Liar by Ayelet Gundar-Goshen - Book Review
““Maybe it’s irresponsible for me, as a woman and as a mother of a young girl, to be writing this novel.” ”
When I first picked up this book and read the blurb I agreed 100% with Gundar-Goshen’s words. How in today’s context can a book about a young girl who lies about being sexually assaulted be anything other than an awful idea? But Liar has turned out to be one of the most provocative and fascinating books I’ve read in a long time. Liar tells the story of a teenager in Tel Aviv who feels so invisible and rejected by her peers that she lies about being sexually assaulted by a past-his-prime celebrity.
As I said, I was not sold on reading a novel that from the outset appears to perpetuate one of the oldest and most damaging myths surrounding gendered violence, that women make up stories of sexual assault for attention. And although this is the plot that the novel follows, it would be simplistic to assume that Gundar-Goshen’s exploration of gendered violence is not nuanced. In particular, a moment that stood out for me was the snapshot into the life of the President, who on the International Day to Eliminate Violence Against Women was getting ready to deliver a speech, a speech that was being written on the very desk that he had sexually assaulted a young assistant a few years before. This paradox was haunting and powerful - a reminder that perpetrators of gendered violence evade retribution everyday by hiding behind a mask of male privilege and respectability.
Throughout the book we are reminded that good and bad do not exist in isolation from one another. We know that what Nofar (the protagonist) is doing is horrifically wrong, but we can’t help but sympathise with her. She’s attention seeking and shallow - but that doesn’t make her unworthy of empathy.
I was also gripped by the fascinating exploration of a sister relationship that is both intimate and untouchable yet also dangerously fragile. Nofar’s sister describes the time that a man pinched her bum on the street and in outrage, Nofar chased him down and spat on him, returning after to comfort her. Both sisters are torn between wanting the best for each other, wanting their success, yet also wanting their downfall. They live in a world that has pitted them against each other, that has taught them that both sisters can’t have equal attention and success - there is only room for one.
I still feel uncomfortable about the thought that I enjoyed a book so much that centres around this plot line. But maybe that’s why I enjoyed it so much. Being uncomfortable is good. Putting our values to the test is good. The book has reminded me to fight even harder for an end to gendered violence and an end to the perpetuation of the myth that women make up their stories of sexual assault. If you want a thought-provoking, beautifully written book then this is the one for you.
““After all, more lies remain undiscovered than are revealed. Harmless little lies absorbed into the fabric of everyday life until they are indistinguishable from the truth. Time kneads all of them into a single lump of dough, and does it matter what really happened and what didn’t?””
