Book Club: Truly, Madly, Guilty by Liane Moriarty

The Book:

“IF ONLY THEY’D SAID NO…What if they hadn’t gone? That’s the question Clementine can’t stop asking herself. It was just a backyard barbeque. They didn’t know their hosts that well. They were friends of friends. They could so easily have said no. But she and her husband Sam said yes, and now they can never change what they did and didn’t do that beautiful winter’s day. Six responsible adults. Three cute kids. One yapping dog. It’s a normal weekend in the suburbs. What could possibly go wrong?  Once again Liane Moriarty uses her unique, razor-sharp observational skills to sift through the emerging fault lines of seemingly happy families. It was just an ordinary Sunday afternoon…” Ref: Booktopia Australia

“Moriarty, the queen of Australian suburban noir, sets up an intriguing multi-layered scenario that hinges on something terrible happening at a barbecue - just as it did, famously, in Christos Tsiolkas' The Slap. Her characters may be more genteel on the surface, but their secrets are just as dark: Erika is still recovering from the trauma and shame caused by her mother’s compulsive hoarding habit. Now she and her husband Oliver, who have long been a childless couple by choice, have decided they want to start a family, and have asked Erika’s childhood friend Clementine, who already has two daughters, to help. But Clementine has her own problems to contend with. Moriarty tackles topical everyday issues with affectionate but deadly accuracy, playing on her characters' insecurities in ways that allows the reader to recognise themselves. Every kind of anxiety and relationship wrinkle is mined for maximum potential in an elegantly choreographed dance between Erika, Clementine, their husbands and the neighbours Vid and Tiffany, who invite them over for a barbecue in their-over-the-top opulently landscaped backyard. It’s a lot of fun. And Moriarty pulls it off with a touch as light as a perfect scone.” Review by Caroline Baum

The Author: Liane Moriarty

Liane Moriarty is the Australian author of seven internationally best-selling novels, including Three Wishes, The Last Anniversary, What Alice Forgot, The Hypnotist's Love Story and the #1 New York Times bestsellers, The Husband's Secret, Big Little Lies and Truly Madly Guilty. The Husband's Secret has sold over 2 million copies worldwide and is set to be translated into over 35 languages. CBS Films has acquired the film rights. With the launch of Big Little Lies, Liane became the first Australian author to have a novel debut at number one on the New York Times bestseller list. Film and television rights were snapped up by Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon. The series was screened in the first half of 2017. Truly Madly Guilty also debuted at #1 in its first week of publication on the New York Times bestseller list and both Big Little Lies and Truly Madly Guilty were number one bestsellers in Australia. Writing as L.M. Moriarty, Liane has also written a series of books for children.

Review:

Almost all of the Book Club members found this book a bit slow to begin with but like many books that follow the format of jumping from past to present with each chapter, it takes at least 80 to 100 pages before the story catches your interest and you become familiar with the characters and their situations. The story line then becomes more compelling and Moriarty begins to build the suspense.  “ Don’t  judge a book by its cover” seems to be an adage that best describes the main characters. The personalities you meet at the beginning of the book change dramatically to the final chapters, after the barbecue.  I liked the characters and related to and felt for them.  This book is an OK read. It is easily read with a very believable plot. Those members in the book club who had read other books by Lianne Moriarty said this was one not as good.

Thank you to Margaret Cassidy for the review.