The Care and Management of Lies

A Novel of the Great War

By: Jacqueline Winspear

Narrated by: Nicola Barber

The New York Times best-selling author of the Maisie Dobbs series turns her prodigious talents to this World War I standalone novel, a lyrical drama of love struggling to survive in a damaged, fractured world.

By July 1914, the ties between Kezia Marchant and Thea Brissenden, friends since girlhood, have become strained - by Thea's passionate embrace of women's suffrage, and by the imminent marriage of Kezia to Thea's brother, Tom, who runs the family farm. When Kezia and Tom wed, just a month before war is declared between Britain and Germany, Thea's gift to Kezia is a book on household management - a veiled criticism of the bride's prosaic life to come. Yet when Tom enlists to fight for his country and Thea is drawn reluctantly onto the battlefield, the farm becomes Kezia's responsibility. Each must find a way to endure the ensuing cataclysm and turmoil.

As Tom marches to the front lines, and Kezia battles to keep her ordered life from unraveling, they hide their despair in letters and cards filled with stories woven to bring comfort. Even Tom's fellow soldiers in the trenches enter and find solace in the dream world of Kezia's mouth-watering, albeit imaginary meals. But will well-intended lies and self-deception be of use when they come face to face with the enemy?

Published to coincide with the centennial of the Great War, The Care and Management of Lies paints a poignant picture of love and friendship strained by the pain of separation and the brutal chaos of battle. Ultimately, it raises profound questions about conflict, belief, and love that echo in our own time.

©2014 Jacqueline Winspear (P)2014 HarperCollins Publishers

Thoughtfully told experiences from many WWI participants

World War One had many lies. Many of the atrocities of the war were not told to the people. However life did go on as every day life does. What was it like for the wife left behind, the husband who was shamed into going, the sister who opposed the war and many others. You had to get on with life.

Poignant and inspiring

The intensity of a country entering a war, and how it drastically changed women into becoming stronger than they imagined possible is mirrored by the difficulties, disillusionment and courage of men in trench warfare. This is a beautiful book, both suspenseful and strangely tranquil. The reader has a perfect voice and cadence.

Beautiful story that reminds us of love in the middle of the cost of war.

I enjoyed this story. The narrative was done very well. I connected to each of the characters - very well written.

I love the meal preparation! I understand…

Although it took a little bit for me to get into the book, I loved it! I loved it's true to life nature. I had high hopes that it would end differently but I'm sure that is exactly what happened too many times. I loved the meal preparation! I understand. That is how I show my love for my family… Cooking for them. No, it's not Maisie Dobbs but it is good, very good.

LIke the story but want another Maisie Dobbs

It was a good listen,probably true to what those who lived through WWI experienced. I really hope, though, that we get more Maisie Dobbs stories from Ms. Winspear.

On the keeper shelf

I loved this story- it was an audio listen. Narration was wonderful and the story gripping. It takes place in WW1 and the sense of time and place is well set, the characters fleshed out and believable. I don't want to give anything away but will say I was surprised by the many twists and turns of the novel and moved the ending.

A Jaqueline Winspear Surprise!

This was unlike the other Winspear books I have read. There is no mystery or intrigue just a solid story about two young British girls who were best friends and came of age as WWI was unfolding. The character development is solid and the story melancholic. It's a well done "stand alone" in the way William Kent Krueger's stand Aline's stand out from his serial mysteries. It will make a nice Book Club choice.

Original idea.

It was a unique approach for a book about war. The ending was too grim.

Not up to this authors other books

This book didn't work nearly as well for me as Winspeare's Masie Dobbs series does. It was OK I guess but sadly I found it very predictable. I would not recommend it unless you knew nothing about that era and wanted the history lesson. As always Winspeare does a great job with the atmosphere of that time but there is really nothing driving this book as far as story. I knew in the first chapter how it was going to end.

What I did enjoy about the book was her portrait of life on a small Kentish farm. I also enjoyed the way Kezia, the wife ran the farm and kept the home fires burning while her husband went off to war. She painted lovely word pictures in her letters to him of imaginary meals that she was cooking for them as if he was there with her. I thought that was a lovely way to convey a feeling of comfort and a connection to home. That was cleverly done by the author although the recipes did wander out into left field from time to time.

I did not care for the ending. It ended too abruptly. I know that Happy Ever Afters were thin on the ground at the end of WW1 but I'm not a reader who needs stark reality all the time. A little fantasy can be a good thing sometimes.

Life during the Great War

The tale begins in July 1914 about two girl friends and how their lives entwine when one of them marries the others brother. Kenzia a Vicar daughter and Thea who grew up on a farm were scholarship students. Thea gives Kenzia a book as a wedding gift “The Woman’s Book” a publication advising woman on a variety of subjects. The story pulls the reader immediately into Kenzie’s life. She struggles to be the wife her husband deserves, and struggles to maintain the farm while enduring the yearning their separation brings. Thea is transformed from being a suffragist to an ambulance driver on the front lines. Food is scares both on the home front and for the soldiers. To keep Tom’s spirits us Kenzia sends letters detailing imaginary scrumptious meals she’s prepared for him, which he shares with the comrades.

This historical novel illuminates the ways in which the Great War affected the men and women who were called to duty, as well as those who stayed at home. The story raises profound questions about conflict, belief, and love that echoes in our own time. This book was set 100 years ago; it was so well written I felt as if I had stepped back in time. It also made me think of all the advancement that has taken place over the past 100 years just in the home and on the farm. The book was published to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the Great War. Nicola Barber narrated the book.