The Little Liar: A Novel

An Instant New York Times Bestseller

Beloved bestselling author Mitch Albom returns with his most important novel to date, an unforgettable story of 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, 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, 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: 8.48

294 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

Anonymous
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.
Gram Judy
Jun 03, 2025
8/10 stars
Well-written story of the Holocaust experiences of 4 fictional characters. Very touching.
Dramaqueen65
May 15, 2025
Some of us just loved this book, and some of us were a little more reserved, but nobody seemed to dislike it. It gave us a lot to discuss.
Anonymous
May 01, 2025
10/10 stars
Wow. I don’t think I have the words to describe the emotions Mitch Albom brought out in this book and in me. As tears stream down my face, I smile. Just read this book (and have tissues on hand). Trust me.

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