The Truth About White Lies

Shania is thrust into Bard Academy, a rapidly gentrifying neighborhood, where race is both invisible and hypervisible. She is adopted by Catherine Tate, the no-holds-barred daughter of one of Blue Rock's elite white families, and soon after is swept into a romance with Catherine's brother, Prescott. When attacks begin to occur against Blue Rock's homeless, Shania begins to feel uneasy but to admit there's something wrong would be to give up her newfound sense of belonging. However, Prescott isn't the only one with secrets, and as Shania grieves for her grandmother, she realizes her family has secrets too, some of which have roots that stretch far back into Blue Rock's history.

Format: Hardback
Length: 320 pages
Publication date: 08 March 2022
Publisher: Little, Brown & Company

Shania's perspective on her white identity is relatively unembellished, but her world undergoes a seismic shift when her cherished grandmother passes away. Accompanied by her mother, they relocate to Blue Rock, a rapidly gentrifying neighborhood. Shania is thrust into the prestigious Bard Academy, the city's most affluent private school. At Bard, race manifests as both an invisible and hypervisible force, dividing her newfound friends. She quickly finds solace under the protective wing of Catherine Tate, the no-nonsense daughter of one of Blue Rock's esteemed white families. Soon, she falls into a romantic relationship with Catherine's brother, Prescott.

However, a warning from one of the school's few Black students casts a concerning shadow over their relationship. The student cautions Shania about Prescott's hidden anger and resentment towards non-white students, his insensitive remarks about the homeless individuals displaced by gentrification, and the enigmatic story of a Black student who left the school following an altercation with Prescott. These incidents begin to accumulate, causing Shania to feel uneasy but hesitant to acknowledge the truth, fearing it would undermine her newfound sense of belonging within the affluent circles of Bard Academy.

Unbeknownst to Shania, Prescott is not the sole harbinger of secrets. As she grapples with the loss of her grandmother, she unravels the deep-rooted secrets within her own family, some of which have their origins intertwined with the history of Blue Rock. As the pieces of the truth come to light, both from the past and the present, Shania is faced with an agonizing choice. She must confront the true violence that has been perpetuated in her silence and choose between standing up against injustice and preserving the comfortable illusions she has constructed for herself.

Weight: 486g
Dimension: 152 x 218 x 37 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780759554122