Would I Lie To You?
Would I Lie To You? By Aliya Ali-Afzal
Reviewed by Linda
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Many thanks to @headofzeus for this copy! 🧡
It’s not often you come across a book with depth and drama that’s delivered with pace and gusto. Would I Lie To You? is all of these things and will make a fab summer read!
This is a domestic novel about Faiza‘s family who lives in the enclave of Wimbledon village where yummy mummies rule the roost and Botox parties are the norm. Except this is usually acceptable for the certain type of mother who has a well-to-do husband, kids enrolled at the local £10k-a-term school, and preferably, white too.
A devoted wife and mother of 3, our Faiza, never quite manages to keep the vultures at bay - they don’t quite grasp that a proud Pakistani woman, happily married to a white man, can also live in SW19. From humble beginnings, her ethos goes against this superficial routine but nobody suspects how much Faiza has spent to keep up appearances: a whole £75K!
At the very pits of financial turmoil, we come to understand the extent of Faiza’s spending, and here begins the FRANTIC mission to retrieve every penny without revealing the truth to a soul. Our flawed heroin employs all tactics from begging to bartering and borrowing, which pained me to read but needs must!
Money at the crux of the novel was a clever and welcome change to the predictable vices of sex and drug addiction, which are frankly overused in stories pertaining to ethnic communities.
Intimate financial situations are seldom spoken about in ethnic households. There are several reasons for this: shame and on the other hand pride; the desire to keep up pretenses and warding away prying eyes from those that may not have your best interests at heart. Aliya does well to portray the parent that will move heaven and earth to make sure their children are not wanting for anything (whilst keeping the turbulent circumstances under wraps) and just goes to show that women really do have many talents, even if leading a double life is one of them ha!
