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A Time to tell lies
In the morning of Tuesday November 10, 1942, near a small village in SW France, the scheduled pickup for a Special Operations Executive agent goes terribly wrong. Alex and Justine, agents - with a life expectancy measured in weeks - find themselves entangled in a desperate project they never fully understand. They are also lovers.
A Time to Tell Lies shifts between a fearful wartime London, nervously awaiting its inevitable invasion, and a fatally compromised France. Uncertain who to trust and trained to lie to their wartime masters and to the enemy, Alex and Justine must contemplate lying to each other.
A Time to Tell Lies continues the story begun in Lucy, now reissued in a new edition.
Praise for Lucy
“A haunting and captivating love story set largely in occupied France in WWII, Lucy has both a deceptively simple narrative style and a skilfully articulated plot which holds the reader from start to finish. At its heart is the exploration of the young artist’s creative imagination as she struggles to come to terms with the banal horrors of war and her own engulfing emotions.”
Deborah Swallow, Märit Rausing Director, Courtauld Institute of Art.
A Time to Tell Lies shifts between a fearful wartime London, nervously awaiting its inevitable invasion, and a fatally compromised France. Uncertain who to trust and trained to lie to their wartime masters and to the enemy, Alex and Justine must contemplate lying to each other.
A Time to Tell Lies continues the story begun in Lucy, now reissued in a new edition.
Praise for Lucy
“A haunting and captivating love story set largely in occupied France in WWII, Lucy has both a deceptively simple narrative style and a skilfully articulated plot which holds the reader from start to finish. At its heart is the exploration of the young artist’s creative imagination as she struggles to come to terms with the banal horrors of war and her own engulfing emotions.”
Deborah Swallow, Märit Rausing Director, Courtauld Institute of Art.
286 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2016
About the author
Alan Kennedy
29 booksAlan Kennedy lives near Marciac in the South West of France, home to a huge annual jazz festival. His first three novels appeal to readers from the age of seven to seventy. They examine the lives of a group of children "trapped in amber" over a period of a few golden months. His novel "Lucy" is a love story set in World War II France. The sequel, "A Time to Tell Lies", also set during World War II, is a fictional treatment charting the human cost of two of the most significant WW2 disinformation projects.
Alan Kennedy has also written the biography of the psychologist Oscar Oeser, entitled "Oscar & Lucy." Oeser worked in Germany with Hilter's favourite psychologist, studied at Cambridge alongside some notorious spies, headed Hut 6 at Bletchley Park, and organised a raid on Hiltler's Berghof. Apart from that, his life was tranquil.
Further information about Alan Kennedy's books is available on the Lasserrade Press website: www.lasserradepress.com
Alan Kennedy has also written the biography of the psychologist Oscar Oeser, entitled "Oscar & Lucy." Oeser worked in Germany with Hilter's favourite psychologist, studied at Cambridge alongside some notorious spies, headed Hut 6 at Bletchley Park, and organised a raid on Hiltler's Berghof. Apart from that, his life was tranquil.
Further information about Alan Kennedy's books is available on the Lasserrade Press website: www.lasserradepress.com
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 24, 2017
Captain Alex Vere and Justine Perry, fellow spies and lovers, move between England and France as part of a secret war effort. This solidly plotted and well-written World War II-era spy story compares favorably with the works of John le Carré and Kate Atkinson. The ending certainly seems to allow for a continuation, so let’s hope that the author may have a series, or at least a sequel, in the works.
See my full review at The Bookbag.
See my full review at The Bookbag.
April 26, 2017
Intricate and subtle plotting and a fine ear for unsaid words Alan Kennedy at his best.
People say 'impossible to put down' but I think it is higher praise to say you are carrying this plot around in your head for days. The story is absorbing and surprising and leaves you in no doubt that such dealings happened in WWII and will always happen because it is the way you win. As for unsaid words - Kennedy writes dialogue like a playwright. It is often up to you to fill in the blanks and that makes the experience of reading the characters more involving. If plot and characterisation aren't your thing then read it for the filmic quality of his descriptions of locations - masterful.
I found this book enthralling.
People say 'impossible to put down' but I think it is higher praise to say you are carrying this plot around in your head for days. The story is absorbing and surprising and leaves you in no doubt that such dealings happened in WWII and will always happen because it is the way you win. As for unsaid words - Kennedy writes dialogue like a playwright. It is often up to you to fill in the blanks and that makes the experience of reading the characters more involving. If plot and characterisation aren't your thing then read it for the filmic quality of his descriptions of locations - masterful.
I found this book enthralling.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews