Book Description

"Although we've gotten used to second-generation actors equaling or surpassing the accomplishments of their parents, the same hasn't happened with second-generation novelists. Nonetheless there are a few, and added to their small number ought to be Kaylie Jones."—New York Times Merryn Huntley is rudely awakened to the many bad decisions she has made in her life when she is told by two Dallas police officers that her wealthy husband Beau has been killed in a car accident, along with a local waitress. Merryn's first instinct is to flee in order to protect her nine-year-old daughter, and the only place that feels safe enough is her mother's beautiful, isolated home in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. Merryn's mother, the redoubtable Bibi, always said to her as a child, "When you tell a lie, make sure you keep it as close to the truth as possible, because it will be easier to remember." Ironically, from the moment Merryn arrives, she is forced into twisting the truth—about how much she knew of her husband and his shady business affairs; about her own secret lovers; and most importantly, that she is beginning to doubt the one person who has always been the greatest influence in her life: her mother. The situation worsens when two FBI agents show up and begin to ask Merryn questions about her husband's business, which only intensifies her need to continue lying. While Merryn's perfect life begins to crumble around her, she must decide whether or not she can face the most painful reality of all—that she has been lying to herself her entire life. Kaylie Jones has published six books, the most recent a memoir, Lies My Mother Never Told Me. Her novel A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries was adapted as a Merchant Ivory film in 1998.