Dark Places Lies and Deceit

Libby's childhood testimony is a thorny issue. On the one hand, it turns out that her memories are, in fact, false. But on the other hand, why do complete strangers think it's perfectly acceptable to tell Libby she was lying? How do they know?

Although Lyle turns out to be correct that Libby was coached, he's also kind of just telling Libby she was lying, isn't he? Is he trying to coerce her in the same way her coach was trying to coerce her during the trial?

Well, that escalated quickly. This recalls the first quote we discussed here, about complete strangers attacking Libby for her past actions. Why do these people get so worked up about the possibility that Libby was lying? How are they so sure she actually was lying?

Here, Ben is deceiving himself and the reader. Like Gillian Flynn, he leaves out the detail about Diondra's pregnancy until he can shock us with it later on.

Libby is a paradox. She's an honest liar. Can she really be considered a liar if she's telling us she's a liar?

Barb Eichel is at least gentler with her accusations that Libby was coached. Maybe Barb feels sympathetic toward Libby because she, too, was once deceived into thinking Ben was guilty.

Here is when Libby is finally honest with herself: she admits that her memories might all be lies. She seems to be taking that better than most people might.

After the turning point of the previous quote, Libby decides to spend the rest of the book sniffing out lies in other people. Turns out honesty is a pretty important thing—sometimes it's even a matter of life and death.

As a liar herself, Libby is good at finding out when other people are lying. She doesn't even need Wonder Woman's Lasso of Truth to do it.

Ben turns out to be the family's ultimate liar. He has kept Diondra's entire existence a secret for over twenty years. Has this done him any good? Why did he do it?