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3.5 

One Great Lie

By Deb Caletti
One Great Lie by Deb Caletti digital book - Fable

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Publisher Description

Four starred reviews!

A “quietly triumphant” (Horn Book Magazine) and atmospheric YA story of romance, mystery, and power about a young woman discovering her strength in lush, sultry Venice—from the Printz Honor–winning author of A Heart in a Body in the World.

When Charlotte wins a scholarship to a writing workshop in Venice with the charismatic and brilliant Luca Bruni, it’s a dream come true. Writing is her passion, she loves Bruni’s books, and going to that romantic and magical sinking city gives her the chance to solve a long-time family mystery about a Venetian poet deep in their lineage, Isabella Di Angelo, who just might be the real author of a very famous poem.

Bruni’s villa on the eerie island of La Calamita is extravagant—lush beyond belief, and the other students are both inspiring and intimidating. Venice itself is beautiful, charming, and seductive, but so is Luca Bruni. As his behavior becomes increasingly unnerving, and as Charlotte begins to unearth the long-lost work of Isabella with the help of sweet, smart Italian Dante, other things begin to rise, too—secrets about the past…and secrets about the present.

As the events of the summer build to a shattering climax, Charlotte will be forced to confront some dark truths about the history of powerful men—and about the determination of creative girls.

103 Reviews

3.5
“3.5 stars. I don’t read too many YA novels, but this description caught my eye. I thought a little more romance and mystery would be in the storyline, but I did also see how the author tied in aspects of the Me Too movement. I wish the characters would’ve gotten more praise rather than flack, especially if younger readers can relate to certain aspects of this book.”
“Wow, wow, wow. I adored this book. It was a little slow at the beginning but I loved the themes. A very relevant discussion on power and fame, women being silenced by men and what treatment they have to endure due to men (both in history and still currently). The setting and the description of the setting is beautiful and it feels like you’ve been transported there. So many great sentences and I loved how the present was tied to the past. The plot of the story is also very unique and feels like it hasn’t been done as much before. At certain points I got a bit bored with the heavy focus on history and not what was happening in the present moment of the story but overall a book that has a lot to say and left me in awe.”
“Thanks to Libro.fm for the ALC audiobook. Rating: r for topic - sexual grooming and predator; plenty of profanity; teen sex (not on page, assumed and accepted), alcohol recommend: upper HS and up strong message questioning the morality of continuing to give accolades to artists who live(D) a life that is ... not stellar, as well as shining a light on the LONG history of women's work being attributed to others (men), or entirely ignored or rejected because the source of the work was female: each chapter is information about a female artist - usually writer / poet - from Italy, 1500-ish, lots of talk of convents and who got sent there and why. The foreshadowing in this one is STRONG. the reader knows immediately that the amazing wonderful mentor-author is NOT all he's reputed to be. And that Charlotte should stay FAR away. Her ability to have a physical relationship with Dante immediately after Luca's abuse seemed unlikely to me. The way she was treated when she talked about what happened to her did NOT, sadly. But the plotting, characterization, writing made me care about Charlotte and the whole bigger question: it brought it to the forefront of my mind to reconsider, to think through again. I appreciated Dante's mother's analysis of the question whether we should continue to read / study / admire the dead white guys who lived nasty lives. To name a few: Dickens, Picasso, Vivaldi... Dewey, the library guy. Her statement was that it's ok to study their work - they can not hear the praise, they do not benefit from the admiration. But a man who is shown to be misogynistic, abusive, predatory, and is still alive? Shout it to the mountains and don't buy his stuff. There is also a difference in culture, what was accepted then, and how we look back from our contemporary understanding of morality. Theirs was different - not right, but different. And while we do not give grace, and if we study their work, we ALSO tell the story about the mistress... the too-young students and what may have been going on there... and so forth.”

About Deb Caletti

Deb Caletti is the award-winning and critically acclaimed author of over sixteen books for adults and young adults, including Honey, Baby, Sweetheart, a finalist for the National Book Award; A Heart in a Body in the World, a Michael L. Printz Honor Book; Girl, Unframed; and One Great Lie. Her books have also won the Josette Frank Award for Fiction, the Washington State Book Award, and numerous other state awards and honors, and she was a finalist for the PEN USA Award. She lives with her family in Seattle.

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