12/13/2021
Ali-Afzal’s solid debut follows an English Pakistani woman who is desperate to fit into her affluent Wimbledon neighborhood. Over the past few years, Faiza Saunders has secretly blown through her family’s £75,000 emergency fund with a series of “shorthand” purchases meant to show she’s a “yummy mummy,” that her three kids belong with their peers, and that her marriage is enviable. When her husband, Tom, loses his job, Faiza is convinced he will leave if she tells him about the depleted fund, and she has a matter of weeks to replenish it through whatever means necessary. As the lies snowball, so does the anxiety. At the heart of the story are the complicated issues Faiza deals with: a desire to provide her children with a life free of the racism she endured, her struggle to code switch to please others, and the real discord between her and her husband (“For Tom, money was utility and security. For me, it was a solution to all kinds of problems”). While Ali-Afzal makes this overlong by a few too many redundant scenes involving the central dilemma, she ably conveys how money has become a taboo subject for the couple. Chock-full of understandable bad decisions, this page-turner is sure to get readers talking. Agent: Jenny Bent, the Bent Agency. (Feb.)
"I just fell into this and couldn’t stop... the writing is so fresh and light; funny in places, but moving in others... I just can’t believe it’s a debut! Ali-Afzal writes brilliantly and Faiza is so warm and relatable as a protagonist that you feel every one of her emotional ups and downs alongside her as you turn the page. The story is sharp and witty and so well-paced that I devoured this book in only two days. A total page-turner and one I’ll be recommending to everyone I know." —New York Times and Sunday Times Bestseller and Reece’s Bookclub pick February 2021 Sarah Pearse, author of The Sanatorium
"A fresh take on domestic dynamics and moral dilemma. Great for book clubs! I really enjoyed Would I Lie to You?”—Clare Mackintosh, New York Times bestselling author
"This page-turner is sure to get readers talking."—Publishers Weekly
"Would I Lie To You is a warm, intelligent, light yet poignant story of trying to keep up with your neighbors. Aliya Ali-Afzal depicts the moneyed, suburban world of south west London with a brilliantly wry, observational eye, and keeps up the tension right till the end." —Sophie Kinsella, New York Times bestselling author of I Owe You One
"I loved this… A warm, funny, compelling, escapist read - Faiza is a wonderful protagonist... not to be missed!"—Debbie Howells, Bestselling author of The Bones of You
"This book has it all: tension, humour, and a page-turning plot. The resourceful and endearing heroine, Faiza, will steal your heart. Aliya Ali-Afzal’s stunning debut should be top of your reading pile this year!"—Lesley Kara, Bestselling author of The Rumor
"I absolutely loved it, so warm, funny, sad and brilliantly written."—Laura Marshall, Bestselling author of Friend Request
"'A refreshing new voice in commercial fiction"—Cosmopolitan
Aliya Ali-Afzal’s tense, thought-provoking debut sizzles! WOULD I LIE TO YOU is clever and fresh and absolutely unputdownable! As Faiza’s life spirals out of control, we follow her on a nail-biting quest to save her family from the gigantic hole she’s dug for them all. Would I Lie to You provides a voyeuristic glimpse into wealthy suburbia, and the lengths we're willing to go to be accepted. A cautionary tale about greed, lies, and infidelity, and the nightmare that ensues when you succumb to all three. I was holding my breath while turning pages, waiting for this pressure-cooker of greed and lies and infidelity to explode! —Lori Nelson Spielman, New York Times Bestselling Author of The Star-Crossed Sisters of Tuscany
"A nail-biter all the way."—Toronto Star
01/01/2022
DEBUT Ali-Afzal's debut has a chick lit vibe but also broaches serious issues like racism (Faiza is Pakistani Muslim, and Tom is white) and depression (adult and adolescent). Thanks to Tom's finance job, he, his wife Faiza, and their children live in London's affluent Wimbledon Village. When he's laid off, he figures he'll find another job quickly; if not, they have enough in their emergency fund to cover expenses for a while. But Faiza dipped into the fund to try to fit in with her rich friends and to spoil herself and the kids a little. Or a lot. Tom has no idea that the money is gone, and now Faiza either has to 'fess up about draining their savings or tell him a little lie and figure out a way to quickly replace the money. She goes with the latter, and one little falsehood leads to a mountain of lies that could cause her to lose everything. VERDICT Though it's about a hundred pages too long, Ali-Afzal's novel is still a page-turner. Readers will want to find out how the frustrating but likable Faiza is going to get herself out of the mess she created. For fans of chick lit and stories about relationships and trust.—Samantha Gust
2022-01-26
From the pressure cooker of upper-class suburban London comes a painful story of paranoia and betrayal.
