Robin Talley - Lies We Tell Ourselves - Shortlisted for the 2016 Carnegie Medal

In 1959 Virginia, the lives of two girls on opposite sides of the battle for civil rights will be changed forever.

Sarah Dunbar is one of the first black students to attend the previously all-white Jefferson High School. An honors student at her old school, she is put into remedial classes, spit on and tormented daily.

Linda Hairston is the daughter of one of the town's most vocal opponents of school integration. She has been taught all her life that the races should be kept "separate but equal."

Forced to work together on a school project, Sarah and Linda must confront harsh truths about race, power and how they really feel about one another.

Boldly realistic and emotionally compelling, Lies We Tell Ourselves is a brave and stunning novel about finding truth amid the lies, and finding your voice even when others are determined to silence it.

ROBIN TALLEYgrew up in Roanoke, Virginia, writing terrible teen poetry and riding a desegregation bus to the school across town. A Lambda Literary Fellow, Robin lives in Washington, DC, with her fiancée, plus an antisocial cat and a goofy dog. When Robin's not writing, she's often planning communication strategies at organisations fighting for equal rights and social justice. You can find her on the web at www.robintalley.comor on Twitter @robin_talley.

ISBN: 978-1-472-05514-9

LIES WE TELL OURSELVES

© 2014 Robin Talley

Published in Great Britain 2014

by HQ, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF

All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.

By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.

Version: 2018-10-26

To the Norfolk 17:

Delores Johnson Brown

LaVera Forbes Brown

Louis Cousins

Alveraze Frederick Gonsouland

Andrew Heidelberg

Geraldine Talley Hobby

Edward Jordan

Betty Jean Reed Kea

Olivia Driver Lindsay

Lolita Portis-Jones

Johnnie Rouse

James Turner Jr

Patricia Turner

Carol Wellington

Claudia Wellington

Patricia Godbolt White

Reginald Young

May your courage resonate with every generation

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text In 1959 Virginia, the lives of two girls on opposite sides of the battle for civil rights will be changed forever. Sarah Dunbar is one of the first black students to attend the previously all-white Jefferson High School. An honors student at her old school, she is put into remedial classes, spit on and tormented daily. Linda Hairston is the daughter of one of the town's most vocal opponents of school integration. She has been taught all her life that the races should be kept "separate but equal." Forced to work together on a school project, Sarah and Linda must confront harsh truths about race, power and how they really feel about one another. Boldly realistic and emotionally compelling, Lies We Tell Ourselves is a brave and stunning novel about finding truth amid the lies, and finding your voice even when others are determined to silence it.

About the Author ROBIN TALLEY grew up in Roanoke, Virginia, writing terrible teen poetry and riding a desegregation bus to the school across town. A Lambda Literary Fellow, Robin lives in Washington, DC, with her fiancée, plus an antisocial cat and a goofy dog. When Robin's not writing, she's often planning communication strategies at organisations fighting for equal rights and social justice. You can find her on the web at www.robintalley.com or on Twitter @robin_talley .

Title Page

Copyright ISBN: 978-1-472-05514-9 LIES WE TELL OURSELVES © 2014 Robin Talley Published in Great Britain 2014 by HQ, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental. By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher. Version: 2018-10-26

Dedication To the Norfolk 17: Delores Johnson Brown LaVera Forbes Brown Louis Cousins Alveraze Frederick Gonsouland Andrew Heidelberg Geraldine Talley Hobby Edward Jordan Betty Jean Reed Kea Olivia Driver Lindsay Lolita Portis-Jones Johnnie Rouse James Turner Jr Patricia Turner Carol Wellington Claudia Wellington Patricia Godbolt White Reginald Young May your courage resonate with every generation

Part 1

Lie1

Lie2

Lie3

Lie4

Lie5

Lie6

Lie7

Part 2

Lie8

Lie9

Lie10

Lie11

Lie12

Lie13

Lie14

Part 3

Lie15

Lie16

Lie17

Lie18

Lie19

Lie20

Lie21

Lie22

Part 4

Lie23

Lie24

Lie25

Lie26

Part 5

Truth1

Truth2

Epilogue

Author’s Note

Acknowledgments

Questions for Discussion

Extract

About the Publisher