An intense debut novel that's "compulsively readable and stunningly written," (Jodi Picoult),  Lies You Wanted to Hear is hard-hitting story about a family torn apart from the inside out, and what happens when the mistakes you make cost more than anyone would expect. Alone in an empty house, Lucy tries to imagine the lives of her two young children. They have been gone for seven years, and she is tormented by the role she played in that heartbreaking loss. You can hardly see a glimpse of the sexy, edgy woman she used to be. Back then, she was a magnet for men like Matt, who loved her beyond reason, and Griffin, who wouldn't let go but always left her wanting more. Now the lies they told and the choices they made have come to haunt all three of them. With shattering turns, Lies You Wanted to Hear explores the way good people talk themselves into doing terrible, unthinkable things. What happens when we come to believe our own lies? And what price must we pay for our mistakes? A searing story that will leave you wondering what choices you would make, Lies You Wanted to Hear is a stunning debut. In this surprisingly effective debut novel (from a 67-year-old author), the story is told from two perspectives. Lucy and Matt meet on a blind date in 1979, and straight-arrow Matt, a police officer, is immediately smitten. Lucy is just coming off a bad breakup with Griffin, the love of her life who left her the day after she got an abortion at his insistence. She sees in Matt a reliable man who makes a nice contrast to her elusive ex. But as the two marry and have two children, their marriage is tested. Lucy suffers from a bout with postpartum depression and comes to resent Matt’s cheerful, capable parenting, fearing that she can never measure up to his standards. And that fear proves prophetic when Lucy embarks on an affair with her old boyfriend, eventually asking Matt for a divorce. He takes the kids, alters their identities, and spends years on the run as Lucy grieves for her lost children. Thomson lays out the moral complexities underlying acrimonious divorces, taking care to make each side credible, but Lucy’s plight will win the greater measure of sympathy. --Joanne Wilkinson "Hard to believe Thomson is a first time author, given the achievement of this novel. Compulsively readable and stunningly written, Lies You Wanted to Hear shows how the tiniest fissure in a relationship might become a canyon. Do we get what we deserve in a relationship? Can we ever receive what we truly need from the people we love? I'm still not entirely convinced that these characters are fictional; that's how much they lived and breathed on the page." ― Jodi Picoult, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Lone Wolf and The Storyteller "The searing tale of a wife and mother, a husband and father, both of whom are - like the rest of us - flawed, their animosity for one another only outweighed by their deep and abiding love for their children. No spouse or parent who picks up this book will be able to put it down. Nor will anyone else." ― Andre Dubus III, NYT bestselling author of Townie and House of Sand and Fog "A gripping debut....a morally complex and thoroughly grown-up novel. " ― Margot Livesey, New York Times bestselling author of The Flight of Gemma Hardy "A remarkable, readable novel that's sure to provoke animated debate" ― Portland Daily Sun "Thomson poignantly depicts [his characters’] humanity and readers cannot help but feel empathetic." ― The Brooklyn Eagle "Impossible to put down, this is the book club read of the year" ― Bloggers Recommend "A compelling story of a recognizable but flawed couple, bound by bad choices and devotion to their children that explores the consequences of their of self-deceptions with insight" ― Associated Press "An unequal attraction has devastating repercussions in this delightful, assured debut novel" ― People "Quite an achievement ... confident and eminently readable" ― New York Journal of Books "[A] well-told narrative of complex characters and their troubled families" ― Publishers Weekly "A great piece of fiction. ... The book is filled with such tart takes on the human condition, along with more gentle illuminating moments. It has a sense of fullness and urgency that perhaps only a 67-year-old first time writer can impart." ― Concord Monitor "A haunting piece of fiction ... Whitfield Thomson's anguishing tale is told so thoughtfully that it leaves readers in the unusual place of trying to determine right from wrong" ― Shelf Awareness "[An] effective debut ... Thomson lays out the moral complexities underlying acrimonious divorces, taking care to make each side credible." ― Booklist "An engrossing read about complicated characters whose decisions cause us to ponder the many degrees between right and wrong" ― Book Reporter "A spellbinding stunner of a debut ... Lies You Wanted to Hear is a novel of intensely lifelike characters and chilling c