In this gripping, atmospheric family drama, a young woman investigates the forty-year-old murder that inspired her mother’s bestselling novel, and uncovers devastating truths—and dangerous lies.Reformed party girl Meg Ashley leads a life of privilege, thanks to a bestselling horror novel her mother wrote decades ago. But Meg knows that the glow of their very public life hides a darker reality … darker reality of lies, manipulation, and the heartbreak of her own solitary childhood. Desperate to break free of her mother, Meg accepts a proposal to write a scandalous, tell-all memoir.
Digging into the past—and her mother’s cult classic—draws Meg to Bonny Island, Georgia, and an unusual woman said to be the inspiration for the book. At first island life seems idyllic, but as Meg starts to ask tough questions, disturbing revelations come to light…including some about her mother.
Soon Meg’s search leads her to question the facts of a decades-old murder. She’s warned to leave it alone, but as the lies pile up, Meg knows she’s getting close to finding a murderer. When her own life is threatened, Meg realizes the darkness found in her mother’s book is nothing compared to the chilling truth that lurks off the page.
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Another stunner from Emily Carpenter. The highest praise I could give a book is that it reminds me of either of my favorite authors – Kate Morton and Agatha Christie. The Weight of Lies had tones of each of them. The story-within-a-story reflects what I love about Morton’s The Distant Hours. And the you’ll-never-guess ending is so Christie.
The Weight of Lies had me bouncing from one theory to another, enthralled with the plight of Megan’s character, all amid the lush backdrop of an island rich with Native American history.
Do yourself a favor and order this one today.
Thank you to Net Galley for an early copy in exchange for an honest review.
This is such a beautifully written story that will twist your heart and make you hold your breath and cry at the same time. I loved it!
In The Weight Of Lies, Emily Carpenterleads us down a path that not only winds, it contorts and jerks like a carnival ride. Secrets. Betrayals. Murder. A villian so twisted you will flip back through the pages, asking, “Did I read that correctly?”
Megan Ashley is sassy, smart, and determined to unravel the mystery that inspired her mother’s best selling horror novel. A novel she believes ruined the life of an innocent young girl on Bonny Island, a mysterious island off the coast of the Georgia where a young Native American girl was murdered forty years ago. Bitter after a lifetime of boarding schools, nannies, multiple stepfathers, and a mother who is both distant and maniulative, she decides to write a tell all book that will expose her celebrity mother as a monster, and her rabid fans as members of a literary cult.
She heads to Bonny Island hellbent on finding the truth behind Kitten, her mother’s cult phenomenon, and give some peace to the girl who inspired the novel, now a grown woman trying to eke out a living in the wake of the spectacle her life became. What she finds, however, is a mystery that goes much deeper and cuts much closer to home than an unsolved murdernd she discovers that her mother is not the only monster trying to stop her before she learns too much.
The tension in The Weight Of Lies is palpable and as thick as the humid Georgia air. It will keep you up late, trying to unravel who did what to whom and when. Don’t start this book if you have plans later. To say you can’t put it down vastly understates its appeal. Be prepared to root for Megan Ashley with all your heart, and to close the book with a sigh of satisfaction when you are done!
I decided to listen to the audio version of this because I always like to pick one audio book to listen to as I get ready for bed. This was a good choice. The narrator Kate Orsini was really good.
If you love a good Southern Gothic then this novel is for you. Meg has spent her whole life in the shadow of her novelist mother. Francis Ashley is famous for the novel “Kitten” the ultimate “killer kid” novel. The book which may or may not have been based on an actual murder was such a sensation it attracted a group of fans so obsessed they call themselves Kitty Cultists. They are so obsessed that they used to travel to the famous hotel on Bonnie Island where the real murder the book was based on took place. They spend hours online researching, determined to solve the crime. To prove that the real “Kitten” murdered young Kim Baker when she was just eight years old. As the 40th anniversary of the novel’s release approaches the hype around the book grows even more.
As all of this is going on Meg is dealing with an unnamed illness as well as her complicated feelings for her Mother. The two have never been close. Meg was raised by a serious of nannies and has felt as if her Mother never truly cared for her. After she goes home to visit at her Mother’s request and finds that not only has her Mother left but has been keeping something extremely important Meg has had it. An opportunity to write a tell all about their relationship comes up and though she is tempted she just isn’t sure until two thing happen, one is her Mother getting married without telling her and the other? An opportunity to clear the name of the real life Kitten, a woman named Doro who has agreed to meet with her.
As Meg arrives on Bonnie island the atmosphere of the book changes. There seems to be secrets everywhere, things hide in the shadows and nothing is what it seems. As Meg tries to solve the mystery she feels more confused than every before.
This novel is full of interesting characters, an intriguing location and a great mystery.
I certainly would recommend this!
I got this book for audible (to hear in my car) but then, halfway through it, I had to buy the ebook when I couldn’t wait to drive to hear what happens! It is funny, scary and twisty. I am usually great at predicting what happens but this one kept me guessing.
