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Formats
Kindle Edition eBooks Details
  • 10/2015
  • 978-1626943568 B016H9HAXC
  • 400 pages
  • $3.99
Paperback Details
  • 10/2015
  • 978-1626943568 B016H9HAXC
  • 400 pages
  • $15.99
SJ Francis
Author, Contributor, Editor (anthology)
Shattered Lies
SJ Francis, author

Adult; General Fiction (including literary and historical); (Market)

What happens to a family when age-old secrets and lies are revealed?

She wants to know the truth, but some secrets might be better left alone… Kate Thayer has a good life as a veterinarian, running the family horse farm—until she uncovers an act of unimaginable treachery by those she trusted most and learns that everything she knew about herself was a lie. Her paternal grandmother, the woman who raised her, is behind a number of devastating secrets Kate is compelled to discover. But the deeper she digs, the more betrayal she finds, changing her life in ways she could have never foreseen.

Reviews
5 Stars by Rabia Tanveer for Readers' Favorite

  Shattered Lies by S.J. Francis is the story of Kate Thayer, a simple girl who runs her family’s horse farm. She is content with her life. She is a veterinarian and she loves her grandmother who raised her. However, when a series of lies come out and destroy her world, she has no idea if she can trust her grandmother again. Their relationship is tarnished and everything she believed about herself and her life was changed right from that instant.

Kate has no idea how she can change the past, but she is adamant to change her future. With the help of her grandmother and her grandmother’s once best friend, Kate will try to right the wrong and bring back that one part of her that was snatched from her when she was nothing but a baby. Now it is the quest of her grandmother to bring their relationship together and regain respect for one another.

Shattered Lies, the title implies a mystery novel or an action novel. When I first started to read this novel, I thought this would be a regular old-school mystery. Boy, was I surprised to find that the title implies so much more than the genre. The story is heartfelt and very real. I am very impressed with S.J. Francis. The way the author wrote the novel was super amazing and fascinating. She transported me back in time and made me feel the pain and confusion of a grandmother who thought she was doing the right thing. It is a great novel, one that I would like to read again and again.

Fran Lewis: Just Reviews/MJ Magazine

    5 Stars for Shattered Lies by S.J. Francis

Within your world you have many people that touch your life and are supposed to care and keep you safe from any type of harm. Looking around at those who surround you and are part of your family you think about their love, proud to be a part of their lives until something happens that changes the images, the pictures and the settings leaving you in pieces wondering who you really are, why you are no longer the person you thought you were and how your life has been nothing but a collection of Shattered Lies!

Author S.J. Francis brings to light a very serious issue that is even prevalent and in the news today: Hate: Prejudice, deceit, lies and betrayals as one young woman named Kate finds out that the life her grandmother created for her and wanted her to live was anything but false. What happens when you accidentally come upon a book, a journal belonging to your mother and learn that you are forbidden to read it or even enter the room where you found it? What happens when your grandmother reacts so violently that she strikes the one person who was supposed to keep the secret and a flood of deceptions, deceits and lies come pouring through as the tapestry created of your family begins to fall apart piece by piece until the final square is gone.

Kate Thayer is a veterinarian running her family’s farm until the unthinkable happens. Her father’s mother who raised her has kept secrets about her parentage, birth and family heritage from her in order to as she puts it protect her. Does the color of your skin dictate who and what you are? Is the fact that you are black or white relevant? A diary in the attic of her grandmother’s house would reveal some harsh truths that Katherine Thayer wanted hidden. What happens when Kate approaches the very people that have been her salvation all of her life to learn that she is half-black and that her mother died in childbirth leaving her father unable to cope with life taking his own. The author adds another twist as Kate approaches the family living in the house given to them by her grandmother and learns that they are her mother’s family and that her grandmother never wanted her and the sister she never knew she had who she claimed was still born. The time period describes the prejudice of the past, the dislike for blacks and how two families fought so hard to keep their children apart but at what cost. As Kate approaches her grandmother, her Uncle Lincoln, Maddy her mother’s mother and the rest of her family the lies, affairs, deceits, deceptions and regrets come through as her grandmother refuses to allow her to deal with this, wants it in the past and yet Kate has decided to journey to find the answers she was denied.

Kate decides to search for answers and along with her Uncle Sam she enters a world that she never encountered before as prejudice follows her on a simple train ride and standing up for her beliefs is not new but different and having Sam along with her hoping to learn about her mother. Meeting two lifelong friends since the age of 15 and still friends close to 90, Kate’s world might be unraveling but there are many more turns to take before all is said and done.

