“Everything I’ve written here is true, apart from the things that are wrong, and the things that are lies, and the things that are misremembered.”
This collection of short works – fiction and creative nonfiction – around the theme of lies and secret histories is named for its title story, finalist in the 2015 Sunday Times EFG Short Story Award, the world’s richest short-story prize.
The stories and essays roam from a witch-burning in Denmark to murder in Antwerp to adultery in Rome, from contested grave-sites – Robert Johnson in Mississippi, Billy the Kid in New Mexico – to contested versions of the Little House books of Laura Ingalls Wilder, from a contemporary take on a Katherine Mansfield story to the last word on Jane Austen plot-lines.
Reviews
“A thread runs through Paula Morris’ new collection of terse stories and interrogating essays … Truth is a sinuous and malleable thing, bent to the needs of characters and creators alike.”
– James Robins, New Zealand Herald
“This is an invigorating, sophisticated collection from a writer at the top of her form.”
– Paul Little, Books of the Year, North & South
“[The] sharp intelligence of the author, the skill in handling different genres, the factual research, the attention to telling detail and – yes – the tender regard for forebears are all here, and all make this a wonderful read.”
– Nicholas Reid, Dominion Post