The Little Liar: From the Bestselling Author of The Stranger in the Lifeboat

An Instant New York Times Bestseller

Beloved bestselling author Mitch Albom returns with his most important novel to date, an unforgettable work of World War II historical fiction about truth and lies set during the Holocaust.

Eleven-year-old Nico Krispis has never told a lie. When the Nazis invade his home in Salonika, Greece, the trustworthy boy is discovered by a German officer, who offers him a chance to save his family. All Nico has to do is persuade his fellow Jewish residents to board trains heading "north," where new jobs and safety await. Unaware that this is all a cruel ruse, the innocent boy reassures passengers on the station platform every day.

But when the final train is loaded, Nico sees his family being herded into a boxcar. Only then does he discover that he has helped send them—and everyone he knows and loves—to their doom at Auschwitz.

Nico escapes—but he never tells the truth again.

In The Little Liar, a gripping family saga, Mitch Albom examines the human repercussions of deception by interweaving the stories of Nico, who yearns for forgiveness; his older brother, Sebastian, who vows revenge against him; Fannie, the girl who must choose between them; and Udo Graf, the Nazi officer who forever changed their lives with his lies.

Through the war years, the concentration camps, and the decades that follow, Albom reveals the consequences of each person’s honesty and dishonesty in this powerful story of survival, bringing them back to where it all started in a staggering climax worthy of the best of Albom’s internationally embraced stories.

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Published Nov 14, 2023

352 pages

Average rating: 8.51

356 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

What Bookclubbers are saying about this book

✨ Summarized by Bookclubs AI

Readers say Mitch Albom’s *The Little Liar* is a unique and creative Holocaust novel with a compelling narrator, Truth, who ties together the stories ...

Larry Burns
Nov 16, 2025
8/10 stars
Powerful!
K Olson
Jan 14, 2025
10/10 stars
I have read a lot of holocaust/WW2 books and I am always amazed that there are still fresh takes on this topic. The Little Liar is arguably my favorite book of 2024. Narrated by Truth, this novel tells the story of one town in Greece that went from a population of 50,000 Jews down to 2,000. Highly recommend.
SuzyQ
Jun 10, 2024
A realistic WW II novel about Greece told by Truth.
Mary Pat Holt
Feb 05, 2026
10/10 stars
I have read many historical fiction books about the holocaust and WWII and when a new one comes out, I wonder how this one can be different? Let me tell you, this is one of the best ones! It is unique and creative on a very difficult topic. The narrator is Truth (I thought that was going to be strange, but it worked so well for the story), and he oversees everyone. Albom does a beautiful job weaving together all the stories of the 4 main characters, Nico, Sebastian, Fannie and Udo. This is a brutal telling of the atrocities of the holocaust but also a beautiful story about hope. Truth is the center of everything, but we must recognize the lie first. Is a lie ever justified? Can any lies ever be forgiven?

You have to read the book for yourself to see how these 4 lives are connected. I read this book in a day while travelling and so many times I could not believe the twist I was reading, the connection that happened. I even learned something new which I love when reading historical fiction. I was unaware of Greek Jews and the Nazi invasion of Greece.

"Tell the world what happened here."
Zaira_Alegria
Feb 01, 2026
9/10 stars
I love Mitch Albom, so reading this Historical Fiction from him was enjoyable as it talks about WW2 and how it affected Greek Jews.

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