TELL ME NO LIES

by Hila Colman ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 19, 1978

When Angela is almost 13 and her mother is about to remarry, it turns out that Mom never was married the first time and that Angela is illegitimate. Her father is not a businessman who'd split for Saudi Arabia, as her mother had told her, but a ""Portuguese fisherman"" who still lives in Provincetown and was never informed of Angela's existence. Sulky and resentful about the lie, Angela takes off (from New York) to visit her father, now married with three children. She does get to meet him and his traditional Catholic family, and during a brief conversation on his fishing boat she learns, and accepts, the truth: he has figured out who she is, but--however much he might ""like"" a daughter--he isn't about to take her on. There have been stronger treatments of the same theme, notably Harry Mazer's Dollar Man (1974), with a boy character but the same resolution. Colman's first-person narrative is characteristically slick, but well greased for readers who find her smooth handling and easy characterization an attraction.

Pub Date: June 19, 1978

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Crown

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1978

Categories: FICTION