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Sometimes You Have to Lie

The Life and Times of Louise Fitzhugh, Renegade Author of Harriet the Spy

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Sometimes You Have to Lie

By: Leslie Brody
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About this listen

 In this inspiring biography, discover the true story of Harriet the Spy author Louise Fitzhugh -- and learn about the woman behind one of literature's most beloved heroines. Harriet the Spy, first published in 1964, has mesmerized generations of readers and launched a million diarists. Its beloved antiheroine, Harriet, is erratic, unsentimental, and endearing -- very much like the woman who created her, Louise Fitzhugh. Born in 1928, Fitzhugh was raised in segregated Memphis, but she soon escaped her cloistered world and headed for New York, where her expanded milieu stretched from the lesbian bars of Greenwich Village to the art world of postwar Europe, and her circle of friends included members of the avant-garde like Maurice Sendak and Lorraine Hansberry. Fitzhugh's novels, written in an era of political defiance, are full of resistance: to authority, to conformity, and even -- radically, for a children's author -- to make-believe. As a children's author and a lesbian, Fitzhugh was often pressured to disguise her true nature. Sometimes You Have to Lie tells the story of her hidden life and of the creation of her masterpiece, which remains long after her death as a testament to the complicated relationship between truth, secrecy, and individualism. Art & Literature Authors Historical Women Espionage Biography

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Critic reviews

“Expansive and revealing… Leslie Brody assembles the clues to the personal history that shaped Fitzhugh’s conscience and creative convictions. Brody, a biographer and playwright who adapted “Harriet the Spy” for the stage in 1988, has pored through correspondence, memoirs and court documents, and conducted dozens of interviews to reveal the trail that Fitzhugh left unmarked.”—New York Times
“Highly enjoyable… Ms. Brody’s engaging biography reminds us how fragile and serendipitous artistic beginnings can be, yet how mighty and enduring their endings.”—Wall Street Journal
“A study that reveals the quiet subversiveness of Harriet the Spy and adds sharp political potency to the book’s seemingly innocent play with questions of secrecy and surveillance.” —The New Republic
“Brody’s project is to rescue Fitzhugh from the morass of kid lit and memorialize her as an unsung queer, feminist exemplar.”—New Yorker
“In this sad, evocative biography, it is Fitzhugh’s friends who share her truths, so the story can remain true to her.”—Washington Post
“A portrait of a complicated, messy, brilliant artist — who would have thrilled Harriet herself.”—New York Post
“In ‘Sometimes You Have to Lie’, an engrossing and carefully researched biography of Louise Fitzhugh, Leslie Brody vibrantly tells the story of the complicated and ultimately triumphant life of the author of “Harriet the Spy.” She presents a full portrait of Fitzhugh, previously a shadowy figure at best, and places her firmly in the top rank of children’s book creators."—Boston Globe
“[Louise Fitzhugh] remains a mystery to this day, but Leslie Brody’s new book works to pull back the curtain on Fitzhugh’s sensational life.”—Bustle
“Leslie Brody paints a portrait of Fitzhugh that’s almost as indelible as Harriet herself…deeply endearing introduction to the woman who gave the American canon one of its icons.”—Vox
“In this lively, compassionate biography of Louise Fitzhugh, author of the children’s instant-classic ‘Harriet the Spy’ series from the 1960s, Leslie Brody sheds light on the remarkable woman behind the books.”—Christian Science Monitor
“It turns out many of the roots of Harriet’s privileged existence can be found in the life of her creator, Louise Fitzhugh. Leslie Brody’s new biography, Sometimes You Have To Lie (a piece of Ole Golly dialogue), delves deep into the writer’s fascinating past.”—The A.V. Club
“’Sometimes You Have to Lie’ is the fascinating story of the long-hidden truth about the life of the queer author of an iconic children’s book. Harriet wouldn’t be able to put it down.”—Washington Blade
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This is a fascinating insight into a remarkable life. It's a very detailed account of Louise Fitzhugh's life - a little too detailed in places; while her dysfunctional family and childhood clearly had a huge impact on her life and work, the in-depth history of her family dragged a little. Like many talented artists, I get the impression she might be great fun to be around, or a pain in the arse. It gives a really interesting context for fans of Harriet The Spy, and she certainly lived her all-too-short life to the full.

What a remarkable life

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