Sometimes You Have to Lie: The Life and Times of Louise Fitzhugh, Renegade Author of Harriet the Spy

Louise Fitzhugh is best known as the author of Harriet the Spy, the beloved children’s book that has inspired countless writers as well as would-be spies. But she was also a painter, playwright, and author of numerous other books, some published, some—alas—locked away in an archive somewhere. At least we now have a thoroughly researched biography of her life and times in Sometimes You Have to Lie. Biographer Leslie Brody has not only interviewed all of Fitzhugh’s remaining contemporaries and mined the existent drafts, letters, and papers, but she sets her subject’s life firmly in the context of her times. So we learn about Louise’s tragic and strained childhood in the South, what it was like to be a mostly out lesbian in New York in the 50s and early 60s, and the many friendships and relationships she had. Careful readers will find many familiar names among the crowd. A few photographs are included and I could only wish that some of Fitzhugh’s artwork could have been reproduced within these pages.