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The poison in wealth

Shuvam Kabir is challenged by new fiction
WE Were Liars is a recent novel by Emily Lockhart. Its plot concerns the antics of the ultra-high class Sinclair family during their family vacation on their private island off the coast of New England. The principal characters are the narrator, Cadence, two of her cousins, Johnny and Mirren, and her best-friend/soulmate Gatwick. Doesn't that sound like fun so far? Does it sound like a tale of sunshine and shenanigans, teenage hijinks and relationship issues?
Well, it is — and more. We Were Liars is a tale of layers and depth. What looks to be a typical slice-of-life vacation tale on the surface is from the very start established to be more of a mystery and a thriller. Cadence suffers from intense migraines and memory loss stemming from a mysterious accident at the private island, Beechwood, during the summer of her fifteenth year. After a two year hiatus from island vacations, Cadence arrives back at Beechwood during her seventeenth summer to try and piece together what happened to her with the help of her three closest friends.
But arguably more important than this mystery is the continuous commentary on the poisonous influence of wealth. Pent-up bitterness, pettiness and greed of the older Sinclairs are viewed through the lens of the teenaged Cadence and friends. One of the primary conflicts is the main foursome's desperate attempts to maintain a hold on their own innocence in the face of it. This point of view on the American class system is quite possibly unique in literature—the four kids are still just kids, so while they partake of the rich lifestyle, they provide an honest view of it, and the associated guilt and confusion it inspires. Cadence and company do all this without creating a general condemnation of the rich and the successful. This commentary is skillfully woven into the narrative without being too overt or too political to take away from the story. By doing so, Lockhart creates a story that is both
The plot is well-crafted, and solid, with a payoff at the end that is satisfying, though perhaps a little abrupt. There is a twist at the end, as promised by most commercial blurbs for the book, but the reader's mileage may vary as to how well it holds up. Be warned, the tale migrates from lighthearted fun to dark and painful with surprising speed.
The story is not without its flaws, however. The writing style is a little nonstandard, especially at the start. Cadence's narration is very abrupt, structured almost like a poem, with strange and sudden line breaks that leave the reader almost too startled to notice how they emphasize and highlight the more meaningful passages. The narration can also be a bit too poetic in other ways. Look no further than her descriptions of her friends, which any
reader will be hearing a lot: "Johnny, he is bounce, effort, and snark...Mirren, she is sugar, curiosity, and rain....Gat is contemplation and enthusiasm. Ambition and Strong coffee." Vivid? Or overly fanciful? You decide, because it's a fine line that the novel tries to walk.
Which also brings us to the issue of characterization. Does there seem to be more focus on Gat in the previous quote? Get used to it, because Gatwick Patil is the center of Cadence's world. Emily Lockhart tries to do too much with him—he's the exotic foreigner, the saint-like idealist, the reactionary and revolutionary, the seductive bad boy, the outsider and outcast, the intellectual of the group, a teen prodigy, the only one to challenge the sheltered protagonist's worldview, etc., etc. He's every teenage dreamboy combined into one perfect super being. In contrast, Cadence herself is actually lacking in characterization. The only thing she can say about herself is that she supposedly "doesn't suffer fools" (she actually does, to an egregious extent). Otherwise, her entire character can be boiled to down to headaches, confusion, and self-pity (though at least the point of the book is for her to grow out of the latter).
Nevertheless, the book is highly enjoyable, with a deep, meaningful plot and delightful dialogue. The issues with characterization are easily overlooked by anyone who is more interested in either the plot or the social commentary, and the writing style becomes easier to swallow as you go along. As Young Adult Fiction, We Were Liars is sure to delight the casual reader and challenge those looking for something more into reassessing themselves and their beliefs.
SHUVAM KABIR WRITES FROM THE UNITED STATES