During the 1980s and early 1990s I taught poetry and creative writing, tutored residential writing courses for the Arvon Foundation and took part in the Poetry Society's Writer in Schools scheme, as well as giving readings and workshops in schools, hospitals, prisons and every other kind of place where a poem could conceivably be welcome. I also taught at the University of Glamorgan, the University of Bristol's Continuing Education Department and for the Open College of the Arts.

The Lie is an utterly gripping psychological thriller that you won't forget for a long time. Dark and creepy and wonderfully written, I can't praise C.L. Taylor enough for how she has wrote this one. At around this time I began to write the poems which formed my first poetry collection, The Apple Fall, and to publish these in magazines. I also completed two novels; fortunately neither survives, and it was more than ten years before I wrote another novel.

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Her boyfriend has a daughter from a previous relationship and Jane gets on well with his little girl. Jane has tried to put her past behind her but someone knows the truth about what happened. Someone who won’t stop until they’ve destroyed Jane and everything she loves… The characterization is so good - people who you thought were trustworthy turn out to be anything but and the sinister undertones increase as gradually the story unfolds. All four friends had flawed but interesting characters. They may not have been very likeable but each had their own issues which all played a part in the trauma that was to follow. The Ektanta yatra retreat, where they were staying, was anything but a haven of peace and tranquility, some of the people there may have seemed charming and welcoming but a few had an agenda of their own. Most of the time my sympathy was with Emma – there were times when I thought she was a bit naive but I could identify with her character and I felt for her at the way she was treated. Timeline switching happens all through the book, from Jane and her friends years ago, before and during their holiday and to the present day, with Jane and her secrets and her new and hidden life. It's pretty easy to follow, not confusing like some timeline switching can be. The final chapter has the townspeople coming to the house en-masse, a scene of mob violence, apparently to bring Daniel to justice for his lies about Mary Pascoe, and the book ends with Daniel committing suicide.

The Lie was a thrilling read that was very hard to put down. If I didn’t have to eat, sleep and work, it wouldn’t have left my hands.Of the four friends, I only really liked the main character Jane/Emma. The others were various levels of horrible. And I love reading about dysfunctional characters so I thoroughly enjoyed the nastiness. Just call me crazy but I love a well-developed bad girl (disclaimer...in my books not in real life!). And this gang met my definition for thoroughly unpleasant. Plus through effective character development we get good insight as to why they were that way. Another find in the local library. I have been meaning to read more Dunmore for a while - my only previous one was her Women's Prize winner A Spell of Winter. Another issue I have with the book is that the relationship between two major characters undergoes a drastic unilateral change almost overnight. This was a little too unbelievable for me. This is an important point as this switch is central to the plot. My final rating is 3.5 for The Lie, it would have been a 4 if not for the sections of the plot that a found a bit too liberal to be realistic.