# Novel about compulsive lying challenges how readers judge truth and credibility

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/attention-seeking-behaviour-by-aea-varfis-van-warmelo-review-a-slippery-liars-tale/
- Published: 2026-10-30T07:00:48+00:00
- Updated: 2026-10-30T07:17:19+00:00
- Original publisher: The Guardian (publisher lean: Left)
- Original article: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2026/oct/30/attention-seeking-behaviour-by-aea-varfis-van-warmelo-review-a-slippery-liars-tale
- Topics: Culture, UK, World

## Key points

- 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.

## Summary

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.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.