The Little Liar

In 1943, SS officer Udo Graf manipulates 11-year-old Nico into convincing his neighbors to board trains heading to “new homes.” Officer Udo promises Nico and his neighbors that the trains are going to Poland, where Jewish families are assured jobs and safety. Nico soon realizes he has told a devastating lie when his family is loaded into a crowded boxcar headed to Auschwitz. After the war’s end, Nico settles in the United States, while his brother Sebastian, who blames Nico for sending their parents to their deaths, searches for Nico and for former SS officer Graf. Narrating his own novel, Albom (The Stranger in the Lifeboat) brings the story to life, adding just the right inflection to every word. He fleshes out the characters’ personalities and creates visual scenes that encapsulate each person’s distinct culture and background. His voice is gentle and soft, tenderly embodying the novel’s deep feeling; this emotive presentation will have listeners utterly invested in the story’s outcome.