Family of Liars

Family of Liars by E. Lockhart is a prequel to the bestselling novel We Were Liars, offering readers a deeper look into the Sinclair family and the roots of their secrets. Set decades before the events of the first book, this story unfolds during one summer on Beechwood Island, the Sinclairs’ private and privileged retreat.

The novel centers on Carrie Sinclair, the mother of the protagonist from We Were Liars. As a teenager, Carrie experiences a summer marked by love, grief, betrayal, and the hidden darkness within her family. The seemingly perfect world of the Sinclairs—wealthy, elegant, and admired—is gradually revealed to be fragile, tainted by lies and tragedies that echo across generations. Through Carrie’s eyes, the reader sees how the family’s obsession with appearance, tradition, and control creates an atmosphere where painful truths are buried and dangerous choices are made.

E. Lockhart crafts the narrative with her signature lyrical style, weaving suspense with emotional intensity. The novel balances themes of privilege, guilt, and inherited trauma, while also exploring the complexities of sisterhood, first love, and the heavy cost of denial. Carrie’s perspective exposes the foundations of the Sinclair family’s patterns—how silence and lies became survival tools, and how the ripple effects of one fateful summer continue to haunt future generations.

What makes Family of Liars compelling is not only its revelations about the Sinclairs’ past, but also the way it deepens the emotional impact of We Were Liars. Readers gain a chilling understanding of how history repeats itself, and how the pursuit of perfection can lead to ruin.