved it. A book that can make you feel these things (through writing, not *because* of the writing style) should make you continue reading.
While it was clear to me after certain events, hints were dropped on where this book was headed, it was the characters that made this book, not the plot - character driven.
It was a book of many layers - about boundaries black, white or grey. About hard truths and soft lies. A book about growing and coping and discovering oneself and their limits.
I've seen this quote in quite a few reviews and I have to admit, I think it will stay with me as well "Take one leg off a three-legged stool and it falls over." To me, it seems as like an avalanche effect - once you do ONE big action, you're no longer afraid or care about the other actions, it all falls down.
I will give you and my future self a small recap of the book so I may remember this when I look back.
We start with two characters living in the same town within different social circles. You are hit with a traumatic accident and the beginning and get a feel for the depth and understand how one of the characters operates. The secondary character it takes a bit to unwrap that one. It is NOT comfortable at all. But by the end of the book, you feel the opposite about each of these characters. I feel like you are hyper aware of each step these characters take to reach themselves - or to disappear.
I finished it in a day. Of course I would recommend this.
While it was clear to me after certain events, hints were dropped on where this book was headed, it was the characters that made this book, not the plot - character driven.
It was a book of many layers - about boundaries black, white or grey. About hard truths and soft lies. A book about growing and coping and discovering oneself and their limits.
I've seen this quote in quite a few reviews and I have to admit, I think it will stay with me as well "Take one leg off a three-legged stool and it falls over." To me, it seems as like an avalanche effect - once you do ONE big action, you're no longer afraid or care about the other actions, it all falls down.
I will give you and my future self a small recap of the book so I may remember this when I look back.
We start with two characters living in the same town within different social circles. You are hit with a traumatic accident and the beginning and get a feel for the depth and understand how one of the characters operates. The secondary character it takes a bit to unwrap that one. It is NOT comfortable at all. But by the end of the book, you feel the opposite about each of these characters. I feel like you are hyper aware of each step these characters take to reach themselves - or to disappear.
I finished it in a day. Of course I would recommend this.
August 15, 2018
Man, oh, man. I’m so torn about this book.
If you ask me at any given moment what my fave books are, they’re always changing. But one that always remains the same is All the Ugly and Wonderful things by Bryn. It moved me, changed me, opened me up and gave me ugly cries.
This book though, I don’t know what to do with it. I didn’t like any of the characters except for one: Rindell. I loved his accent and his way of speech and everything about him. Even through his lies, he was the most honest one of all of them.
It’s not a religious book. More of a church-goer background. I wasn’t a fan of that, either, and would have preferred the backdrop to be somewhere else but it worked okay. You can look past it for the plot of the story.
You have to understand the character development is very heavy, very strong and normally I don’t like over wordy books but once I finished I understood why Bryn felt the need to draw these characters out the way she did.
84%. That was the turning point for me. That was when I said, oh, things are happening. So, you see, long ways to go but totally worth the journey to get there.
Two totally opposite women. Lifestyles. Relationships. Brought together by something unexplainable in life. Why do bad things always happen to good people?
It almost doesn’t seem like these two women’s stories should even go together. And ultimately that’s where my trouble with it stands. While I did like this story, I was expecting something else.
“I’m glad you lied. Otherwise you wouldn’t be here. I never would have met you.”
If you ask me at any given moment what my fave books are, they’re always changing. But one that always remains the same is All the Ugly and Wonderful things by Bryn. It moved me, changed me, opened me up and gave me ugly cries.
This book though, I don’t know what to do with it. I didn’t like any of the characters except for one: Rindell. I loved his accent and his way of speech and everything about him. Even through his lies, he was the most honest one of all of them.
It’s not a religious book. More of a church-goer background. I wasn’t a fan of that, either, and would have preferred the backdrop to be somewhere else but it worked okay. You can look past it for the plot of the story.
You have to understand the character development is very heavy, very strong and normally I don’t like over wordy books but once I finished I understood why Bryn felt the need to draw these characters out the way she did.
84%. That was the turning point for me. That was when I said, oh, things are happening. So, you see, long ways to go but totally worth the journey to get there.
Two totally opposite women. Lifestyles. Relationships. Brought together by something unexplainable in life. Why do bad things always happen to good people?
It almost doesn’t seem like these two women’s stories should even go together. And ultimately that’s where my trouble with it stands. While I did like this story, I was expecting something else.
“I’m glad you lied. Otherwise you wouldn’t be here. I never would have met you.”
