This book made me feel anxious. So much so, that I would read a couple of chapters and then close the book to clear my mind. There were times when I really, really disliked the main character Faiza and there were other times when I could totally empathise with her.

Faiza has it all, a perfect house in 'the right area', a lovely family with her children going to the best schools around, a glamourous social life and a banker husband. Unbeknown to her husband Tom, Faiza gets so involved with keeping up appearances that she spends a majority of the £75,000 emergency fund. Tom loses his job and instead of telling him the truth, Faiza digs a hole for herself that gets increasingly deeper and deeper.

There is more to this book than just the main story line; the superficiality and peer pressure of the so-called Mummy groups is brought to light, a multi-cultural marriage and bringing up children of a mixed race, racism, looking after elderly parents, getting back to the work place after a hiatus, sexual harassment, marriage and finances, job loss, mental health and rather sadly, suicide.

This is one of those books that looks as if it might be standard chick lit, but it’s much more profound. It deals with issues such as attitudes to race, mixed marriage, social status, the different pressures on men and women, ageing parents and friendships, as well as the value of honesty. I enjoyed it very much. It was easy to sympathise with Faiza, the narrator, and to see how she ended up in the situation that she did. The narrative voice was so authentic. I’m grateful to Net Galley for giving me the opportunity to read this book and I’ll be looking out for this author in the future.

I loved this book and had to keep turning the pages to find out how Faiza got herself out of the situation she found herself in. On the whole the characters were likeable and realistic, Faiza especially who had got herself into a situation and her efforts to fix it while dealing with racist “friends”, looking after her parents, trying to hide the situation from her husband Tom. I was willing her to get out of the financial mess and to cut some people out of her life.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC in return for an honest and unbiased opinion.

Would I Lie to You is such an exciting read. I turned the pages quickly and couldn’t wait to get back to the book when I reluctantly had to put it down to do something else! Faiza, mother of three and married to Tom, has a terrible secret - she has spent all of their savings and when Tom loses his City job, those savings are badly needed. The clock is ticking, their mortgage and their children’s school fees need to be paid...and there is no money. My heart was racing as the deadline approached. I felt very sorry for Faiza who tries so hard to get the money back. It’s a wonderfully tense read with appealing characters and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It makes you think about what is really important in life. Five stars!

'Would I Lie To You' is a compelling read - tense, fast-paced and cleverly plotted. Aliya Ali-Afzal does a wonderful job of introducing and blending numerous important themes - financial worries affecting a marriage, racism (overt and casual) and mental health, to name but a few. I really warmed to Faiza's character and found myself rooting for her even when she took a wrong turn (as she did rather a lot)!

This book deserves all the praise and more. With thanks to Head of Zeus and NetGalley.

I enjoyed this book as it shows that everyone in society regardless of religion or culture has problems. Liked that the main character was an investment banker and also a shopaholic. Shows some serious issues in society too.

Faiza's husband Tom has just been laid off from his job, he thinks they'll be okay as they've savings of around £75,000 but he doesn't know Faiza spent every penny keeping up appearances with the rich parents her children go to school with. So Faiza makes up some elaborate lies so she doesn't have to tell Tom about what she's done.

This was a very good novel every character was very fleshed out and you felt for each and every one of them with everything they were going through.

Faiza at times was a very unlikeable character I kept wishing she'd just tell Tom what she'd done but there was some nailbiting moments when you weren't sure what she'd do next.

I felt the racial aspects were handled very well and how every person deals with it differently. Also the suicide aspects and how it affects not only the person considering it but their friends and family too.

This was a very good debut novel and I will definitely pick things up by this author again

This book is about communication and the lack of it . Tom and Fazia are married, he is English her background is Pakistani. The have 3 children and seemingly a happy life with children attending private schools until Tom loses his job. Fazia has , however spent their emergency fund . How is she going to replace 75,000 pounds as a stay at home mother involved in the expensive social life and expectations of the other mothers at their childrens" private schools.
I did not take to Fazia at first, I could not understand the need to lie and to conform to the expectations of the social circle . Tom and the children and her parents were so lovely, why all the deceit ? Later in the book there is more soul searching and I felt more compassion . The first part of the book dragged a little but the storyline picked up later . This book touches on discrimination and the lifestyle expectations of people working in the city. I liked the open and honest (eventually!) handling of family relationships and friendships.
I will definitely read more from this author
Thank you to Net galley for the aRC in exchange for an honest review

This book took me a bit of getting into but once I felt that the author had helped me in getting to know the character it really made a difference to the story. Many real life trials and tribulations run throughout this book for the main characters and others which I’m sure many could relate to when reading. It just confirms, honesty is always the best policy!

