Novel about compulsive lying challenges how readers judge truth and credibility
Aea Varfis-van Warmelo’s Goldsmiths prize-shortlisted debut novel follows a writer who admits to lying compulsively, making readers question what they can trust. Through her account of dating, grief and trauma, the book examines how memory and credibility shape ideas of truth and justice.
In the novel’s second part, the narrator copies legal files about a lecturer accused of assaulting a student; after police scrutinise the complainant’s account, she withdraws from the investigation and the case closes. The review says the story challenges expectations that women’s accounts of sexual violence must be consistent or complete to be believed, though sections on deception interrupt its momentum. The book offers no easy answers, and turns the question of belief back on its readers.
In short
- A compulsive liar narrates a story about trust and truth.
- A rape case raises questions about credibility and justice.
- The novel asks readers to examine whom they believe.
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The case for
The novel’s challenge to conventional tests of credibility can be seen as a case for judging allegations with care rather than treating inconsistency or incomplete recall as automatic proof of dishonesty. Trauma, grief and memory can shape how people recount events, and demanding a perfectly coherent account may unfairly exclude complainants from being heard.
The case against
Careful scrutiny of accounts is also essential, particularly when an allegation may have serious consequences for everyone involved. A complainant’s withdrawal or inconsistencies do not establish what happened either way, so readers and investigators should resist both reflexive disbelief and treating the limits of memory as a reason to suspend questions of evidence.
Explained simply
Aea Varfis-van Warmelo is a novelist whose debut draws on questions about memory, honesty and how people decide what to believe. Its narrator says she lies compulsively, so readers encounter events through an account that may be unreliable.
The story also follows a case in which a lecturer is accused of assaulting a student. The complainant withdraws from the investigation after police examine her account, and the case closes. The novel raises questions about how credibility is judged in sexual violence cases, where memories and accounts may be incomplete or change over time.
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Originally published by The Guardian as “Attention Seeking Behaviour by Aea Varfis-van Warmelo review – a slippery liar’s tale”.