The Teacher's Lie

By: Brid Cummings

Narrated by: Mia Wasikowska

There are some secrets you just can’t bury.

A gripping Audible Original for fans of Jane Harper’s The Dry and Sarah Pearse’s The Sanatorium, The Teacher’s Lie is a psychological thriller set on the harsh and rugged South Australian coast, performed by Mia Wasikowska (Alice in Wonderland, The Kids Are All Right).

It’s been two years since Anna Cartwright’s life fell apart. During her first school trip as a young teacher, a student went missing and was never found. Not only was her career ruined, she was also accused of having an affair with fellow teacher and prime suspect Graham. Facing questions from journalists, police and family, Anna said she didn’t know what happened. She was lying.

Now, Anna has returned to Australia. Her only hope is Land’s End Area School, an isolated concrete wasteland perched on the cliffs. The failing institution is so understaffed that it is the one place her history might remain hidden. But while the eccentric Headmistress seems welcoming, deputy-head Miss Baxter seems determined to expose her secrets.

With new lies spinning out of control, how long can Anna keep her secret hidden? And is she being haunted by her guilt or by something far more sinister?

©2024 Brid Cummings (P)2024 Audible Ltd.

Twisty

I almost stopped reading several times. The whiny main character was so co-dependent and made so many bad choices early on, that it was a little hard to believe anyone could be that stupid. Or that someone would write a story about them. Also, many long and boring descriptions of things that were very much filler and not necessary. Again, the main character’s ruminations were just annoying at many points.

However, I did read the whole thing because I wanted to find out what was going on at the school. And with Anna’s past, although the school was more of the driver. Author did a great job casting doubt and suspicion on several characters, so it wasn’t completely an easy guess as to “who dunnit” until the end.

Most of the loose ends were tied up at the end, but not all. It also would have been good to see if she followed thru with her final resolution and what the outcome of that was as well.

I’d say it was a solid 3 or maybe almost a 4 out of 5. OK read, not amazing. A good break from the fantasy fiction I had been reading.

Monotonous Narration

Such a slow and painful narration. Sadly the worst audiobook I’ve suffered through. The plot was intriguing however.

Awesome story!

I liked the storyline, the narrator was superb! Worth the listen! Was the first time I’ve read this author.

it was good

This was a good book, but I was sort of in and out is a little slow but it's a decent book. The narrator did a good job.

Story not thought out fully

No idea what happened by the end of this book. It was like the series “Lost”, we went all the way through and had a half formed story at the end. Voice performer will probably be good with more practice but on this one, intonations were confusing at many times and there was not enough character distinctions. But voice overall is very good, so please keep at it!

Everything

Omg nothing got me right off, the reading was amazing, story omg kept me going a favorite for sure

Overall quite nice

Nice cadence. Context and story a little drawn out but overall a very pleasant listen.

Good story/excellent narrative

Storyline a little too long but narrative was strong and characters relatable. I would recommend to my friends.

Good story line,

I loved this title. It was very well written. It kept my attention the whole way through. The narrator did an amazing job. I’m finding it hard to get into any other book after listening to this. I realize how much I enjoyed this audible.

Not enough ghost

Narrator was fine and did a good job.
The story left me wanting more. It was too slow and not interesting enough… maybe I was hoping for more ghost and depth in that story line. Lots of build up to the supernatural and little explanation.