Joyous Lies is a tale of family secrets straining the bonds of family love, and lost ideals testing the deepest held values. Spence combines a spellbinding plot with nuanced, rich characters that will reach into your heart and not let go.
A documentary filmmaker disturbs the flow of life on an aging commune. But the reader soon realizes the disruptions began long before and have left their mark on three generations, particularly the women. Will the women continue the betrayals and secrets or overcome them?
In Joyous Lies, Spence’s skill as a writer of women’s fiction is beautifully revealed in the passage where she first describes the intruding filmmaker. She infuses the physical description with the feeling of menace and threat that the older woman, Johanna, feels when presented with this young woman who may expose what Johanna needs so deeply to keep concealed:
“Johanna’s gaze rose to a face still in the warm bloom of youth, almost but not quite beautiful, the roman nose slightly hooked. It gave the young woman, alarmingly, an air of authority. She wore tightfitting jeans and a light brown leather jacket. Under a tan corduroy baseball cap, the visitor’s tawny hair reared up in a ponytail. She had cheekbones so high they created perfect little hills against the craters of her dark, darting eyes.”
This is a novel of generational conflict, as well as conflicts arising from the clash of social justice and environmental issues. Spence dramatically combines family dynamics with thought-provoking moral reckonings.
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Margaret Spence’s website.
For my review of Margaret Spence’s debut novel, Lipstick on the Strawberry.