WINNERS & LIARS

A determined literature student enters a high-stakes competition to become the heir to an English estate.

Conscientious Derin Ayodele is one of a group of five brilliant Kenfield Grammar School students who hope to go to Cambridge University. They’re taught by the unconventional Alexander Darnley, who’s cued white. He and his celebrated author wife, Cornelia, who reads Black, invite these promising young scholars—the Kenfield Set—to their home, Kenfield House, for the annual summer ball. But no one expected to begin the weekend with a will reading. By the time of the ball, both Mr. and Mrs. Darnley have died, and the Kenfield Set find themselves participating in a challenge of wits inspired by Cornelia’s famous novel By the Season’s End. Dressed in 1840s fashion, the competitors engage in a technology-free competition for the Darnleys’ physical and intellectual properties. Derin, who’s bisexual, knows little about her economically struggling British Nigerian family’s history; colonization and enslavement erased many people’s stories. When someone slips a mysterious note under Derin’s door at Kenfield, she’s swept up in a web of secrets, lies, and betrayal. Kind, handsome Kenfield intern Teddy, a “mixed Black British bi guy,” becomes her confidant in a house full of rivals. Fans of Bridgerton will enjoy the English manor setting, and Omotoni weaves a compelling competition into a text that meaningfully unearths the unjust consequences of whitewashing history. Intersectional representation of queer relationships enhances the rich character building.

Deeply developed characters, shocking twists, and thought-provoking historical intrigue.