The Past and Other Lies

by Maggie Joel

At the height of Britain’s General Strike in 1926 a red double-decker bus driven by a volunteer crashes into a low bridge in West London.

Almost eighty years later Jennifer Denzel reveals on daytime television that as a teenager she'd found her sister Charlotte hanging by a school tie in their bedroom. But Charlotte can’t believe her ears - it was, she protests, Jennifer who tried to suicide all those years ago.

Their grandmother Bertha, in the meantime, dreams of a distant time: of a young man she met at a Socialist rally and of a sister, long dead. While their mother, Deirdre, remembers a time forty years earlier when her sister told tales, a night during the War when a V2 rocket destroyed an entire street and much more besides.

Brimming with vivid detail of London past and present, The Past and Other Lies is full of warmth, atmosphere, subtle wit and exquisite surprises

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Drama, Book Club

374 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Maggie Joel is a British-born writer who lives in Sydney, Australia. She has been writing fiction since the mid-1990s and her short stories have been widely published in Australia in Southerly, Westerly, Island, Overland and Canberra Arts Review, and broadcast on ABC radio.

She has had five novels published: 'The Past and Other Lies' (Pier 9,2009), 'The Second Last Woman in England' (Pier 9, 2010) winner of the FAW Christina Stead Award for Fiction, 'Half the World in Winter' (Allen & Unwin, 2014), 'The Safest Place in London' (Allen & Unwin 2016) and 'The Unforgiving City' (Allen & Unwin 2019).

Reviews

[Krystal · Rating 2 out of 5]

WHY.

An intriguing story that seems to centre around despicable sisters: Charlotte and Jennifer, Bertha and Jemima, Caroline and Deidre. They're three different generations of the same family, and there are a lot of secrets between them all.

I found it quite interesting to see how the lives overlapped and consequences carrying across generations. At the same time, this was such a messy story with so many secrets and lies and almost no resolution.

Imagine you're invited to participate in a big sporting final. You may not really even be into sports, but you start training for it and start to enjoy it. You find yourself working harder, doing more training, pushing yourself so that you're in top form for this final. And just when the day, the hour, the MINUTE arrives when you're about to go out there and give it your all, the win is pretty much guaranteed ... the game is cancelled.

That feeling of potential completely thrown away is what reading this book is like.

The story is divided into parts, and JUST when you think you're going to finally get some juice out of the story it CHANGES to someone else's story. It frustrated me so much.

By the end of the book, I had half-answers and a LOT of questions.

It wasn't a bad story - I was actually quite hooked on the sordid behaviours of these spiteful siblings, but the lack of resolution really bothered me so it's losing an extra star purely for that.

Painfully unsatisfying, but if you're happy with speculation and reading between the lines, this is an interesting commentary on bullying between siblings.

[Julai · Rating 2 out of 5]

Possible subtitles for this book:
"Things Just Work Better When People Communicate"
"Sometimes Your Sister Is Just A Real Bitch"
"Three Generations Of Depressing Britain"
"See Helpful Glossary At End Of Book To Keep Track Of Who's Fucking Who."
"101 Fictional Reasons To Forgo Marriage"
"Trust Us, Just Rewatch Downton Instead"

[Kathryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting story, told through the eyes of the young women in 3 generations of a family - Bertha and her sister, Jemima, as young women in the 1920s, Bertha’s daughters, Caroline and Deirdre as young women toward the end of WWII, and Deirdre’s daughters, Jennifer and Charlotte as adults in the present day and as school girls in the early 1980s.

I enjoyed it, but felt that the resolution to the story would have benefited from a bit more detail, as it seemed a little unsatisfactory in answering questions thrown up throughout the book, to my way of thinking. 3.5★

[Isabel Mansfield · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found the plot absent and the end disappointing.I read it right to the end thinking all would be revealed but really there was nothing to reveal

[Karen ⊰✿ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Characters were generally unlikeable and not fully developed. The story skipped around alot without ever really having focus. I was left disappointed that what could have been an interesting book just meandered and didn't find it's way.

[Erin Paech · Rating 4 out of 5]

Confusion at the end of book.. Was Caroline Jem's 'Baby'? If not what happened to that child.. Also what was the deal with Mr Lake returning home late at night.? Did he sleep with Jem? These stories do make you wish the author continued more, I was left disappointed.. But it did get me hooked..

[Mark · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Past and Other Lies by Maggie Joel starts great, with the history of two sisters. It's funny, insightful, historically accurate and compelling. But Joel chooses to shift the novel in time to different sets of sisters, some older, some younger, all related, and the book suffers, not only because of the confusion inherent in the shift, but also the redundancy of the stories. After awhile, you care less and less about the sisters featured and the wars that underscore their and perpetuate their conflicts. She's a good writer, but the structure of the novel undermines its success.

Reading to the end was a chore. Can't recommend it.