July 9, 2019
The sad reality of our flawed child care services is brought to life in this gripping novel. Being set in the humid head of Tampa Bay, Florida, close to my home town, I felt a true connection to the back drop of this novel. The book begins with a bloody, depictive, and devastating scene which turns into a tale of everyday life and the difficulty that comes with navigating our way through its ups and down. Events happen so quickly and sudden that impact our lives forever, this reality is faced by both the main characters of this well written story. The two different female perspectives of this book are wildly different; the only similarity between them seeming to be that they attend the same church, yet the differences between them complements the story so well. Bryn Greenwood provides a new take on perspectives with the narration of oppositions, the materialistic, self-absorbed fiancé and the kind, often taken advantage off daughter. I found myself at first annoyed to read the perspective of a character who seemed so shallow, yet intrigued, as we must sometimes step into the shoes of people unlike ourselves to better understand our differences. Lie, Lay, Lain follows Olivia on her journey to find her confidence, her voice, and become the true woman she is, no longer hiding from the world. While Jennifer must reach rock bottom completely, before she realizes what is of true importance in life. The book leaves you to imagine the two characters future journeys as completely changed woman, and the growth that comes with hardship.
September 8, 2021
Super Talent
Bryn Greenwood is one of my favorite authors. I’m impressed by the contrast and differences in the novels she writes. This one features “church girls,” which I found interesting and a bit surprising since other novels she has written feature main characters who live far away from that kind of background. I’d like to add that even though church is a unifying factor in the plot of this book, it isn’t peppered with Bible references or internal dialogue about Christianity.
I enjoy character-driven novels, and Bryn Greenwood excels at character development. She is quite true to life in how her characters think and react, sometimes in the most depressing ways. At one point while reading this novel, I made a Kindle note expressing disgust at a character’s decision to bury her head in the sand—I wrote “…this is a novel about F’d up people who do F’d up things!” Shortly after writing that note, things turned around; the characters started showing more courage.
This book has an interesting theme about telling the truth and lying, working in the correct use of grammar. Abuse and identifying what is and isn’t abuse is also featured. As usual, the author shows amazing talent for describing scenes and settings, and her characters grow throughout the book.
This is the 3rd book I’ve read from this author. I do hope she has something new coming out soon.
Bryn Greenwood is one of my favorite authors. I’m impressed by the contrast and differences in the novels she writes. This one features “church girls,” which I found interesting and a bit surprising since other novels she has written feature main characters who live far away from that kind of background. I’d like to add that even though church is a unifying factor in the plot of this book, it isn’t peppered with Bible references or internal dialogue about Christianity.
I enjoy character-driven novels, and Bryn Greenwood excels at character development. She is quite true to life in how her characters think and react, sometimes in the most depressing ways. At one point while reading this novel, I made a Kindle note expressing disgust at a character’s decision to bury her head in the sand—I wrote “…this is a novel about F’d up people who do F’d up things!” Shortly after writing that note, things turned around; the characters started showing more courage.
This book has an interesting theme about telling the truth and lying, working in the correct use of grammar. Abuse and identifying what is and isn’t abuse is also featured. As usual, the author shows amazing talent for describing scenes and settings, and her characters grow throughout the book.
This is the 3rd book I’ve read from this author. I do hope she has something new coming out soon.
August 18, 2018
A church secretary...caught up in a web of lies.
A Christian with a penchant for luxury items...made a promise.
The lie and the promise joined forces to honor a dying woman’s wishes.
Will the truth set you free?
Overall: Bryan tackled a variety of subject matters in this book. For that it was a long arduous process. While I appreciated every element she included in this book I must say the delivery fell flat. I was so bored with these characters no matter what Bryn did to change them.
These were religious characters who went to church regularly, yet their beliefs were narrowly minded. They still lied, they still judged, they still were racial ignorant, and they still were mean.
After reading the outcome of this story I imagine a completely different delivery would change my outlook on this story. As it was, I chose to skim the book in order to find closure for myself.
I didn’t like the guilt placed upon these Christian characters for their behaviors. The guilt of telling a lie. The guilt of making a promise. The guilt of buying luxury items. The entire premise was about these two Christian characters and their religious beliefs. While they both attended the same church they didn’t necessarily follow the same beliefs.
A Christian with a penchant for luxury items...made a promise.
The lie and the promise joined forces to honor a dying woman’s wishes.
Will the truth set you free?
Overall: Bryan tackled a variety of subject matters in this book. For that it was a long arduous process. While I appreciated every element she included in this book I must say the delivery fell flat. I was so bored with these characters no matter what Bryn did to change them.
These were religious characters who went to church regularly, yet their beliefs were narrowly minded. They still lied, they still judged, they still were racial ignorant, and they still were mean.
After reading the outcome of this story I imagine a completely different delivery would change my outlook on this story. As it was, I chose to skim the book in order to find closure for myself.
