Mitch Albom talks new Holocaust novel 'The Little Liar' before Naples visit in December

Author and columnist Mitch Albom has written a novel that's relevant now more than ever, with a look back on one of the darkest chapters in human history.

Albom in "The Little Liar" delves into the Holocaust with a story that moves along swiftly with four main characters who stay connected over time. The book, which publishes Nov. 14, will certainly become another best-seller for Albom, whose "Tuesdays with Morrie" remains the best-selling memoir ever.

The columnist for the Detroit Free Press, which is part of the USA Today Network along with the Naples Daily News and The News-Press of Fort Myers, discussed "The Little Liar" on Oct. 24 in a FaceTime interview.

Albom will speak Dec. 3 at the Greater Naples Jewish Book Festival.

How 'The Little Liar' is different from other Holocaust books

"I'd always been looking for a story set during World War II and during the Holocaust but I felt there had been so many books already written about that, that I was kind of hard-pressed to find a new angle," he said.

"I didn't want to just write another book that took place during the concentration camps. There's just been so many done like that."

Albom recounted a story he heard years ago from a woman who said, when they got on the train tracks to head to concentration camps, there were Jewish people the Nazis had forced into saying, "It's safe, it's OK to go.' And because they were Jewish people, we trusted them."

"And I remember thinking, how awful to use people against you like that," Albom said. "So that became the germ of the story."

Why truth is a main theme in 'The Little Liar'

Albom said he arrived at the idea to write the book eight or nine years ago. While there's been a rise in antisemitism in recent years, and the Oct. 7 massacre of Israelis, that happened after Albom settled on the story two years ago.

However, he took note of how truth has become less important to some in recent years. Albom drove that home by making Truth the narrator of "The Little Liar."

"As I've watched over the years how truth has become kind of a relative term now in our society, I knew that it was a subject that I could do a larger book about," he said.

That is when Albom said he decided to explore the Truth theme and connected that to the Holocaust, which also reverberates with people today.

Not-so brotherly love among two main characters

Two of the book's four main characters are Nico and his older brother, Sebastian. Nico is "the little liar," while Sebastian is often jealous of his younger brother who can do no wrong.

For Albom, the bond and rivalry between brothers was something he knew well.

“I have a brother, and I’m an older brother and the more responsible one because I was older," Albom said. "And my brother was cute and got away with stuff, and I would be like, how is he getting away with that and I can’t get away with that."

Writing about the Holocaust

Growing up, Albom said he knew firsthand about the Holocaust through its survivors in his family and community.

"In my neighborhood, there were a couple of people ― women ― who would always wear their sweaters pulled down over their wrists to cover the numbers," said Albom, who is of Jewish descent.

"I didn’t know that was why until I asked my mother. And she said, well, they have these numbers and they don’t want people to see them.

“So I was always aware of it. And it’s in my family and extended family, Holocaust survivors. You don’t have to go far to hear stories of that and I’m old enough to remember when that was very present, growing up the ‘60s and hearing people less than 20 years earlier who had escaped concentration camps."

Why Albom choose Greece as the setting for part of the book

With so many books written about the Holocaust, Albom wanted to find a new angle in writing his.

So the story begins in the town of Salonika, Greece, where thousands of Jewish people were sent to their deaths in concentration camps. Few may know the story of the Greek Jews, with nearly 90 percent of them killed by the Nazis ― one of the highest proportions in Europe.

Albom also spent a summer in Greece after he graduated from college and came to love the people and their culture.

What Albom hopes people learn from 'The Little Liar'

There’s two things Albom said he hopes readers take away from his new novel.

"One obviously is the precious value of the truth and the damage that we do when we pervert the truth," he said.

"The second is forgiveness and what people will do. Nico spends his whole life basically trying to make up for one mistake, and a terrible mistake.”

And “he goes to enormous lengths that people don’t know about to basically be forgiven," Albom said.

For those attending the Naples book festival, what can they expect

Albom’s tour will bring him to Florida for book signings in November in Miami and Palm Beach Gardens, then Dec. 3 in Naples and Dec. 4 in Sarasota for the People of the Book event at the Jewish Federation of Sarasota-Manatee.

At the Naples event, Albom said, he will have an audio and video presentation related to his career, while also discussing "The Little Liar" and "Tuesdays with Morrie," which remains popular with audiences.

“I really enjoy book tours. A lot of authors complain about them. I consider it a privilege," Albom said.

"Writing is a very lonely art. You don’t get to bounce things off of people very much. It should be, I hope, an enjoyable evening for people who like writing or like books.”

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How to attend the book festival

Albom kicks off the book festival’s ninth season at 7 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 3, at the Nina Iser Jewish Cultural Center in Naples, 4720 Pine Ridge Road.

The $40 admission fee includes a copy of Albom’s latest book, “The Little Liar,” to be published Nov. 14. For more information, visit JewishNaples.org.

Dave Osborn is the regional features editor of the Naples Daily News and News-Press. Follow him on Instagram and Threads @lacrossewriter.

This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Mitch Albom discusses new book 'The Little Liar' before Naples visit