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Home > Translation > The World Bookshelf > Books > The First True Lie

The First True Lie

‘They always tell you that you shouldn’t tell lies, but without lies I’d already be in an orphanage. 

This, in any case, is my first true lie’

Luca and his mum are like two peas in a pod in their special, fragile world.

Then, one winter morning his mother doesn’t wake up. Luca suddenly finds himself alone for the first time. Terrified of what telling the truth might bring, he decides to keep the biggest secret of his life. Luca goes along to school every day, pretending everything is as it always has been. But he returns home every night to a cold, dark house. So he begins to build a protective bubble with the memories of his mother, the words and stories he so loves – and his cat Blue – against the truth on the other side of the bedroom door.

Author

Marina Mander

Marina Mander

Books

The First True Lie

Marina Mander is the author of two previous books, including a collection of short stories. Her debut novel, The First True Lie, is her first book to be published in English. She works in publishing in Italy.

Translator

Stephen Twilley

Stephen Twilley

Books

The First True Lie

Stephen Twilley is managing editor of the online review Public Books and the translator of several books from Italian, including Francesco Pacifico’s The Story of My Purity and Fabio Stassi’s Charlie Chaplin’s Last Dance.

Published by

Canongate, 2014
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‘They always tell you that you shouldn’t tell lies, but without lies I’d already be in an orphanage. 

This, in any case, is my first true lie’

Luca and his mum are like two peas in a pod in their special, fragile world.

Then, one winter morning his mother doesn’t wake up. Luca suddenly finds himself alone for the first time. Terrified of what telling the truth might bring, he decides to keep the biggest secret of his life. Luca goes along to school every day, pretending everything is as it always has been. But he returns home every night to a cold, dark house. So he begins to build a protective bubble with the memories of his mother, the words and stories he so loves – and his cat Blue – against the truth on the other side of the bedroom door.

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