Alexander Cooper 
Summary of We Were Liars 
by E. Lockhart — A Comprehensive Summary

Summary of We Were Liars



Cadence, nearly eighteen, narrates her story in the first person.

In Part One (“Welcome”), she describes the three generations of her family, the Sinclairs; Granddad, widowed; his three daughters, all divorced or separated from their husbands; and Cadence and her six cousins. The family spends every summer on a family-owned island. One aunt’s longtime boyfriend and his nephew, Gat, always join them there, even though Granddad doesn’t like the fact that they are of South Asian descent. Cadence, her two oldest cousins, and Gat are known in the family as “the Liars, ” for unexplained reasons.

        Cadence and Gat fell in love when Cadence was fourteen, but the next summer there was an accident of some sort. Cadence doesn’t recall much, but apparently she suffered a head injury. She now has migraines, for which she takes prescription pain medication. None of the Liars stayed in touch with Cadence during her long recovery. The following summer, when her father took her on a trip to Europe, they didn’t reply to her emails.

        In Part Two (“Vermont”), Cadence struggles to remember more of her accident. When she asks Penny for details, Penny replies tearfully that Cadence has asked many times before, and always finds the answers upsetting. When Cadence’s father wants to take her to Europe again next summer, Cadence insists on returning to the island. Her mother and father reluctantly settle on a plan for her to spend just the first month of the summer there. Meanwhile, it becomes clear during a visit from Granddad and a phone call with one of the younger cousins that all is not well with the family. Granddad’s mind is starting to fail, the younger cousins gossip about Cadence being a drug addict, and the cousin on the phone thinks the island is haunted.




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