Like Big Little Lies and Little Fires Everywhere, Ali-Afzal's Would I Lie to You? delivers a fast-paced critique of class and motherhood. Narrator Faiza is the perfect housewife—casting aside her degree from Oxford to raise her three children and keep up appearances in wealthy suburban Wimbledon, she goes to Botox parties and participates in fundraisers for the local prep school. Faiza wants to belong at all costs even as she longs to be talked to "as if I was a person and not a walking, talking ethnicity," to escape her immediate classification as "exotic." When Tom, her husband, loses his job, she goes to great lengths to hide the fact that she's used up their rainy-day fund to play in this society. She grew up with Pakistani immigrant parents fighting over money, and she doesn't want to repeat the same pattern, so she hides her spending from Tom—but soon their loving marriage begins to feel the strain of Tom's depression and Faiza's web of lies. Faiza returns to a demanding sales position after more than a decade out of the workforce, and she continues to use lies as her armor as she struggles to keep up with women like Julia, her nemesis, an unkind and racist socialite. Though Julia and her Harvey Weinstein–like husband are a sometimes crudely drawn stereotype of a power couple, Faiza and Tom and their children can sometimes surprise. The book begins with a strange 10-line prologue, hinting at suicide, written in a voice that isn't Faiza's first-person narrative. It seems tacked on to drive the reader through the novel, which does not need this help.
A sometimes-engaging thriller about a woman who pushes a marriage over the brink.
09/01/2022
Ali-Afzal's debut centers on Faiza, an English Pakistani woman living in London's impossibly posh Wimbledon Village. Faiza is a fortysomething mother with a banker husband and a gaggle of shallow friends—the UK version of "ladies who lunch." She is the worst kind of shallow woman, who wants so desperately to fit in and "keep up with the Joneses" that she lies to everyone, including herself. Disaster strikes when Faiza's husband is laid off, and Faiza realizes that they might need to draw on their emergency rainy day fund. The only problem is that there is no emergency cash, since Faiza spent it long ago. Can Faiza keep the truth from her husband long enough to replenish the fund? What follows is one ridiculous situation after the next, with lies piling on top of lies. This audio's saving grace is the narrator, Aysha Kala, who imbues Faiza with depth and brings out the nuances in Faiza's friends and family. VERDICT An interesting premise, but an overlong and exasperating book. Despite the skillful narration, this one is a strictly optional purchase.—Anna Clark
Aysha Kala narrates in a crisp, clear voice that easily draws listeners into the complex life of Faiza, a Pakistani-Muslim woman living in a posh London neighborhood. When Faiza’s husband, Tom, loses his job, Faiza is forced to weave a web of lies to keep him from discovering that she has spent their emergency fund. Listeners become privy to Faiza’s background and the ways she has had to create facades to fit in and please others. While Kala’s voice sounds too young for Faiza, her pace and tone in differentiating characters will keep listeners engaged. Although there is plenty of tension and suspense, the novel is less domestic thriller than contemporary fiction illustrating issues of race, religion, and cultural and economic biases. E.Q. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
Aysha Kala narrates in a crisp, clear voice that easily draws listeners into the complex life of Faiza, a Pakistani-Muslim woman living in a posh London neighborhood. When Faiza’s husband, Tom, loses his job, Faiza is forced to weave a web of lies to keep him from discovering that she has spent their emergency fund. Listeners become privy to Faiza’s background and the ways she has had to create facades to fit in and please others. While Kala’s voice sounds too young for Faiza, her pace and tone in differentiating characters will keep listeners engaged. Although there is plenty of tension and suspense, the novel is less domestic thriller than contemporary fiction illustrating issues of race, religion, and cultural and economic biases. E.Q. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
