One of Us is Lying

One of Us is Lying is a volume of nuanced and largely linked tales concerned with love, loss, longing and betrayal. Sally Cline sees darkness and suffering beneath polished surfaces and glittering conversations. Several of the stories appear domestic with an outward harmony but misery or even humiliation lurk quietly behind suburban facades.

However the bold passionate writing reminds readers of historic violence and ancient fears as well as the small disturbances of contemporary life. In the linked stories Sally Cline examines intertwined and complex relationships between her characters over a number of years. A secondary character in one story may become the central character in another.

The stand-alone fictions have different protagonists but as lives and tales weave in and out there are subtle echoes and symbols that seem to edge towards stories already linked. The settings roam from quiet Greek villages, through the University cities of Oxford and Cambridge, into the bustling present of Halifax in Nova Scotia, back into the past of Nazi Germany. The actions take place in or around Scottish mountains, old fashioned mental asylums, Cretan cafes, and slow moving trains.

Conflict thrives in an exotic art gallery, a Harley Street abortion clinic, an old people's home and on several beaches. The characters are women and men, gay, straight, married, single, and every age from childhood to the 80s. We see children everywhere absorbed in family life.

We see elderly clients shut away in isolated homes. Characters include railway passengers, celebrated lawyers and musicians, care home workers, librarians, artists, hospital staff, writers, private psychiatrists, amateur photographers, and professional journalists. Couples are examined and motherhood assessed.

There is warmth and wit in the writing. Several of the stories generate a feeling of unease where there is desolation and dread but never dullness. All the stories show an intense focus on rhythm and three very short tales could be read as prose poetry.