Summer lies

The author of "The Reader" unravels the complex human nature in seven short stories. Discovering the intricacies of human behavior and how we are able to live with life's lies—or, worse, with the truths—is the common thread running through Bernhard Schlink's short stories in "Summer Lies," all of which are utterly direct and melancholically beautiful. "The day she stopped loving her children..." Thus begins the story of a woman who, now elderly, realizes that the meaning of life has been lost. Then, with the help of one of her granddaughters, she begins an unconscious search for her past, which leads her to rediscover the man she loved as a university student. A reciprocated, overwhelming love. Had she then made the wrong decision? Why does a young father try to keep his wife and daughter isolated from the world? What drives someone in love to lie so often to the person they love? What do we do when a lie is so internalized that it becomes the truth? And how do we free ourselves from the bonds that bind us to the past when a new love promises great changes?