My Lie

In My Lie, Meredith Maran reflects on her personal experience of accusing her father of abuse based on repressed memories that later proved to be false, set against the broader context of the 1980s and 1990s wave of belief in recovered memories and the infamous McMartin preschool trial. She explores how societal, cultural, and scientific factors contributed to a widespread phenomenon that affected countless families and individuals. With honesty, wit, and insight, Maran examines the psychological mechanisms behind false memories and the dangerous consequences of mass hysteria, raising important questions about truth, memory, and belief in contemporary America.