In 1864, Madeline Leslie understood what many children's stories pretend not to: lies have weight, and the small ones we tell for convenience grow roots. This is the story of Joseph Saunders, a boy raised by his Aunt Clarissa after his mother's death, who learned that indulgence breeds carelessness and carelessness breeds lies. His small acts of deception begin to unravel the fabric of his family, pulling his sisters Ellen and Alice into his wake. Their father, stern but loving, watches his children's dishonesty with a pain he knows too well - the lies children tell are not isolated incidents but warnings, and he must decide whether to let them learn consequences through suffering or through correction. A Victorian moral tale that refuses to soften its message: truth is not a preference but a foundation, and falsehood - white or black - always finds its way home.