While Sam relates to Kate information about her mother, Katherine awaits news as to where Kate might be as Elsa, Sam’s wife consoles his own mother and hopes that someday everyone will see the same light. A lifetime of lies, deceits and when Kate falls ill everyone needs to decide their loyalties. Meeting her sister Astrid changes everything as both had to come to grips with what their grandmother’s did and the affairs had by so many. Neither accepted the other’s child and when Olivia died in childbirth, Jax killed himself and both girls were left alone. Astrid was sent away and Kate kept but neither was really loved or wanted. An ending quite powerful as a family’s hate, prejudice, injustices come to light in novel that will remind everyone that prejudice is wrong, friendships tested and two women Maddy and Katherine once best friends need to find their way back to each other in order to safe Kate and become a family.

A startling revelation about her health puts Kate’s life in the hands of doctors and will test the strength of her family. Katherine is stoic and angry where Maddy is willing to make amends and sister Astrid stands her ground until reading her mother’s words and finding out  how the truth might change it all. Can they become sisters? Will Kate survive surgery? What about Katherine and Maddy? The author shares the truth about their hidden friendship as he takes us back to 1953 where two young girls, one black and one white crossed the color lines and became best friends. A story of love, hate, revenge, power, greed, prejudice and hope. This is one story that will make you think can you ever really repair Shattered Lies?

Martha's Kitchen Korner- A Book and A Dish

5.0 out of 5 starsA beautiful story of love and hate

By Martha A. Cheves on May 1, 2016

"Miss Kate went up there. I went to check on her..." "What do you mean? You let her up there? Why?" he asked. "I didn't let her up there," Elsa said. "And why not? It's her house, too." "I Told you no one is allowed up there. No one." "Relax, Sam. I'm sure Miss Katherine didn't mean Kate," Elsa said.

"Damn it, woman! I told you when we first came here that Miss Katherine has rules..." "Why did you let her go up there?" Sam asked. I didn't allow her to do anything," Elsa said. "You still haven't told me what the big deal is." "It doesn't matter now." He moved to leave but she caught his wrist. "It matters to you and if it matters to you, it matters to me.".... Sam knew if Miss Katherine found out, there'd be hell to pay, but he couldn't physically make Kate leave. That left him without any other options.

Kate lived on the family plantation that her namesake grandmother Katherine owned. Kate was a veterinarian and took care of the animals as well as the farm itself. Her grandmother had raised her after the death of her parents and even after college and the death of her own husband, she still called the old place her home. She wanted to be no place else. So why was the attic off limits to her?

Kate knew something wasn't right. There were too many unanswered questions about her parents and the answer was in that attic. So after slipping the keys from her grandmother's room she went on a search through the attic. There hidden under some old boxes she found a small, blue journal that appeared to belong to her mother. She took it back to her room, read it and then went in search of her grandmother for the truth.

When Kate started asking questions I had no idea what she was going to turn up. I was truly surprised when I learned the answers to my own questions. I never dreamed her family secrets would turn out to be what they were. And I don't believe she had any idea as to the size of the can of worms she was about to open.

This book will make you stop and think. It will make you really understand that people do make mistakes but blood is normally thicker than those mistakes. And forgiveness is even thicker. A beautiful story of love and hate.

REGAN MURPHY, Reviewer SAYS:

Shattered Lies by S. J. Francis is the story of what happens when people commit unspeakable acts and then try to cover them up with ever-expanding lies. Our heroine, Kate Thayer, is a veterinarian, running her family’s horse farm in Mississippi. She has been raised by her grandmother and led to believe certain things about the death of her parents when she was just a child. As usually happens with deep dark secrets, Kate discovers the truth accidentally, and her life is forever altered.

Shattered Lies is the story of the cruel, inhuman things man does to man, and the tangled webs we weave trying to cover up our heinous behavior. It’s a heart-warming and heart-breaking tale of a young woman who discovers that everything she believed about herself, her parents, her very life, is nothing but a lie. I’m giving Shattered Lies 4.3 Stars.

TAYLOR JONES, Reviewer SAYS

In Shattered Lies by S. J. Francis, Kate Thayer has grown up being raised by her grandmother, believing her parents died in a car crash when she was just a baby. One day she goes into the attic and finds a journal left by her mother that opens a can of worms Kate is not really prepared for, changing her life forever.

Francis writes a poignant and moving tale of bigotry, deceit, and the ultimate betrayal, where the people who you are supposed to be able to trust are the ones who tell the most devastating lies. I give the book 4.4 Stars.