Frances Ashley has written the story of a girl named “Kitten” who murdered her childhood best friend. It’s a smash hit, inspires a cult following, and on the fortieth anniversary of it’s release, has her daughter, Meg Ashley, thinking about the effect it has had on her childhood and on her strained relationship with her mother. Presented with the opportunity to write a (maybe vindictive) tell-all by her mother’s new literary agent, Meg decides to seize her freedom and cut ties with Frances once and for all. But not without a bit of investigation. She returns to the island that inspired “Kitten” to meet with the woman who, in the court of public opinion, is Kitten, herself. The murderous girl who let the victim’s mother take the fall for her crime.
“The Weight of Lies” is wholly original, which is a pleasant surprise for someone like me who probably reads too much in one genre. This one is a standout. Emily Carpenter seamlessly weaves both the fictional “Kitten” and the “factual” investigation in alternating chapters, pulling off writing two books at once. It takes some amount of skill to pull that off and Emily does so deftly.
She tells the history of the island, both from its fictionalized version and its “real-life” one, in a way that each chapter, whether written from the persona of Frances Ashley or from the author’s, moves the plot forward. Pacing is excellent, and every time I put the book down, I wanted to pick it right back up again. I loved Meg and Koa, the creepy atmosphere of the island, the Native American history that is the backbone of “Kitten’s” story, and the undercurrent of possible lies and betrayal. At no point did I know who to trust. The surprises, and there were several, are well thought out and linear. The book gives just enough without giving too much. It’s a page-turning read that I recommend highly.
Kept my interest even when I wanted to stop. Somewhat unexpected at the ending and I would have liked a tidier clean up, but the story itself was engrossing and interesting.
Great story, well developed characters, good pacing and a twist at the end. I couldn’t put it down and would recommend to anyone that lives a brain twister.
this is my favorite Emily Carpenter yet! a book within a book! How much better can it get? oh wait, sequestered on an island…don’t know who is lying…. yep it gets better!
Solid four stars! Loved it!
What a rollercoaster ride of a book, and of a life for Megan, our protagonist. Raised by the self-absorbed author of a bestselling 70s-era horror novel, Megan feels adrift and resentful of the havoc her mother and her mother’s cult classic book have wreaked on her life. Deciding to write a book of her own – the true story of growing up an Ashley, and the true story of the people her mother used (and destroyed) for the basis of her novel – Megan heads to run-down Ambletern to figure out what really happened there. She quickly realizes that nothing and no one are what they seem, and we follow her down the terrifying rabbit hole of not knowing who to trust, who to fear, and who is a killer.
Well-written and full of suspense, the story is interspersed with “excerpts” from Kitten, the campy horror novel Megan’s mother wrote, adding another layer of originality and mystery. I do wish the ending had a little more explanation for how they got off Bonny Island, how Koa and Frances managed to survive their injuries, and why Megan decided to mend fences with her mother, but overall this was a really enjoyable read.
*Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC, provided by the author and/or the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Grab this book and savor it…read it slow. Like peeling an onion with layer after layer of mother/daughter relationships and the lies between them. The slow languid atmosphere takes you in and you feel yourself slow down in the the humidity and the sand and water. An almost gothic like atmosphere with the ghosts being just past memories.
This is a book within a book…a story of Meg rebelling against her famous mom Francis by going back to where Francis wrote her biggest best seller…to find the secrets about the “book”. This is about the people in the book, Doro and her life on the island and Meg wants Doro’ s truth about it. But truths aren’t always,easy to find and can be dangerous …and whose truth do you believe?
Slivers of the “book” are there for you to gleam information from and certainly create added tension. More than a mystery, this is also a well written piece of fiction about mothers and what they do to their daughters.
It is also a book about anger, letting go, and realizing there is no one truth and what do you do with your life then.
This could be considered suspence or psychological drama. All I know is the closer I came to the end, the slower I read it..i didn’t want it to end.
Forty years ago, Frances Ashley wrote a horror novel, Kitten, that became a cult classic. However, her daughter, Meg, and Frances have a fractured relationship due to the popularity of the book, and Frances‘s behavior. When Meg is offered an opportunity to write a memoir about her relationship with her mother, she heads to Bonny Island to research the story behind the book. Meg doesn’t realize the dangers awaiting her in the island.
This is a creepy novel about a murder mystery/ whodunit. I liked the atmospheric feel of this novel and the mystery interspersed with the fictional novel. I look forward to reading more from this author.
The story bounces between “reality” and a book that’s coming up on its 40th anniversary. A book that catapulted the author to fame but not necessarily a happy family life.
And weird to put in a review, but somehow important today… I totally appreciated the fact that I didn’t find one typo in the story.
2.5 Stars
This Southern Gothic Thriller held my attention all the way through but I will have to say, it was an utter mess. A bit like watching a train wreck. The whole time I was thinking that with more finesse and editing this could have been so much better. *sigh*
It read more like an early draft than a published book, good bones but little flesh and blood. The under developed characters, plot threads that lead nowhere and confusing action, should have made this book unreadable but there was something just compelling enough about the story that demanded I finish it. I could see promise in the writing and having read another newer title by the author, I know she can deliver better.