Robin Talley's debut novel Lies We Tell Ourselves is published by Mira Ink on October 3, telling the story of an interracial romance, set during school desegregation in Virginia in 1959 and tackling themes of race, sexuality and identity.

Talley, who lives in Washington DC, was inspired by her parents' high school experiences and her own research into the Norfolk 17 and the Little Rock Nine, groups of black students who joined white high schools in America in the 1950s. Lies We Tell Ourselves, described by the School Library Journal as a 'beautifully written and compelling read', will be followed by Talley's second novel, Unbreakable, in 2015.