Book To Screen
Shoring Up All the ‘We Were Liars’ Characters: Breaking Down the Sinclair Family Tree
“Once upon a time, there was a mythical land where it was always summer…”
In 2014, E. Lockhart published We Were Liars, a YA beach read that perfectly blends the butterfly-inducing young love of Jenny Han‘s To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before with the sophistication and suspense of a psychological thriller like Caroline Kepnes’ You. After over a decade of lying to all of the non-readers in our lives about the book’s shocking ending, We Were Liars has finally hit the small screen, finding its home on Prime Video.
The story follows an affluent family that spends their summers in the lap of luxury, secluded from the rest of the world, on a private Massachusetts island. At the heart of the story lies the Liars, a group comprised of three teenage cousins (Johnny, Mirren, and Cadence) and Gat, the boy who falls for Cadence after years of spending his summers on the island alongside the Sinclairs. (Don’t worry, The White Lotus fans, Gat is NOT a blood relative.) Following a mysterious accident two summers ago, Cadence returns to the island to reconnect with the Liars and piece together the tragedy that caused her amnesia.
What was the accident? Much like the Sinclairs, we’re keeping our lips sealed. After all, as the back of the book puts it: “If anyone asks you how it ends, just LIE.”
While the book once belonged to the mid-2010s era of Tumblr and BookTube, in 2022, Amazon MGM Studios announced that they had acquired the rights to We Were Liars, as well as its 2022 prequel, Family of Liars. Now that summer 2025 is here, we can officially watch the highly anticipated series.
With three generations, we know it’s going to be a little hard to keep track of the Sinclairs. That’s why we’re breaking down the Sinclair family as they’re seen in the book series and TV adaptation. Read on for our Sinclair family tree and a deeper explanation of how all of the key characters are related.
We Were Liars, Season 1, Now Streaming, Prime Video
Meet the Sinclairs
The Sinclair family is helmed by Beechwood’s proverbial King and Queen, Harris Sinclair (David Morse) and Tipper Taft Sinclair (Wendy Crewson). Harris and Tipper have three daughters: Carrie (Mamie Gummer), Penny (Caitlin FitzGerald), and Bess (Candice King).
In the prequel, Family of Liars, Lockhart revealed that Harris and Tipper had another daughter named Rosemary Sinclair, who drowned as a child. As the adaptation is based on both books, Rosemary is mentioned in the series.
Harris and Tipper also have six grandchildren: Penny’s daughter, Cadence “Cady” (Emily Alyn Lind), Carrie’s sons, Johnny (Joseph Zada) and Will (Brady Droulis), and Bess’ daughters, Mirren (Esther McGregor), Bonnie (Emerson MacNeil), and Liberty (Manaia Wall).
In the book, Bess also has a son named Taft, who is the second youngest cousin. However, the character was cut from the adaptation.
Carrie, Penny & Bess
If you thought your last girls’ trip was messy, just wait until you meet the Sinclair sisters. While the middle generation of the Sinclairs is not heavily focused on in the book, there are a few things we know about the sisters.
The youngest living Sinclair sister is Bess Sinclair Sheffield, a stay-at-home mom who relies heavily on her parents’ wealth. Bess is married, but her husband rarely visits Beechwood, leaving room for a summer fling or two.
Cady’s mom, Penny Sinclair Eastman, is Harris and Tipper’s middle child. Penny has recently gotten a divorce from her husband, who left her and their daughter for another woman. As the mother of the oldest grandchild, Penny expects Harris monetary favor.
Carrie Sinclair Dennis is the oldest Sinclair sister and the narrator of Family of Liars, which primarily takes place during her childhood. While unmarried, she is in a long-term relationship with her boyfriend, Ed (Rahul Kohli).
Carrie & Ed
Carrie and Ed have been seeing each other for quite a while by the time of the major events of We Were Liars. Ed and his nephew, Gat (Shubham Maheshwari), have joined Carrie’s family on Beechwood since Cady was young. As characters of Indian descent, both Ed and Gat are subject to extreme microaggressions and outright racism from members of the Sinclair family.
The Liars: Cady, Johnny, Mirren & Gat
According to Cady, Johnny is “salt, swagger, and reckless abandon,” Mirren is “sugar, effort, and constant curiosity,” and Gat is “contemplation and enthusiasm. Ambition and strong coffee.” While we never get a firm explanation as to why their family calls them “the Liars,” it is understood that the oldest cousins are responsible for a great amount of mischief around the island. Referred to as “the Littles” by Cady, Bonnie, Liberty, and Will are younger than the Liars and generally stay separate from their older siblings.
Cady & Gat
While Gat spends every summer with the Sinclairs, he often feels like the odd man out when he is not with the Liars. As they grow up, Gat and Cady begin to see each other as more than just friends. During the summer of Cady’s accident, the two become romantically involved, forming a relationship that Lockhart shared was connected to Wuthering Heights.