Tracy, The Writing Piazza

The family is like a precious jewel to be protected and admired. Yet, when lies build an ugly cobweb of deception, the end result is powerful enough to shatter the foundation of the truth and thus, the familial bond.SJ Francis examines the destruction of one family's foundation under the weight of lies in her thoughtful and wonderful book, Shattered Lies.The main protagonist of this story, Kate Thayer, is a veterinarian living on her family's farm. She adores the animals and her grandmother, strong willed matriarch Katherine Thayer.  At the outset, the reader learns that both of Kate's parents have died and that she was raised by her paternal grandmother.  The young woman also lost her husband, Adam, in a tragic accident.Kate's paternal grandmother, Katherine Thayer is the epitome of the old school Southern lady. While she has left Kate to handle the daily business of the farm, Katherine is privy to what is going on. Katherine rules her household with an iron fist.  With deep rooted prejudices, Katherine is often unkind to her African American servants who are, for the most part, very loyal to her. When Kate goes into the locked attic and discovers her mother's journal, her curiosity drives her to learn more about her mother. All she knows is that there was intense hatred between her mother's family and her father's family.What follows for Kate is a journey of discovery as she confronts familial skeletons. It is a lost of innocence for her, in a way, and of trust in the people in her life. Yet, these revelations offer a new future for her and the possibility of reshaping her family.There are so many twists and turns that suspense is effectively sustained throughout the book.Shattered Lies explores the painful legacy of bigotry and how such a legacy can destroy many lives.  In doing so, SJ Francis writes with raw honesty using language that has become embedded in the culture of racism.  It will be uncomfortable and unpleasant for the reader at times.  But I do applaud Francis' efforts. She has crafted a memorable book that will leave a lasting impression.

A very thought provoking book.

I give this book:

Five Out of five ink pens.

Veras Book Reviews and Stuff

 5.0 out of 5 stars5+ Star Debut Novel

Byverasbookreviewsandstuffon March 12, 2016

Format: Paperback

Family Dynamics
Revelations of Long Hidden Secrets
Lies and Heartache

STORY LINE:
What A Story! Author S. J. Francis has created a storyline that will grab you from the first few sentences to the last. Widowed veterinarian Kate Thayer Logan, heir and granddaughter to grand dame Katherine Beauregard Thayer IV, of Magnolia Lane Farm, makes a decision to explore the mansions attic; a decision that will shatter this family and others, reveal long-held secrets, and cause Kate to question everything she has ever believed.

What she uncovers starts a cycle of destruction that will shatter families, reveal hidden bigotry and prejudices in the deep south of Mississippi, and reveal the cracks in the families structure, morality, and character.

Come and join the journey with Kate as she unravels all the hidden secrets which reveal no one in her life is who she believed. Follow her on a voyage of discovery, revelation, hate, prejudice, and finally forgiveness.

CHARACTERS, PLOTTING, AND DEVELOPMENT:
S. J. Francis' characters were superbly developed. Some of them you will love, others you will absolutely hate.

Author Francis character development revealed characters you will loath; hatred, prejudice, selfishness, guile, bigotry, subterfuge, the need to control, and supreme confident to hide all the secrets instigated 30 years ago.

Emotion rolled through me reading this book. I despise any form of prejudice and hatred to another whether because of race, creed, or color. S. J. Francis skillfully developed all the emotions and beliefs existing in the deep south at one time. I could feel the emotion waffling off the pages.

The characters you love will appeal to the other side of your emotions. You could feel the characters emotions as their come to terms with the meaning of family. Kate begins to unravel the real family story, find answers, and begin a search that will bring final conclusion to the history created and propagated through the years, as well as, come to terms with what her family members now mean to her and each other.

The plot and pacing was great. The novel never lagged or stalled as S. J. Francis created a tale with many motives and emotions into a great story. I could not put this novel down. It is roller coaster ride of emotion. It was a very good portrayal of race relations in America at that time.

Author Francis has the ability to infuse you with the emotions of the characters as he brings you into the story-line. I felt I was there as the revelations were revealed and the story raced forward like a run away train. Francis had many threads to bring together, lies, and motives; Francis did this skillfully weaving a book you will find emotional and intriguing.

RECOMMENDATION: 5+ Stars
I highly recommend this novel. S. J. Francis debut novel will appeal to anyone who loves a solid well-developed novel with fascinating characters and an intriguing story-line. This novel is one you will read again and again.

I received this book from Readingalley in return for an honest book review.

Books reviews of any novel are dependent on the book review author’s opinion; book reviews on line under my name and on my blog are my opinion.

News
04/19/2016
Shattered Lies Gets New Book Cover

Shattered Liles gets a new book cover designed by Jennifer Gibson from a concept by S.J. Francis.

05/09/2016
Shattered Lies wins another award....

 Shattered Lies is a Finalist in the 10thAnnual National Indie Excellence Awards.

03/31/2016
Shattered Lies wins First award....

 'SHATTERED LIES' was chosen as General Fiction Official Selection in the 2015 New Apple Book Awards      

Formats
Kindle Edition eBooks Details
  • 10/2015
  • 978-1626943568 B016H9HAXC
  • 400 pages
  • $3.99
Paperback Details
  • 10/2015
  • 978-1626943568 B016H9HAXC
  • 400 pages
  • $15.99
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