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Robin Talley
Robin Talley writes stories that stick with you, including Feral Youth and Lies We Tell Ourselves. Her other works include Pulp and The Queen of Zombie Hearts, often exploring the lives of young people.
Lies we tell ourselves
Synopsis
Lies We Tell Ourselves is set in 1959 Virginia during the fraught early years of school desegregation. Sarah Dunbar is one of the first Black students to attend the newly integrated Jefferson High School, where she faces daily harassment, exclusion, and the constant pressure of being watched as a symbol rather than seen as a person. Linda Hairston is the daughter of the town's most vocal segregationist, raised on the belief that the races should be kept "separate but equal."
When a teacher pairs Sarah and Linda for a joint school project, the two girls are forced into proximity neither wants. What begins as forced cooperation slowly becomes something neither of them expected: a reckoning with inherited beliefs, an uneasy respect, and eventually a romantic attraction that neither girl has language for in the world they live in.
Robin Talley's novel pairs the historical weight of the civil rights era with a quiet, closeted queer love story, using the alternating perspectives of Sarah and Linda to show how prejudice is learned, defended, and occasionally unlearned. It does not resolve neatly — the cost of stepping outside the roles assigned by their families and their town is real for both girls.
Genres
Characters
SarahProtagonist
LindaProtagonist
Sarah DunbarProtagonist
One of the first Black students to integrate Jefferson High School.
Linda HairstonProtagonist
Daughter of a prominent segregationist, assigned to work with Sarah.
Frequently asked questions
Did this book receive any notable recognition or awards?
It was the inaugural winner of the Amnesty CILIP Honour and also received the Concorde Book Award. Additionally, it was shortlisted for the CILIP Carnegie Medal and was a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award.
Is the story based on real events?
While the narrative is a work of fiction, it is deeply grounded in the historical reality of school desegregation in the United States during the 1950s. The author dedicated the book to the Norfolk 17, a group of students who were among the first to integrate schools in Virginia.