I didn’t like the guilt placed upon these Christian characters for their behaviors. The guilt of telling a lie. The guilt of making a promise. The guilt of buying luxury items. The entire premise was about these two Christian characters and their religious beliefs. While they both attended the same church they didn’t necessarily follow the same beliefs.
August 23, 2018
THe story starts like this, one minute Jennifer is happy carefree, checking out her new shoes she just spent an enormous amount of money on. The next, she's on the floor making a promise to a dying woman that she will help her daughter. These chain of events leads to the story of Lie Lay Lain.
Olivia still lives at home with her parents and her brother. Not happy in her life, she meets a paramedic that would change everything.
The story was amazingly moving, slow in all the right places, quick in all the other. The two women are unflinchingly honest, not always with others but always with themselves and it brings a breath of fresh air to the novel.
As Jennifer begins to look for the little girl she promised to help and Olivia manages to keep a relationship, the woman face many twists and turns that force them to choose a path. Lie or tell the truth. And this novel will make you question everything about what the truth is and where your moral comppas lies.
My only complaint was that it ended way too soon, all these questions left unanswered will haunt me.
Olivia still lives at home with her parents and her brother. Not happy in her life, she meets a paramedic that would change everything.
The story was amazingly moving, slow in all the right places, quick in all the other. The two women are unflinchingly honest, not always with others but always with themselves and it brings a breath of fresh air to the novel.
As Jennifer begins to look for the little girl she promised to help and Olivia manages to keep a relationship, the woman face many twists and turns that force them to choose a path. Lie or tell the truth. And this novel will make you question everything about what the truth is and where your moral comppas lies.
My only complaint was that it ended way too soon, all these questions left unanswered will haunt me.
September 7, 2018
I’m so on the fence with this book…did it blow me away? No. But it has left me with questions, lots of unanswered questions, and that’s a good thing right?
I didn't love it or hate it.
Would I recommend it, yes…it may not be for me but it might be more to your liking.
Jenny grew on me eventually. At first, she was a cliché hung up on material possessions and keeping up appearances. But as her life started to spiral out of control, I began to feel sorry for her, I could see foresee what was happening around her and I wanted to give the poor girl the heads up.
Olivia seemed so unsure of herself, and it was brutal in places just how low her self-esteem was. I wanted to swoop in and take her away from there.
I feel like maybe the author wanted to leave the story the way she did, but I don’t know it fell flat for me, anti-climactic even. And that’s in no way disrespectful to the author not at all. I read her inspiration behind writing this book and it’s tragic. It made sense why it was left so open...and without what I felt was closure.
I didn't love it or hate it.
Would I recommend it, yes…it may not be for me but it might be more to your liking.
Jenny grew on me eventually. At first, she was a cliché hung up on material possessions and keeping up appearances. But as her life started to spiral out of control, I began to feel sorry for her, I could see foresee what was happening around her and I wanted to give the poor girl the heads up.
Olivia seemed so unsure of herself, and it was brutal in places just how low her self-esteem was. I wanted to swoop in and take her away from there.
I feel like maybe the author wanted to leave the story the way she did, but I don’t know it fell flat for me, anti-climactic even. And that’s in no way disrespectful to the author not at all. I read her inspiration behind writing this book and it’s tragic. It made sense why it was left so open...and without what I felt was closure.
December 5, 2021
Lie Lay Lain — Bryn Greenwood (52 chapters) Dec. 3-4, 2021
This is the third book I’ve read by Ms. Greenwood (but actually the second book she wrote.) The book read rather quick; I found myself turning pages deep into the night.
Jennifer witnessed a murder; Olivia is stuck in a lie and life that she wants out of. These two particularly random acts pushes the story.
I loved how their different stories entwined and grew from beginning of the book to end.
Readers of this author should not get comfortable with one style of writing or POV in writing characters and scenes. These characters felt real and sensitive. The title of the book is the real premise of the whole story, to the very end. It resonates deep emotional and psychological levels.
There is some honest storytelling here and it’s not always pretty or fun or expected. These slice of life stories are the kind that really scratch my itch. I loved it.
Five stars.
This is the third book I’ve read by Ms. Greenwood (but actually the second book she wrote.) The book read rather quick; I found myself turning pages deep into the night.
Jennifer witnessed a murder; Olivia is stuck in a lie and life that she wants out of. These two particularly random acts pushes the story.
I loved how their different stories entwined and grew from beginning of the book to end.
Readers of this author should not get comfortable with one style of writing or POV in writing characters and scenes. These characters felt real and sensitive. The title of the book is the real premise of the whole story, to the very end. It resonates deep emotional and psychological levels.
There is some honest storytelling here and it’s not always pretty or fun or expected. These slice of life stories are the kind that really scratch my itch. I loved it.
Five stars.
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