We Were Liars, Chapters 1-5

The book “We Were Liars” is about the Sinclair family. The family is headed by Harris and Tipper Sinclair. In the story. They are the grandparents and have three daughters. Their daughters are Carrie, Bess and Penny. Carrie and her husband William Dennis had two children named Johnny and Will. Bess and her husband Brody Sheffield had four children named Mirren, Liberty, Taft and Bonnie. Penny and her husband had one child named Cadence. Cadence is the eldest grandchild, and the story is told by her.

Harris made a lot of money when he was young, and that is how the family got rich. The family has a private island, called Beachwood Island, where Harris and Tipper Sinclair, and each of their daughter’s families have a house.  All of the grandchildren seem to come to the island each summer with their parents.

At the time that she is telling the story, Cadence is nearly eighteen. She starts off by saying that she has a well-used library card and not much else.  That means that she reads a lot. Then she talks about all of the things that have changed about her like, she used to be strong, but now she is weak. And, she used to be pretty, but now she looks sick. All of these bad things happened to her after what she calls the accident. I think that the accident is what she calls when her father left her and her mother. Cadence said that

He told my mother he wasn’t a Sinclair, and couldn’t try to be on, any longer. He couldn’t smile, couldn’t lie, couldn’t be part of that beautiful family in those beautiful houses.

The accident happened in June of the summer when Cadence was fifteen. That is where she says that her story starts. Then she starts talking about what happened each summer, starting when she was eight.

The four Liars are Cadence, Johnny, Mirren and Gat. They are all about the same age. Gat is the nephew of Ed, the man that Carrie started seeing after her husband left her while she was pregnant with Will. Ed and his nephew are both Indian and dark-skinned, but the Sinclair family is White with blonde hair. Gat started coming to the island during the summer when Cadence was eight. His father had passed on, and Ed was helping out with his nephew. After he came to the island the first time, Johnny begged to have Gat stay longer, and he did. Johnny was the first grandson, and Cadence said that he usually got what he wanted. The next year, Johnny begged to have Gat come for the entire summer, and he did. Gat kept coming back every summer.  Gat and Cadence became very close.

Cadence described Johnny as “bounce, effort, and snark”. And, she described Mirren as “sugar, curiosity, and rain”. Gat pretended that nothing bothered him, but he was getting upset that he thought that Cadence had become prettier. They had been spending a lot of time together and even went out on the boat together. They would walk around the island together Gat would lend Cadence his books to read, and she liked that.