The Lies I Tell

Meg Williams. Maggie Littleton. Melody Wilde. Different names for the same person. She's a con artist who erases herself to become whoever you need her to be. She slides alongside you and tells you exactly what you need to hear, and by the time she's through, you've likely lost everything.

Kat Roberts has been waiting for the woman who upended her life to return. And now that she has, Kat is determined to expose her. But as the two women grow closer, Kat's long-held assumptions begin to crumble, leaving Kat to wonder who Meg's true target is.

This discussion guide was shared and sponsored in partnership with Sourcebooks Landmark

Book club questions for The Lies I Tell by Julie Clark

Use these discussion questions to guide your next book club meeting.

One of the most powerful tools in Meg’s arsenal is a familiarity with social media. What do you think she could learn about you from your online presence?

Since they both know the other woman is lying about her identity, Meg and Kat also know they shouldn’t trust each other. How does their friendship grow despite this?

Discuss the role of ego in Meg’s cons. How do her targets create openings for her with their own bad behavior?

The greatest downside of Meg’s career is the loneliness. Do you think she could have kept in touch with her friends when she started scamming Cory? How would you feel in her position, moving cross-country every few years and not making any permanent connections?

Meg believes that scamming Phillip to return Celia’s cottage was a turning point in her career. How was that job different from the others she had run?

Why does it take Kat so long to recognize that Scott has relapsed? Where would you draw the line between supporting a partner who is trying to overcome an addiction and protecting yourself?

Kat doesn’t trust that Scott will be investigated by his colleagues.

Is there incentive for police departments to investigate their officers and detectives? What motivations do they have to sweep corruption and violence under the rug?

Meg posits, “The difference between justice and revenge comes down to who’s telling the story.” What does she mean, and do you agree with her?

What’s next for Kat and Meg? Do you think Kat will succeed in her new quest? Will Meg really retire from cons?

The Lies I Tell Book Club Questions PDF

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“Clark takes you straight into the collision course of two dynamic, complicated women—who will go to any length to fix their past and find their way to a different future. The Lies I Tell is a winner!”
—LAURA DAVE, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Last Thing He Told Me

"A meticulously plotted mindbender, with a last page I can only describe as a triumph. Do not miss it."
―JESSICA KNOLL, New York Times bestselling author of Luckiest Girl Alive

“The Lies I Tell is a knockout. Smart, savvy and so duplicitous with a propulsive storyline and two of the most beguiling female characters I’ve ever met. Julie Clark does it again!”
—MARY KUBICA, New York Times bestselling of Local Woman Missing

“The Lies I Tell is a uniquely riveting cat and mouse game with two artfully nuanced female protagonists that is at once a razor-sharp, page-turning mystery and a brilliant, thought-provoking exploration of what it truly means to do good in the world.”
—KIMBERLY MCREIGHT, New York Times bestselling author of Friends like These

"Clark knocks it out of the park with The Lies I Tell. A modern-day Robin Hood with a feminist twist. This is one of the best books you’ll read this year. Unputdownable!”
—LIV CONSTANTINE, internationally bestselling author of The Last Mrs. Parrish

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