F. Hardinge: Hello, this is Frances Hardinge and I'm the author of "The Lie Tree". I'm going to talk a little about how I came to write the book and then I'll share an excerpt with you.

One day when I was walking by the river I came up with the idea of a tree that ate lies. You could whisper a lie to it and then get as many people as possible to believe the lie. Then this tree would bear fruit that could be eaten to learn secrets.

But it wasn't until I thought of this tree in a Victorian setting that the idea clicked into place. I realized that this wasn't just a fantasy tale. It was also a Victorian Gothic murder mystery. A story about science, the unknown, injustice and lies. The lies we tell others as well as those we tell ourselves.

Now I'm going to read you an excerpt.

"There was something strange in the echoes of the vaulted caves. The roar of the nearby sea had been softened and twisted so that the air seemed full of sighs. Faith could not help glancing over her shoulder thinking that somebody had just let out a long breath immediately behind her.

The cold smell was bitter here, making her eyes sting.

Slowly Faith slithered her way up the sloping stone floor. When she stood by the rocky shelf, she reached up and slowly pulled at the cloth. She felt resistance, the tug of thorns and then the oilskin came away, revealing a black, indistinct tangle that spillt over the edges of the pot. A scribble of shadow on shadow.

The not noises in the cave became louder as if the breathers had drawn closer. Gingerly she raised her lantern letting a little bar of quivering light fall upon the plant. The light glistened on slender blue black leaves, long thorns, dull golden pearls of sap glowing on black knobbed stems. A then before her eyes Faith saw the illuminated foliage flinch, wrinkle and subside, hissing with the angry sibilance of a beast disturbed."