{"id":21707,"date":"2023-03-05T10:36:43","date_gmt":"2023-03-05T15:36:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=21707"},"modified":"2025-10-01T18:51:46","modified_gmt":"2025-10-01T22:51:46","slug":"banquet-of-lies-7","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/21707","title":{"rendered":"Banquet of Lies"},"content":{"rendered":"

Banquet of Lies<\/a><\/em> (2013) Michelle Diener<\/a> (Regency London)<\/p>\n

\"Banquet<\/a>Set in London in 1812.<\/p>\n

After witnessing the murder of her father, Giselle Barrington flees back to London. She cannot give into her grief, for she has to find someone to take the information she holds.<\/p>\n

(H)e\u2019d be looking for the document he had killed her father for. <\/p>\n

The document her father had given to her minutes after he left the ambassador early this morning, for safekeeping. As he always did.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Unfortunately, she has no idea who to trust, since the murderer was an Englishman, and her the only thing she did for her father was carry the documents.<\/p>\n

She\u2019d asked Georges if the man he worked for, the Duke of Wittaker, would do something with it\u2014 could take it to the right person. But Georges had told her his employer would most likely toss it in the fire, given his long-standing fight with the Crown over taxes.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Her father collected folktales, which is why the traveled around Europe. Which is one of the things that initially drew me into the story.<\/p>\n

She had a strange sense, as they helped her along, that her plight was like that of a girl in one of the folktales her father collected. The heroine loses her home and her family, fears for her life and finds a position as a servant. How many hapless girls had taken this path, in how many fairy tales? <\/p>\n

She was the Goose Girl of London Town. All she needed was the happy ending.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But Gigi collects recipes–and cooks them with the French chef who had been her support since her mother died. So she takes a position as a chef, in the hopes she can find someone to pass the documents to.<\/p>\n

But what I love most about this book are the side characters, and how their actions show you the kind of people they are.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been fattening Mavis up,\u201d Iris said, and something in the way she said it made Gigi go very still. <\/p>\n

If this was evidence of Mavis with more meat on her bones, she must have been a walking skeleton when she\u2019d gotten here. <\/p>\n

There\u2019d been deep, cold anger in Iris\u2019s voice, and she looked across at her. Their eyes met, and Gigi felt a sense of connection bloom, their mutual anger and horror at Mavis\u2019s suffering binding them together.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The people Gigi works with are fully fleshed and complex. And also help Gigi realize how different her life has been from theirs.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow could he turn on her? He liked her. He took her in.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s under strain. Mostly of his own making, but he\u2019d like to blame it on me. Maybe some of it is my fault, but he\u2019s responsible for his own behavior.\u201d Gigi tightened her lips. \u201cHe reacted without thinking.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cHow can you send someone out to starve without thinking?\u201d Iris asked, her voice soft.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I love this story. It is a comfort I turn to again and again.<\/p>\n

Publisher: Gallery Books<\/p>\n

Rating: 9.5\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Banquet of Lies (2013) Michelle Diener (Regency London) Set in London in 1812. After witnessing the murder of her father, Giselle Barrington flees back to London. She cannot give into her grief, for she has to find someone to take the information she holds. (H)e\u2019d be looking for the document he had killed her father […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[192,30,668,292,24,204,33,8,41,26],"tags":[616,213,251,547,252],"class_list":["post-21707","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-9-5-10","category-british","category-comfort-read","category-ebook","category-food","category-good","category-historical","category-mystery","category-reread","category-romance","tag-cooking","tag-grief","tag-michelle-diener","tag-napoleonic-era","tag-regency-london"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-5E7","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":19937,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/19937","url_meta":{"origin":21707,"position":0},"title":"Banquet of Lies","author":"Michelle","date":"April 6, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Banquet of Lies (2013) Michelle Diener (Regency London) I needed to reread this as well. For her, what people ate, and how they ate, was just as interesting as the stories they told. This one is also about food. Her voice was as bitter as burned coffee, and just as\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Banquet of Lies","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Banquet-of-Lies-e1511038599836.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":23609,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/23609","url_meta":{"origin":21707,"position":1},"title":"Banquet of Lies","author":"Michelle","date":"May 25, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Banquet of Lies (2013) Michelle Diener (Regency London) Set in London in 1812. Another favorite. \u201cWe\u2019ve been fattening Mavis up,\u201d Iris said, and something in the way she said it made Gigi go very still. If this was evidence of Mavis with more meat on her bones, she must have\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Banquet of Lies","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Banquet-of-Lies-e1511038599836.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":24417,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/24417","url_meta":{"origin":21707,"position":2},"title":"Banquet of Lies","author":"Michelle","date":"April 12, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Banquet of Lies (2013) Michelle Diener (Regency London #2) Set in London in 1812 \u201cHe reacted without thinking.\u201d \u201cHow can you send someone out to starve without thinking?\u201d Iris asked, her voice soft.\u201cWe\u2019ve been fattening Mavis up,\u201d Iris said, and something in the way she said it made Gigi go\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "10\/10"","block_context":{"text":"10\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/10-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Banquet of Lies","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Banquet-of-Lies.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":14159,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/14159","url_meta":{"origin":21707,"position":3},"title":"Banquet of Lies","author":"Michelle","date":"March 30, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Banquet of Lies (2013) Michelle Diener (Regency London) Set in London in 1812. Giselle Barrington fled Stockholm after witnessing the murder of her father. Now she has to find not only the killer, but also someone she can trust with the papers they were supposed to bring back to England.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Banquet of Lies","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Banquet-of-Lies-e1511038599836.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5752,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/5752","url_meta":{"origin":21707,"position":4},"title":"Banquet of Lies","author":"Michelle","date":"March 26, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Banquet of Lies (2013) Michelle Diener Set in London in 1812 Giselle Barrington is the daughter of a folklorist with a fascination for cooking. \u201cWhat do you do with the recipes?\u201d The woman looked genuinely interested now. \u201cI\u2019m compiling a reference work of dishes from the cultures of Europe. But\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Banquet-of-Lies.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":11624,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/11624","url_meta":{"origin":21707,"position":5},"title":"Banquet of Lies","author":"Michelle","date":"February 7, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Banquet of Lies (2013) Michelle Diener Set in London in 1812. This is my favorite book in this series--and I like the other two books quite well. Giselle Barrington has seen her father murdered for the secrets her carries. She manages to escape back to London, but does not know\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Banquet-of-Lies-e1511038599836.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21707","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21707"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21707\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21707"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21707"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21707"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}