Following the success of the 2025 We Were Liars series on Prime Video, E. Lockhart’s prequel novel Family of Liars has surged in popularity online. This thrilling new series, which was released on June 18, 2025, has drawn both longtime readers and new viewers into the dark and mysterious world of Beechwood Island. And like many family dynasties, the Sinclair family name may be synonymous with elegance and generational wealth, but much more is beneath the surface. Under the hood lie much colder things: secrets, silence and ghosts, both literally and figuratively.
As audiences binge the new adaptation, they may be inspired to revisit the prequel novel. But several major questions remain despite the TikTok (or should we say BookTok) breakdowns about the Sinclair family’s twisted legacy. In this Family of Liars ending explained, we’ll explore how the prequel deepens the mystery, what truths are finally revealed and what really happened during that fateful summer decades before Cadence’s tragedy, as shown on-screen.
What is the twist ending of ‘We Were Liars’?
At first glance, We Were Liars is a modern coming-of-age story set against the backdrop of elite privilege. And while there is room for that analysis of the storyline, its narrative expands as Elle describes. Readers follow Cadence Sinclair Eastman, who returns to Beechwood Island after a mysterious injury leaves her with migraines, memory gaps and a lingering sense of dread about the fact that something has gone terribly wrong. As she reconnects with her cousins Johnny and Mirren and friend Gat, who was once her love, things seem normal. That is, until she starts remembering.
The big twist that flips the story on its head is that Johnny, Mirren and Gat are dead. They all died two summers earlier in a house fire that Cadence helped to start. The group, which called themselves The Liars, convinced themselves that destroying the Sinclair family’s grand estate on Beechwood Island would be a type of protest. So the four teens set the lavish summer home ablaze to shake up toxic inheritance battles, but only Cadence made it out alive. The others perished in the flames, and as the only survivor of a traumatic event, no matter how self-inflicted it was, Cadence’s brain suppresses the truth to protect her. The unbearable trauma results in her speaking to ghosts all summer, which represent figments of her grief, remorse and longing.
How does the 2025 Prime Video adaptation compare to the book?
In the 2025 series adaptation of We Were Liars, viewers get the same story – just told slightly differently. Due to the imagery in the series, this same twist may simply seem to be preserved longer and have a heavier emotional weight. Some visual cues and subtle aspects of the cinematography help viewers piece together the big twist. For example, characters vanish from mirrors or are ignored by others.
But these hints help create a mystery about whether The Liars are ghosts or hallucinations. What we’ll say is, they are certainly real for Cadence (Emily Alyn Lind) and given her traumatic history, at the very least, they can be considered psychological shadows of the people she once knew and loved. The show even suggests that other family members, namely Aunt Carrie (Mamie Gummer), may sense the presence of the dead. This adds a slightly more psychological and supernatural feel to the story that isn’t necessarily as tangible in the book.
Is Rosemary a ghost in ‘Family of Liars’?
In Family of Liars, the story rewinds over two decades to the 1980s, but the character Rosemary is not alive. Readers experience the island from the point of view of young Carrie Sinclair, who is Penny’s older sister (Cadence’s mom). Due to the recent death of her younger sister Rosemary, who drowned under mysterious circumstances, her world is fractured. And the Sinclair family, per usual, refuses to talk about it.
But then, Rosemary appears again, and all seems right in the world. Carrie and Rosemary sit together, laugh together, talk and argue, as sisters do. At first, Carrie even begins to believe that what she’s experiencing is a miracle, maybe just maybe Rosemary didn’t die? But as summer progresses, the truth eventually unfolds: Rosemary is a ghost. Or as readers know, she is Carrie’s personal ghost, a manifestation of guilt, grief and emotional denial of the tragedy, which seems to run in the family.
In the adaptation, as Screenrant confirms, the truth about Rosemary is not revealed. Due to the sequence of events and time period, the past of the Sinclair family has not been explored yet. But the first season of We Were Liars sets viewers up for an interesting journey into the older generations of the family. So, Rosemary may make an appearance if We Were Liars returns for another season. This blast into the past may help explain why the affluent family is so dysfunctional and, as viewers know, avoidant of anything that makes them seem less than perfect.
What happened to Pfeff?
Family of Liars uncovers the truth of what happened to Lawrence “Pfeff” Pfefferman. Pfeff is a charming and mysterious boy who quickly embeds himself into the Sinclair family’s inner circle. From the moment that Carrie meets him, he’s almost intoxicating. He’s different from the sanitized and proper boys she’s known; he’s reckless and handsome. And their connection sparks quickly and burns brightly, but something about him is off. Through the summer, Carrie’s opinion of Pfeff takes a dark turn. Some subtle red flags serve as warning signs, he is jealous, manipulative and plays mind games. In a particularly troubling moment, Carrie even catches Pfeff trying to sexually assault her sister Penny, which leads to an unexpected series of events.
Eventually, things escalate and the sisters, Carrie, Penny and Bess, have a confrontation with Pfeff. The confrontation leads to a fatal incident and the girls cover up his death to protect themselves. They fabricate a boating incident to walk free of their crime. But their actions haunt them, especially since this murder could ruin their whole family. So, summers at Beechwood Island are overshadowed by secrets and tragic ends throughout many generations of the Sinclair family.
Does ‘Family of Liars’ have a happy ending?
No, in the simplest terms, Family of Liars does not necessarily have a happy ending. But that depends on how you define happy. If you’re looking for justice, redemption or dramatic closure, you won’t find it here. But what Family of Liars does offer is a quieter and arguably more honest conclusion – one that reckons with the haunting legacy of the Sinclair family. It follows Carrie years later, haunted by the ghost of her son Johnny, who died in a fire. He visits her in the kitchen of the family’s summer home and she reluctantly agrees to tell him the story of her seventh summer. This summer is filled with tragic loss and secrets, with Pfeff’s death being a central event.
By the book’s final chapters, Carrie Sinclair has finally stopped running from her dark past. Instead, she tells the truth, not to the world, but to herself. She confesses that she is the one who killed Pfeff and not her sister Bess. In that moment, readers see a real shift in her character. She finally reclaims her guilt, rage and the depth of what she’s tried to bury. This internal, messy, and deeply personal moment may seem insignificant compared to a dramatic courtroom confession, but it is out of the ordinary for the Sinclair family. They have established denial as tradition, so even a private confession is like an act of rebellion.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I read Family of Liars before We Were Liars?
Family of Liars is set years before We Were Liars, but it is recommended that readers first delve into the latter. This order will help establish family ties and the hidden secrets that festers beneath the surface of the Sinclair family.
Is there anything inappropriate in the book We Were Liars?
There are some subjects and events in the book that may be inappropriate for younger or more sensitive readers. For example, mental health struggles, underage drinking, drug use, violence and death are all aspects of the narrative.
