Society of Lies: A Novel

Society of Lies (2024) is a murder mystery and thriller by Lauren Ling Brown. Brown’s debut novel, Society of Lies revolves around two sisters, Maya and Naomi, and their experiences with an inimical secret society at Princeton. Like her characters Maya and Naomi, Brown is a Black Chinese American. Brown also went to Princeton, where she studied English, and the less sensational aspects of the book partly derive from her personal experiences at the Ivy League school. A Reese’s Book Club selection, Society of Lies centers on themes like The Compulsion to Deceive, The Danger of Truth, and The Pressure to Preserve Elite Status.

Citations refer to the 2024 Bantam Books e-book edition.

Content Warning: The source text features depictions of sexism, racism, and grooming.

Plot Summary

The book features two narrators: working-class sisters Maya and Naomi. The sisters are Black Chinese Americans, and Maya is 10 years older than Naomi. The chapter titles indicate the narrator’s identity while the chapter subtitles help the reader navigate the movement of time. Naomi’s narrative centers on her junior year at Princeton (2022-2023) and the events that lead to her death. Maya’s sections revolve around her junior year (2011-2012) and the months following her younger sister’s murder a decade later.

Princeton has several eating clubs (social clubs). Maya hasn’t been a member before, but her friend Daisy convinces her to apply for Sterling Club, the most prestigious eating club. Maya gets in and is also introduced into Greystone Society, a secret club that operates within Sterling. Lila Jones, a Greystone member, warns Maya to stay away from Greystone, but Maya doesn’t listen to Lila.

Lila is friends with Austin Levy, the editor-in-chief of Princeton’s newspaper, The Daily Princetonian. Lila and Austin work on a story about how Greystone and its philanthropic Legacy Foundation have been committing financial crimes, especially laundering money that is exchanged so Greystone alumni can have their children accepted at Princeton under fraudulent qualifications. Maya accepts $10,000 and a Goldman Sachs internship after she is drawn into this web: She is persuaded to sit the SAT for a teenage boy and write his Princeton application essay for him.

Aside from Daisy, Maya’s friend group includes Kai and Cecily. Cecily’s family owns large swaths of Manhattan, and she is the future president of Sterling. Cecily discovers that Lila wants to expose Greystone, and she asks Maya to convince her to stop. Maya realizes Lila is in an abusive relationship with their professor, Matthew DuPont. He’s a popular and famous economics professor who routinely has affairs with his students. Maya notices a bruise on Lila’s temple, and when Maya and her friends find Lila with a bloody gash on her head, they vow to take down DuPont.

Greystone has an annual ski trip for its members and alumni. The young women plan to drug DuPont with GHB. Less inhibited, they hope he’ll confess to assaulting Lila, which they’ll capture through a secret camera. Marta, Sterling’s housekeeper, suspects the scheme and tells Maya to be careful. Maya pours GHB into a shot glass, but she loses sight of the drinks. She believes that Lila drinks it by accident. Soon, Lila is missing. Authorities find her body in the snow, and they conclude she died of hypothermia.

Lila’s death preoccupies Maya, who also worries about her little sister, Naomi. Maya and Naomi’s parents are dead, and their Aunt Ella takes care of Naomi in San Jose, California. Aunt Ella has children of her own, and she’s overwhelmed by her family responsibilities. Social services come to Aunt Ella’s door when Naomi is home alone. Cecily helps Maya move Naomi to Cecily’s brother and sister-in-law’s huge estate in affluent Greenwich, Connecticut. John and Margaret, the couple, become Naomi’s legal guardians, and they financially support her.

Naomi loves to dance and read. Naomi “read” her way into Princeton. Maya didn’t want Naomi to go to Princeton or join Sterling. Ignoring her sister, Naomi joined both Sterling and Greystone. Her friend group includes a choreographer, Zee, and Amy. Like Naomi and Maya, Amy comes from a working-class background. To support her studies, she earns money by working as a “camgirl” online, creating explicit footage. Amy wants to be an investigative journalist, and she’s interning at The New York Times. Amy investigates the corrupt and sordid history of Greystone. The Times plans to hire her and publish her article.

Amy confides in Naomi about her Greystone article, and Naomi helps her with the research. They find out about Lila Jones, and Naomi remembers her sister discussing Lila with friends. Liam, Naomi’s on-and-off boyfriend, tells Naomi to not pursue this, but Naomi doesn’t listen. Under direction from DuPont, Liam steals Amy’s laptop. To humiliate and threaten Amy, they project one of her explicit videos to the class while she is giving a presentation. The Times rescinds their offer when the footage is made public. Naomi keeps searching for information, however. She discovers Maya’s role in Lila’s disappearance, and she realizes DuPont has been paying Marta to stay silent.

Marta has the video footage from the ski trip, and she shares it with Naomi. The recording shows DuPont handling Lila’s body. Naomi shows it to Cecily, unaware that Cecily is DuPont’s ally and lover who helped him kill Lila. Trying to silence Naomi, Cecily accidentally kills her with an injection of ketamine. DuPont helps Cecily put Naomi’s body in Lake Carnegie.

Maya is married to Nate Banks, whom she met at Princeton, and they have a daughter, Dani. As Maya investigates Naomi’s death, DuPont stalks Maya and her family, approaching Dani and warning Maya to stay away from him and his new fiancée, Sara. To protect Maya and her family, Margaret kills DuPont at Kai’s wedding.

Finding out that Maya knows about Lila’s death, Cecily drugs her and, with Marta’s help, digs a grave for her. However, Marta turns on Cecily, hitting her on the head with a shovel.

After Maya recovers, she and Daisy take their families to the Hamptons. Following her sister’s wishes, Maya spreads her ashes into the ocean.