What I Saw And How I Lied

What I Saw And How I Lied is a young adult novel written by Judy Blundell. The book was published by Scholastic in 2008, and went on to win the annual U.S. National Book Award for Young People’s Literature. The novel is a work of historical fiction set in post-World War II America. This coming-of-age tale follows the story of Evie, a teenage girl in the year 1947. Through her narration, Evie tells the reader about the events of the past year, politically as well as the goings on in her own personal life.

The novel opens with Evie and her mother, Beverly. The two women are alone in a hotel room in Palm Beach, Florida. They are afraid to leave the room as they fear people might recognize them from the headlines of the newspapers. Evie lies awake on the bed beside her mother, pretending to be asleep but very aware of her mother’s presence. The next morning, Evie takes a bike ride to the beach, reflecting on how the events of the past year could have happened and how she could have prevented them without letting the reader in on the actual events in question.

Evie recalls that all the trouble started the day before her stepfather took the family on a vacation to Florida. Up until that point, Evie was living the life of the average teenager in her neighborhood of Queens, practicing smoking with candy cigarettes and talking about boys with her friend Margie. However, Evie feels distinctly different from her friends due to the absence of her father in her life. Her home situation is also filled with conflict, with her mother and grandmother constantly arguing.



Evie’s stepfather Joe suddenly shows up one day after the war ends and surprises them with gifts. He has been serving as a soldier in the U.S. army. He also has a lot of money, which he claims he received from a GI loan, and he uses the cash to open up some appliance stores. They are doing well financially, but Joe is unhappy and often drinks. Evie notices that Joe is acting differently, attributing his strange behavior to the effects of the war, which he refuses to talk about. Out of the blue, Joe decides to take them to Palm Beach, Florida. It is December and there are few people at the hotel in Palm Beach, but they meet Mr. and Mrs. Grayson, with whom they socialize. Evie meets a boy, Wally, at the hotel but does not like him because he is her age, which she considers too young. Evie believes herself to be more mature than she really is, and is attracted to men much older than her.

Evie meets Peter Coleridge in the pool area at the hotel and takes an immediate liking to him. Unlike Wally, Peter is older and treats her as though she is an adult. Meeting Peter has a strong effect on Evie and she quickly becomes infatuated with the man, while turning a blind eye to the events unraveling around her. She introduces Peter to her parents, but he already knows her stepfather as they served in the war together. Joe does not like Peter, but Evie does not know why. She assumes it is because Peter is much older than she is and Joe disapproves.

One night, when Evie is alone with Peter, he confesses to her that he and Joe stole some expensive items before they left Austria after the war. The goods had been pilfered by the Germans from the Jewish people. They stole valuable jewelry, gold, and family heirlooms. Joe sold them and was supposed to share the money with Peter. Evie has a hard time coming to terms with her stepfather's stealing, especially from Jewish prisoners.



Evie’s mother often accompanies her and Peter on their outings, and at first Evie believes it is because her mother is old-fashioned and believes in chastity. However, she realizes that her mother and Peter are having their own affair. It becomes clearer to Evie as the novel unfolds that hypocrisy exists all around her.

Joe insists on taking an ocean fishing trip with Peter and Beverly. There is a hurricane brewing, and their boat gets lost at sea for two days. Joe and his wife are discovered alive but Peter is dead. No one knows what really happened on the boat, but the authorities suspect Joe of foul play. During the course of the investigation, Evie becomes increasingly aware of the dishonesty of her parents, but also the fact that she must now lie if she wants to protect them. She decides to lie to the lawyer to save her parents, sacrificing her own reputation in the process.

By the end of the novel, Evie has matured greatly. No longer trusting and naive, she has learned to separate herself from her parents.