[Linda · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is quite confusing and filled with unlikeable characters. I have so many questions that weren't addressed...like how did awful Jemima die? What was written on the wall in the toilets in 1981? Why was such a big deal made of the bus crashing in 1925? I feel like I've missed the whole plot. Disappointing.

[Lisa Nash · Rating 1 out of 5]

Started with promise and then the parallel stories of the family across time became very confusing with a cast of characters that you could not remember who was with who and when. Bertha and Jemima, Caroline and Deidre, Charlotte and Jennifer and all the husbands and other characters. Who did what with whom -in the end I just did not care.

[Angie · Rating 2 out of 5]

It jumped so much and maybe the names were to similar to
Keep two of the names separated. It reminded me of another author that I had a horrible experience with and on the back it said Kate Atkinson readers will love this. Ahhhhh.

[Carinya Kappler · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an entertaining book, frustrating in its confusing use of generic terms such as Mum or Dad while describing various generations of the same family. Secrets and lies do change the lives of this family so that the reader can guess who is actually related to who by the end of the novel. Set in the UK during and after the bombings of London the story charts the lives of an ordinary family through three generations.
Good reading for saga lovers, Carinya

Read this book again in 2020 and was equally confused between generations of the same family. Was also puzzled by the transgressions that occurred to incite hatred between the sisters in each generation. Did not alter my rating but I did enjoy the descriptions and references to World War 1 activities and the General Strike in the UK.
I could not really decide who betrayed who but felt everyone was fairly represented in the selfishness stakes except for Mum who selflessly gave to everyone. Women’s roles were beautifully explored and their contributions to the War effort and the country’s economy at the beginning of emancipation were explored at great length.
Once again it was well worth reading.
Carinya

[M · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fine novel that deserves a wide readership. Good choice for book groups. The story of three generations of sisters--the push and pull of family loyalties, complex relationships, small and large betrayals. In addition to the central mystery of the book, finely drawn characters, evocative atmosphere of 20th-century middle-class British lives, and the humor in everyday family life make this a memorable novel. Spanning the years from World War I to the present day, Maggie Joel skillfully travels back and forward in time to present memories and interpretations of events from each woman's standpoint to capture this central truth: "How could both those things be true? But that was the way the world now; everything was true and nothing was."

[Sam Still Reading · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great, thought provoking book. It intertwines three stories about three pairs of sisters over three different time periods in London. What I really liked was how the author hinted and led the reader to make certain conclusions about what actually happened, rather than 'in your face'.
We have Jennifer and Charlotte in the 1980s/current period, their mother Deirdre and Caroline in WWII and their grandmother Bertha and her sister Jemima during the 1920s. All the characters are well written and each time period is extensively researched.
An excellent book!

[Debbie Robson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this. I loved the sly wit and the way the surprises were finally revealed but I did have some problems with the book. Firstly I just couldn't get a handle on the 1981 characters, Charlotte and Jennifer. When it was the present day I couldn't tell them apart and they should have been so different. I also got confused in a crucial scene in 1945. Would love to discuss both things with other readers. A very worthwhile book just the same.

[Kylie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jennifer reveals on TV that she found her sister Charlotte hanging by her school tie in their bedroom. Charlotte, however, protests it was Jennifer who tried to take her own life. Their grandmother Bertha dreams of times past, meeting a young Scottish man, of the loss of her sister. Bertha's daughter Deirdre remembers a night during the war when a rocket destroyed their home, and her shocking discovery. Fantastic story of sisters and long lost secrets.

[Jean · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a novel of three generations of sisters, which I liked a lot. What I did not like was that the narrative kept jumping aback and forth in time and it was hard, for some reason, to remember who was whose mother or daughter. I made a chart of the relationships when I was done, and realized I did not know which character was Jem's "Baby." That's a flaw. However, that notwithstanding, I still would recommend it.

[The Bookshop Umina]

An enjoyable read that takes the reader through three generations of sisters living in London. In each set of sisters there are rifts and betrayals that shape the girls and their lives in the future.



The stories are cleverly interwoven and this would be a good Mother's Day pick.

[Kirsty Cochrane · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. The stories of three generations of sisters gave you just enough information to think you have the connections made but then it also has you asking for more. It keeps you going from the first to the last chapter.

[Jennifer Rolfe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many other reviewers of this novel commented on the confusion and the disconnections when jumping from one generation to the next which at time I did find confusing. It was however well researched and provided clear settings for each of the generations.

[Sara Cole · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this. A wonderfully weaved story about the relationships between sisters and mothers and daughters across three generations.

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this story. Easy read.

[Linden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three generations of sisters ranging from the 1920's through WWII until the present. Colorful and witty with a lot of deception and drama. Really enjoyed it.

[Millie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actually 2.5 stars.

[Vikki Simmonds · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book easy to read and enjoyable but suffered from my usual frustrations of not liking the ending... Made me appreciate my own big sister and the fact that we are profoundly normal.

[Saturday's Child · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally caught up with her first novel and as with her other two I really enjoyed it.

[Jenny Torpin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting, very interesting...