Asian shopaholic investment banker faces her comeuppance

Stay-at-home mother-of-three Faiza, a former investment banker, overlooks (!) having frittered away her family‘s emergency nest egg. When her white husband loses his job, she resorts to lie upon insane lie about her deceit. Eventually she lands a temporary contract as portfolio manager and becomes the sole bread winner while having to endure perceived racism and daily patronising, to raise mixed race kids, to suffer harassment at the workplace and lots of other peeves. Thank you Netgalley and Head of Zeus for an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I’ll admit, when I first started reading this book I thought it was a little far fetched. Thankfully, I kept reading! I enjoyed following the main character along her journey which included getting a new job and trying to look after her family. Her relationship with her husband has its ups and downs. You have to keep reading to find out how Fi’s life works out!

This is a debut and one that I immediately fell for as I began reading. The pages flew by as I read this over the course of one day. The author made it so easy to submerge me into the life of Faiza's life.

Faiza is a character who is so desperate to fit in, no matter the cost. This isn't really a problem until her husband Tom loses his job. Their savings have been decimated as Faiza gets sucked into keeping up with the elite mums at school. Wanting to be one of the clique. Not wanting to be on the outside, to be part of a group and to feel as good as those around her.

Initially, I couldn't understand why Faiza would want to be part of this group of upper-class mothers until I got further into the story. I started to understand her upbringing and the reasons behind her spending. Faiza is a Pakistani Muslim, she is in a multicultural marriage and has three children. She, as many other parents stay at home, runs the house, looks after the children and her husband works long hours to provide for them. They do have a lavish lifestyle and not wanting others to notice the lack of money Faiza does what she can to keep the charade of "being fine" going as long as she can.

The author has brought many things to this story, money worries that lead to marriage problems, arguments, stress and keeping their heads above water. Having a change of roles for the parents was such a good route to go down, but then this route turned dark and highlighted other issues. Being a woman working in a high powered city job has a whole set of other problems.

This is a brilliant story, one that had me engrossed from start o finish. It has such good pacing to it and it reflects the spiral and panic as Faiza tries to keep juggling various problems. Cultural differences become a problem and Faiza is not the only one to notice this, rather than confront it head-on, the author uses Faiza to approach this in a different way. There are several eye-opening moments in the book and not just the more obvious ones either.

This is a great read and I am really looking forward to reading more by this author. This is one for readers who like contemporary fiction, family life and relationships. It is one I would definitely recommend.

This is a great story with so many threads to it keeping you hooked in throughout. Well worth a read.

While I understand there are lots of people whose family lives are shattered when the wage-earner loses their job it was hard to care about this stereotypical southern privileged family when the unthinkable happens. Financially sensible husband, ditzty, frivolous wife - I was disappointed with this book – it was almost a non-story. I kept waiting for the plot to kick in.

Well I quite enjoyed this read but was underwhelmed really with the middle section so the review is skewed as the beginning and end are good but the middle looses its way a little.

The premise of the book is an interesting one. A mixed race marriage, a job loss and the overspend by the wife confident of their social and financial position.

The book starts with an anonymous suicide and this immediately throws a shadow on the upcoming events. The characters are largely unlikeable and I struggled to bond with any of them. I enjoyed the mixed race marriage and how this would prove to be difficult but even this was not exploited as it could have been.

A good debut and promising things from future novels.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Headlines:
A house of cards
Spiral of lies
Social pressures

What a angsty read this was. Would I Lie To You plunged you into the privileged life of Faiza, Tom and their family. That privilege soon turned to difficulty in a spate of difficult life turns that brought the spotlight to all the things Aliya had been brushing under the carpet and hiding.

I have to say there were times I found the spiriling descent of Faiza’s desperation to cover things up pretty anxiety-provoking but I couldn’t look away. These changes in their family’s life was accompanied by a backdrop of social pressures, school tuition fees, older parents and job hunting.

Faiza was a character that in some ways was hard to like, but she had endearing characteristics that made you want to see her claw her way out of this hole she’d dug. There were events and experiences that she encountered with regards to her race and gender that were simply awful to read.

I would classify this as a women’s fiction/contemporary read that was sometimes suspenseful. The plot had depth and complexity and the characters were very well honed. If you’re looking for a read that keeps your attention with good pace, Would I Lie To You will meet your needs; it’s an impressive debut.

Thank you to Head of Zeus for the early review copy.

