2016 Shelf Challenge: The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge

As I've mentioned in a previous post, I'm taking part in the 2016 Shelf Challenge.

This year I've decided to try the shelf containing the Carnegie shortlist shelf. The first book was Frances Hardinge's "The Lie Tree."

 

I really enjoyed The Lie Tree. Set not long after the release of The Origin of the Species, it focuses on a teenage girl named Faith. She's desperate to be a part of her father's world, the world of Natural History & Science.

 

The problem is that Faith lives in Victorian society and women are all but forbidden to be scientists. The more she is told she can't take part, the more she tries to wedge herself into the world of plants and animals, fossils and discoveries.

 

At the beginning of the novel ee find Faith her family moving from Kent to a mysterious island call Vane. Through her curiosity, Faith discovers that the move was prompted by a scandal surrounding her Father's work with natural history.

 

Things only get worse on Vane, her father grows increasingly paranoid and withdrawn, and is often found secluded in his library exhibiting strange behaviour.

 

Things come to a boil, and Faith's father is found dead on the family's property. Convinced it's a result of murder, Faith immerses herself in her father's work to try and discover the culprit.

 

Incorporating a mix of history, religion, the supernatural and an old fashion "Who-dunnit." the Lie Tree is great. I have a feeling it's going to be one of my favourite Carnegie books this year.

 

On to the next one!