I almost gave up on this book as it was reminding me unfavourably of The Birds by Tarjei Vesaas. The Birds is a brilliant novel that tells the tale of Mattis, a mentally disabled man cared for by his lonely older sister, Hege.

The True Deceiver is about Katri Kling and her simpleminded brother Mats living in a Scandinavian village, but it becomes different from The Birds, and this kept me reading, when Katri determines to move into the house of older local illustrator Anna Aemelin as there’s something she wants, and she tries to take control of Anna’s life. Whether she does so or not, I’m not going to say.

Mats likes building and designing boats and reading adventure stories, Katri like crocheting and solving problems without bothering with any social skills, and Anna likes sketching the forest floor. The villagers enjoy gossiping about the activities going on at Anna’s house, knows as the rabbit house due to the contents of her illustrations, and the local children regard Katri as a witch.

How does it end? Well I recommend reading the book.