The Little Liar

Written by Mitch Albom in 2023, The Little Liar tells the fictional story of four commingling lives as each person experiences different aspects of the Holocaust and endures its aftermath. The novel addresses the damaging effects of lies, the complexity of human relationships, and the widespread devastation of the Holocaust.

Widely celebrated for his critically acclaimed debut novel, Tuesdays With Morrie, Albom is now an internationally renowned author, screenwriter, journalist, and musician who has sold over 40 million copies of his novels worldwide. All of these novels contain powerful narratives that resonate deeply and explore emotional themes of love, loss, and forgiveness. His writing is designed to capture the human experience, using flawed characters and relatable hardships to deeply contemplate these themes.

This study guide refers to the first edition hardcover print of The Little Liar.

Content Warning: The source text and this guide contain descriptions of genocide, antisemitism, graphic violence, infanticide, suicide and suicidal ideation, gun violence, and panic attacks.

Plot Summary

The Little Liar follows four characters from the predominantly Jewish coastal town of Salonika, Greece, charting the tumultuous course of their lives from 1936 to 1983. The story is narrated by Truth, who is personified throughout the narrative. It portrays three survivors of the Holocaust and shows how their lives were forever changed by the deception and violence of one man.

The first character introduced is 11-year-old Nico Krispis, a blond-haired, blue-eyed Jewish boy who has never told a lie. When the Nazis invade Greece and occupy Salonika, Nico is separated from his family and caught by a German SS officer named Udo Graf who promises to reunite Nico with his family in exchange for his help. Nico agrees, not knowing that his new job—to tell the thousands of Jewish prisoners being loaded into boxcars that they are being taken to “new homes”—is actually Udo’s ruse to convince the Jewish citizens of Salonika to board the trains to the Auschwitz death camp. Only when Nico watches with horror as his family is shoved into the final train car does Udo reveal his lies, leaving Nico alone on the platform as the final train begins its journey to Auschwitz. Devastated by the implications of his actions, Nico becomes a “pathological liar,” never telling the truth again.

On the train to Auschwitz, Sebastian, Nico’s older brother, blames him for condemning everyone to their deaths. In an effort to save the life of the girl he loves, Sebastian pushes Fannie, Nico’s classmate, off the train. Fannie survives the fall and is taken in by a Hungarian woman named Gizella, who hides her for several months.

Meanwhile, Sebastian arrives at Auschwitz and is immediately targeted by Udo, who has been promoted to oversee all the death camps logistics. Over the course of a year and several months, Sebastian’s family members die in various ways due to the cruelty and brutality of the Nazis. Meanwhile, Fannie is discovered with Gizella and is taken to the Danube River to be executed. With the help of Nico, who has been changing identities and trying to get to Auschwitz to save his family, the Hungarian actress Katalin Karády saves Fannie and 23 other Jewish children from their deaths. Fannie is later recaptured, but she escapes and hides with Hungarian refugees for several months until the end of the war. When Sebastian is freed from Auschwitz in 1945, he returns to Salonika and reunites with Fannie. The two get married and have a daughter named Tia.

As the years pass, Sebastian and Fannie begin to drift apart. Sebastian, who is still deeply resentful toward his brother and Udo, becomes obsessed with working for a man in Vienna called the “Nazi Hunter.” Fannie, holding a different view of her responsibilities as a Holocaust survivor, decides to revisit Gizella. There, she discovers that Nico has been sending money to the survivors under different aliases. Fannie learns that the actress Katalin Karády may have more information on Nico’s whereabouts, so she flies to New York City to find her. In New York City, Katalin tells Fannie how to find Nico, who has become a well-accomplished film maker. Fannie spends several years trying to find Nico and eventually becomes one of his personal employees. Nico pretends not to recognize Fannie for several months, but he eventually breaks down and flees.

Meanwhile, Sebastian continues to hunt Udo, who has been hiding in Maine as a member of a senator's staff. Sebastian finds him at a Nazi rally in Chicago, Illinois. Udo escapes before Sebastian can catch him, but Sebastian has taken photos of Udo. Forced to flee to Italy because his true identity has been discovered, Udo vows to get revenge on Sebastian and the Nazi Hunter. On the 40th anniversary of the day that the first train filled with Jewish prisoners left Salonika, Sebastian arranges a march from Liberty Square to the train platforms as a way to memorialize and remember those who died due to the German occupation of Salonika.

At the march, Udo plots to murder Sebastian and the Nazi Hunter. Fannie and her daughter Tia tell Sebastian that they are proud of him as they walk to the train platform. After they arrive, a voice interrupts Sebastain as he speaks at a podium. The unknown person states that he lied to everyone by telling them that they would be with their families if they got onto the trains. Then the person states that he was lied to as well. Sebastian and Fannie recognize Nico’s voice and are shocked. Nico claims that the man who is truly responsible is Udo; he then tells everyone that Udo is dead. Enraged, Udo tries to shoot Sebastian, but Nico tackles Sebastian to the ground, taking the bullets for his brother. Sebastian forgives Nico, and Nico dies in his and Fannie’s arms. In the penultimate chapter, Udo is extradited to Germany. On the train there, he drinks wine given to him by a young woman with white gloves (implied to by Fannie). The wine is poisoned, and Udo dies two miles from the German border. Sebastian and Fannie watch tapes that Nico secretly recorded, explaining his life and his actions.

In the final chapter, Truth reveals that telling this particular story required a specific voice, one who is intimately familiar with the four protagonists. It is revealed that “Truth” is actually Fannie, and this story is meant to tell the world what happened.