The Truth According to Us

Annie Barrows

2015 • 528 pages

Ratings11

Average rating3.9

"From the co-author of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society comes a wise, witty, and exuberant novel, perfect for fans of Lee Smith, that illuminates the power of loyalty and forgiveness, memory and truth, and the courage it takes to do what's right. Annie Barrows once again evokes the charm and eccentricity of a small town filled with extraordinary characters. Her new novel, The Truth According to Us, brings to life an inquisitive young girl, her beloved aunt, and the alluring visitor who changes the course of their destiny forever. In the summer of 1938, Layla Beck's father, a United States senator, cuts off her allowance and demands that she find employment on the Federal Writers' Project, a New Deal jobs program. Within days, Layla finds herself far from her accustomed social whirl, assigned to cover the history of the remote mill town of Macedonia, West Virginia, and destined, in her own opinion, to go completely mad with boredom. However, once she secures a room in the home of the unconventional Romeyn family, she is completely drawn into their complex world and soon discovers that the truth of the town is deeply entangled in the thorny past of the Romeyn dynasty. At the Romeyn house, twelve-year-old Willa is desperate to learn everything in her quest to acquire her favorite virtues--ferocity and devotion--a search that leads her into a thicket of mysteries, including the questionable business with which her charismatic father is always occupied and the reason her adored aunt Jottie never married. Layla's arrival strikes a match to the family veneer, bringing to light buried secrets that will tell a different tale about the Romeyns, and the invisible threads linking them to the heart of Macedonia's history. As Willa peels back the layers of her family's past, and Layla delves deeper into town legend, everyone involved is transformed--and their personal histories completely rewritten. Praise for The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society "A jewel. poignant and keenly observed. a small masterpiece about love, war, and the immeasurable sustenance to be found in good books and good friends."--People "Affirms the power of books to nourish people enduring hard times."--The Washington Post "This is a book for firesides or long train rides. It's as charming and timeless as the novels for which its characters profess their love."--San Francisco Chronicle "A book-lover's delight, an implicit and sometimes explicit paean to all things literary."--Chicago Sun-Times "A poignant, funny novel that celebrates the resilience of the human spirit. This one is a treat."--The Boston Globe "Smart and delightful. Treat yourself to this book, please--I can't recommend it highly enough."--Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love and The Signature of All Things"--

"Miss Layla Beck, the daughter of a powerful Senator from Delaware refuses to marry the gentleman her father has chosen for her and is forced to get a job working for the FWP to write the first official account of Maecdonian History. Her notions of real life--the social whirl of Newport and New York--are totally upended and she despairs in rooming with the overly eccentric Romeyn family in such a small backwater town. The Romeyn family is a fixture in the town, their identity tied to its knotty history. Layla enters their lives and lights a match to the family veneer and a truth comes to light that will change each of their lives forever in deeply personal and powerful ways. As Layla embarks on this grand adventure to establish historical moments in print, her first friend, the town librarian Ms. Betts wisely cautions: "There is a problem with history. All of us see a story according to our own lights. None of us is capable of objectivity." Set against the backdrop of the Great Depression and told through the incredible voices of three narrators you quickly come to love--Layla Beck, Jottie Romeyn, and her niece, twelve year old Willa--this is an intimate family novel of love and family, of history and truth, and of struggle and hope, filled with the kind of characters once you discover, you'll never forget"--

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Gail

The Truth According to Us tells the story of a small depression era town in West Virginia and a once prominent family that has fallen from grace. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. Through most of the book, I thought I new exactly where this was going, and though it was a good read, I was loving it. The last 100 or so pages turned it from an ok story to a really good story in my mind. The ending was happy and heartbreaking at the same time and I just thoroughly enjoyed it.

I won this book as a Goodreads giveaway.

April 28, 2015

pickles

dang it, sometimes I just love a happy ending.

January 2, 2018

Susan Scribner

Let's get this right out in the open - this is NOT another Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. The primary author of that book club favorite was ailing when she asked her niece, Annie Barrows, to help her finish it. The Truth According to Us, although it is partially epistolary, is a very different read with a much more bittersweet tone.

The novel uses several different POVs to tell the Depression-era story of Layla Beck, a spoiled socialite whose father cuts her off when she refuses to marry his hand-picked choice. As punishment, her uncle puts her on the New Deal Federal Writers Project, and exiles her to Macedonia, West Virginia to write the town's history for its sesquicentennial celebration. She is to board with the notorious Romeyn family, including handsome, mysterious Felix, his two young daughters Willa and Bird, and his spinster sister Jottie. Once the Romeyn family ran the biggest factory in Macedonia, but now Felix is rumored to be a bootlegger - or worse - and Jottie barely interacts with the other townspeople.

Layla is determined to prove that she can actually do a good job, but Macedonia's history is full of secrets and lies - much like the Romeyn family history. Twelve year old Willa is determined to use the Macedonian virtues of ferocity and devotion to learn the truth about her family. But neither Layla nor Willa realize that disturbing the past could have a devastating impact on their present.

The Truth According to Us portrays a fascinating genuine piece of American history - the thought of a federal government paying people to create art, (not science and technology!) should make humanities majors everywhere green with envy. And the disparities between Macedonia's history recounted by its “first families” and the less than honorable facts known to a few residents are eye opening and frequently humorous.

But the relationships are the strongest part of the novel as Jottie tries to move past grief and anger, Willa tries to keep her father from abandoning the family, and Layla tries to prove her worth. The three women don't always have comfortable relationships, and they don't all get what they want, but by book's end they are stronger than they were and ready to move ahead.

I'm a major epistolary novel fan, but I have to admit that the sections of the novel that include letters to, from and about Layla were not my favorite part, especially given that there are other sections that are written from Layla's POV. I wonder if Barrows felt the letters were necessary to catch the attention of Guernsey Society fans. She needn't have bothered. The story stands strong without them.

No, it's not the second coming of your book club favorite, but it's a strong, impressive novel in its own right.