⭐️ rating: 4.5
📖 genre: women’s fiction
#️⃣ pages: 416
🍾 pub date: July 8, 2021
Read this if you like: Kiley Reid, Celeste Ng, multiple POVs, family drama, suspense

THE QUOTE:
„The last thing you need to hear when you’re waiting to get Botox at a Harley Street clinic, is that your husband may be about to lose his job.”

THE STORY:
Faiza has strived to fit in all her adult life. It took a few years, but all those Wimbledon mothers who used to mistake her for the nanny finally treat her as one of their own. But then her husband Tom loses his job in finance, and Faiza starts to unravel – because she secretly spent all the money Tom had put aside for emergencies, and in less than two months, they’ll be bankrupt. What’s left but to lie, and try and get the money back?

WHAT I LOVED:
The pacing! The story is told in „how many weeks before the money’s gone“ time. Basically, a countdown to ruin. We follow Faiza not only as she worries about her husband and her children, but also in all her attempts to pull money from *somewhere* so she doesn’t have to tell Tom the shameful truth. And I swear my pulse skyrocketed each time one of Faiza‘s safety nets disappeared. My heart ached for Faiza: it was awful to see how one lie can spiral out of control and shake a family to its core, and even sadder to see how Faiza is trapped in her own lies and incapable of seeing the truth.

We also get to experience all the unconscious bias and very blatant racism that Faiza encounters during her attempts at saving her family, and also that her own children encounter, being biracial - and I loved to see south asian culture and relationship written in a believable and interesting way. It reminded my of „Such a fun age“.

IN A NUTSHELL:
This was a page-turner of a book: it had tension, it had DRAMA, it had compelling dialogues and characters (although I found myself frustrated with Faiza’s naivety towards the end) and some twists and turns that will keep you glued to the page.

It’s heartfelt, compelling, and funny and I definitely recommend adding „Would I lie to you“ to your summer reads.

Fitting in comes with a hefty price tag especially if you’re Faiza, a Pakistani British woman who in keeping up with her circle of yummy mummies in terms of the Botox parties, the designer clothes and the charity galas has managed to squander the family emergency fund. And it’s a LOT of money!! £75,000 to be precise! Living in Wimbledon village with husband Tom and their three privately educated children life is extremely comfortable (but expensive!) for this family. But then Tom loses his job and suddenly their privileged lifestyle is in jeopardy because shock, horror, Tom has absolutely no idea their safety net is now non existent. What’s Faiza to do? Confess to her frivolous spending sprees and incur her husband’s wrath or cover her tracks and lie her way out of trouble hoping and praying Tom finds employment before her shameful secret is discovered?

It doesn’t take much stretch of the imagination to work out how Faiza will react, the results of her decision forming the basis of this domestic drama which is funny, frustrating and a little bit sad with events very much spiralling out of control! It’s a storyline to make you squirm with discomfort, feign faux horror at Faiza’s recklessness and ability to deceive and laugh at the absurdity and shallowness of the type of lifestyle that has led to these dire straits whilst relishing the fact you’re not the one in hot water!! If you’ve ever been that woman hiding new purchases at the back of the wardrobe or pretending the expensive new dress was a bargain at the sales, then you’ll understand Faiza’s predicament to a certain extent except her level of deceit is on a much grander scale! Plus there’s far more at stake than simply explaining away a few too many credit card purchases; family life is on the brink of ruin and it’s entirely down to Faiza to save them all from the consequences of her recklessness. This scenario will have you castigating Faiza for her stupidity on one hand but at the same time, will have you imploring her to carry on digging herself into a deeper hole purely for the entertainment value her deception adds to this bittersweet tale.

This is definitely a storyline I warmed up to as time progressed. My initial response to this debut novel was somewhat tepid, thinking to myself oh no not another privileged middle class yummy mummy looking for sympathy which is wholly undeserved; her rather blasé attitude towards money and her cash flow problem rankles but this is fiction and as the snowball effect comes into play with one huge whopper of a lie leading to another and another and another you wonder how on earth Faiza will extricate herself from this mess of her own making. The fun is in the guessing! Her attempts at subterfuge are alternately hilarious and terrible but definitely resourceful! As she re enters the cut throat world of the City worker where the hours are long but the potential bonuses are huge my indifference towards this woman, caught between a rock and a hard place, started to thaw and in its place was a grudging admiration for her determination to defend her home and family from total collapse. She’s stuck in two extremely toxic environments; trying to fit into a male dominated workplace where family life languishes at the bottom of the pile whilst also desperately wanting to be accepted into the cliquey world of the uber rich and glamorous school mums who fill their lives with coffee mornings, lunches, yoga and of course shopping! The deeper Faiza plunges into despair you more you witness the real woman underneath all the false bravado and understand the reasons behind her attitude to money and her overwhelming desire to be part of the ‘in’ crowd, both of which stem from a childhood where money was tight and she was always the odd one out because of her name, the colour of her skin and the clashes between her Asian background and western upbringing. Feelings that have never entirely disappeared. Faiza might have temporarily lost focus on the important things in life but I ended up having a begrudging respect for this woman and liking her enormously. What a turnaround from the spoilt, selfish and frustrating woman she’s presented as in the opening pages!

