Summary and Reviews of Beautiful Lies by Lisa Unger

Beautiful Lies by Lisa Unger

Beautiful Lies

A Novel

by Lisa Unger
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  • First Published:
  • Apr 18, 2006, 384 pages
  • Paperback:
  • Dec 2006, 384 pages
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About This Book

Book Summary

Ridley Jones sets out on a quest to unlock the secrets of her murky past after the faded picture of a man, woman, and baby girl is delivered to her door with a note asking "Are you my daughter?".

If Ridley Jones had slept ten minutes later or had taken the subway instead of waiting for a cab, she would still be living the beautiful lie she used to call her life. She would still be the privileged daughter of a doting father and a loving mother. Her life would still be perfect — with only the tiny cracks of an angry junkie for a brother and a charming drunk with shady underworld connections for an uncle to mar the otherwise flawless whole.

But that’s not what happened. Instead, those inconsequential decisions lead her to perform a good deed that puts her in the right place at the right time to unleash a chain of events that brings a mysterious package to her door — a package which informs her that her entire world is a lie.

Suddenly forced to question everything she knows about herself and her family, Ridley wanders into dark territory she never knew existed, where everyone in her life seems like a stranger. She has no idea who’s on her side and who has something to hide—even, and maybe especially, her new lover, Jake, who appears to have secrets of his own.

Sexy and fast-paced, Beautiful Lies is a true literary thriller with one of the freshest voices and heroines to arrive in years. Lisa Unger takes us on a breathtaking ride in which every choice Ridley makes creates a whirlwind of consequences that are impossible to imagine . . . .

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Reviews

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Beyond the Book



Lisa Unger says that for a long time she didn't believe it was possible to make a living as a writer, "mainly because that's what people always told me", so she went into the profession that brought her closest to her dream - publishing.  A few years later she met her future husband in Key West  and after a whirlwind romance they sold their homes, quit their corporate jobs and moved to Florida. She says that only once she had some distance from New York, could she start appreciating the city and it naturally became the setting for Beautiful Lies.  

When asked what elements of the story come from her own experience she answers, "For me and for most fiction writers, I think, it is true to say that ...

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Read-Alikes

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