Book of Lies

“A haunting, harrowing tale that lingers in the imagination long after you’ve turned the last page.” —The Washington Post Book World

A “fierce and disturbing” (The New York Times) tale of twin brothers locked in an agonizing bond during the upheaval and savagery of twentieth century Europe, The Notebook Trilogy comprises three internationally acclaimed novels that confirm Ágota Kristóf as one of the most provocative exponents of new-wave European fiction.

Now featuring a new introduction by Ocean Vuong

The child says, “That’s the only difference between the dead and those who go away, isn’t it? Those who aren’t dead will return.” Lucas says, “But how do we know they aren’t dead when they’re away?” “We can’t know.”

Claus and Lucas are twins. Their new life begins when they are left with their grandmother, the ‘Witch’, in a village in an occupied country. It’s wartime. All their actions are based on survival. They create an exercise regime to toughen up, and record the results in a notebook. Their angelic looks are deceiving. They are implacable, dangerously ethical; their code of life demands that they help a deserter, or blackmail a priest, or come to the aid of a prostitute, or assist in a suicide. What motivates them is a deeply embedded morality of absolute need.

This internationally acclaimed trilogy—The Notebook (1986), The Proof (1988), and The Third Lie (1991)—follows their stories through world war and the rise of communism, to deliver a breathtaking vision of a fractured Europe. Ágota Kristóf ’s The Notebook Trilogy is a masterful exploration of the aftereffects of trauma and the nature of storytelling.