The characterisation in this novel is good. My heart was always with Tom, the children and Ami and Baba who are all victims of Faiza’s rash behaviour. For the majority of the time my sympathies lay with Tom who as a loving husband and doting father deserves to know the truth. The mental strain he’s under as a result of his lack of employment is portrayed well as is his commitment to caring for Faiza’s elderly parents and his three children. But who doesn’t love the inclusion of a despicable character or two to offset the wholesomeness of other members of the cast? The author comes up trumps with the manipulative Harry and the snobbish and vile Julia, queen bee amongst the other yummy mummies; two people who put Faiza’s indiscretions into perspective. Standing beside this couple, suddenly she’s not the deplorable character you first meet!

Although fairly light hearted in tone Alia Ali-Afzal tackles some serious themes in her debut from debt, male mental health, suicide, sexual harassment and racism, some of which are dealt with brilliantly. Obviously there has to be a moral to this engaging tale otherwise Faiza’s fight to keep her family life intact is in vain. It’s quite simple really. DON’T waste time in keeping up with the likes of the Harrys and Julias of this world, DON’T lose sight of your core values, APPRECIATE the things and people who matter the most, the ones who love and support you no matter what and CELEBRATE being you. If you have to spend time (and money!) in order to fit in with a group of people then those aren’t the type of people you need to associate yourself with!
For a first novel Would I Lie To You? shows promise and I look forward to reading more from this author in the future.

My thanks as always to the publisher and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read in exchange for an honest review.

A slightly different book but essentially about 'keeping up appearances' with a web of lies and deceit plus spending money without a thought of the possible consequences. I found the book refreshing written from an Asian perspective and the extra pressure to succeed. Quite horrifying the false life led by the monied banking community plus the bullying and one-upmanship that this lifestyle engenders. I did get slightly exasperated in the beginning with the main character Faiza building her tissue of lies but warmed to her overall.

Faiza Saunders is a British woman of Pakistani heritage who has been married to Tom, a white British man for twenty years. They have three children and she's a stay-at-home mum. They're a happy family and the pair are still very much in love. Then Tom loses his job and wants Faiza to move some money from the emergency fund to the main account so they don't end up in arrears. The problem is Faiza has been sneaking money from that account for years and it's essentially empty. Faiza panics and the lies start coming more and more frequently as she tries to fix the mess she has made without hurting those she loves.

I really like this book but I will admit it was difficult reading at times. From fairly early on, I really felt all the anxiety along with Faiza as she got herself deeper and deeper into her deception. While I could understand how she got to that state it was so frustrating when she kept digging that hole a bit deeper as the story went on. The tension was immense through most of the story and sometimes I found myself putting the book aside because I was almost dreading what was going to happen next. But I persisted and I'm glad I did. Despite her flawed thinking, Faiza is a strong woman and she just keeps going even as her situation continues to become more desperate. She pulls herself up and rejoins the job market, a pretty monumental feat after being outside of that arena for so many years. She does have some false starts but she quickly learns from them and success is soon within reach.

I really appreciated seeing a mixed culture relationship here with the good and the bad. When religion forms another part it can complicate it even more. But the writer does a lovely job of trying to reflect those positive and negatives. After all, love is love.

What the writer has done here best is show how we humans all have our faults and we make poor decisions at times, often for misguided reasons. Although the story is centered on Faiza, it's clear that hers are not the only lies being told, and it's clear that even smaller deceptions can have a significant impact on others. Along the way, we see how Faiza's choices have been formed through her experiences growing up. Issues like family conflict, racism, class, and culture have formed her ways of thinking and she feels like she has no choice but to do things as she has. But through her experiences here, she does develop her thinking in ways that hopefully will guide her better for future choices in life.

What I saw as the other major theme is job loss and depression, particularly with middle-aged men. Tom seems to be reasonably well-adjusted but he spirals into some really difficult times as he deals with losing his job and much of his identity.

This was a great book and I give it four stars. I would like to thank Netgalley and Head of Zeus for providing an advanced reader copy for free. This review is completely voluntary.