Penguin Random House: #1 NYT Bestselling Author E. Lockhart’s Prequel to YA Phenomenon “We Were Liars” Coming From RHCB in May 2022

Delacorte Press, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, will publish FAMILY OF LIARS, E. Lockhart’s prequel to #1 New York Times bestseller We Were Liars, it was announced today by Beverly Horowitz, Delacorte Press Senior Vice President & Publisher. Horowitz will edit the novel and acquired World rights from Elizabeth Kaplan at the Elizabeth Kaplan Literary Agency, Inc. The book will be published on May 3, 2022, with a first printing of 500,000 copies.

Called “a rich, stunning summer mystery with a sharp twist” by Parade and “thrilling, beautiful, and blisteringly smart” by #1 New York Times bestselling author John Green, We Were Liars has sold nearly 2 million copies and has been a mainstay on the bestseller lists since publishing in 2014. It is also among the most popular books on TikTok, with over 67 million views on #wewereliars.

With FAMILY OF LIARS, Lockhart’s many teen and adult readers will find themselves returning to the Sinclair family’s private island off the coast of Massachusetts, twenty-seven years before the events of We Were Liars. A generation apart from the timeline of the original book, FAMILY OF LIARS centers around the Liars’ mothers as they spend one notable summer on the island as teenagers, and we see what it really means to be a Sinclair. They do not falter, they do not doubt, they do not grieve—even when they lose one of their own. When tragedy upends what was meant to be a summer of fun, laughter, and first love, the bonds of family are tested. Who will crack under the pressure, and who will forever uphold the family’s rules, keeping secrets no matter the damage?

E. Lockhart’s distinct style, featuring sophisticated prose and unexpected twists, is on full display in FAMILY OF LIARS as readers get a richly painted look inside the lavish yet undeniably flawed lives of the Sinclairs.

Says Lockhart: “Reader response to We Were Liars has been incredible and moving. With FAMILY OF LIARS, I wanted to create an emotional catharsis and leave my audience shaken— but I knew I needed to do it in a very different way than I had in the first book. I hope I’ve delivered an experience that will be surprising and new, while still returning people to the beauty and horror of Beechwood Island. My readers are the most creative, most open-hearted, most thoughtful readers ever. Their willingness to share their experiences online has made all the difference in the world for this book. FAMILY OF LIARS is for them.”

Says Horowitz: “The idea for FAMILY OF LIARS came in seven years after the publication of We Were Liars, and I was, of course, thrilled to see Emily return to Beechwood Island and the Sinclairs. Readers are going to discover themes that are evocative of We Were Liars, but with a different and fresh approach. Intense summer friendships, fraught romance, and unspeakable truths (and lies) are at the center of this new book, and I am so excited for fans of We Were Liars to finally get their hands on it, and for readers new to Lockhart’s work to discover her unique talent for crafting complex stories that stick with you long after you’ve finished reading.”

FAMILY OF LIARS will be published simultaneously in the UK by Hot Key Books, an imprint of Bonnier Books UK, and in Australia and New Zealand by Allen & Unwin.

E. Lockhart is the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller We Were Liars. She also invented a superhero for DC Comics. Her books include Whistle: A New Gotham City Hero and Again Again. The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks was a National Book Award finalist and a Printz Honor book. Genuine Fraud was a New York Times bestseller and a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize.