Erin Cahill lives in a small central Texas town, life there is quiet and routine. Until the phone call that upended her life. It was a family friend telling her that her mother was in the hospital. Erin immediatly packs a bag and drove the 375 miles to Houston. Once there Erin discovers that her mother, Kate, has been harboring a secret. A mystery that Erin, with the help of her Aunt Maggie, is determined to uncover.

Why my mother lied is a story about families spanning generations. Some are not so good people but most were good people trying to live their lives amid secrets, lies, deceptions, and circumstances beyond their control. And at the heart of this story is Kate's fifty-year-old mystery.

The tale starts in nineteenth-century Italy, where the family history begins,then goes to Chicago and eventually to twenty-first-century Texas.