Liar
by Cléo de Vigne
Liar is the new novella from first-time author, Cléo de Vigne. It tells the tale of Norman Puttock, a hawker of pretension and unpleasantness, who harbours a steadfast desire to ride the crest of today’s celebrity culture.
Nine million people live in Greater London. Among them, one man, Norman Puttock, stands out for his uniquely loathsome character and obnoxious behaviour. An inveterate peddler of pretentious untruths, his sole aim is to become the most sought-after celebrity in the world. Somewhere between dream and reality, he succeeds in reinventing his life on the basis of deceit and dissimulation.
The adventures of an opportunist, a hypocrite and a raving megalomaniac who, amidst a whirlwind of chicanery, manages to drag himself up the social scale before tumbling back down into ignominious obscurity.
The author not only knows London inside out, but her standout protagonist oozes those surreal idiosyncrasies so prevalent in the English, along with many of the less attractive traits that have become a ubiquitous part of contemporary life – entitlement, embellishment of the truth and an insatiable need for celebrity and self-promotion.
Liar is one of those books that may just be stumbled upon, but once picked up, the adventures and loathsomeness of Norman Puttock will put a smile on your face for days on end.
ISBN: 978-2-9583724-2-2 • Price: UK £12, EU €14