Why Men Lie - Couverture souple

Why Men Lie is about Effie, the fascinating sister of the troubled priest at the heart of The Bishop's Man. Effie has had her fair share of lovers and husbands, including the Gillis cousins from Cape Breton, who have been a source of as much guilt as joy. She first married John, then ran away to Toronto with the charismatic Sextus, who is still in her life despite her having divorced him years ago. But she's more or less given up on being swept away by love, until, in a chance encounter, she meets a person who might very well be the perfect man. And love once again rears its thorny head, with all its troublesome illusions, at an age when maintaining illusions is hard.
 
Even Effie, as wise as any woman can be to the ways of men, is unprepared for the maelstrom her new love affair will unleash. Or for the particularly male desperation and vanity that is its cause.

Effie Gillis is a history professor teaching at a major university. She is also a survivor - of a troubled childhood, two failed marriages and numerous relationships which, for the most part, ended badly.

Now, out of her past, arrives a man who is familiar and yet mysterious; mature, wise, and full of youthful energy. His presence is a reassurance, but he also carries with him an aura that is menacing.

Slowly she becomes dependent on a relationship that's rich in truth and promise - but doomed by the lie that gave it life.

Drawing on both minor and major characters from his two previous novels, The Long Stretch and The Bishop's Man, Why Men Lie is a story of longing, love and loss in middle age.