Truly Madly Guilty

by Liane Moriarty

"The new novel from Liane Moriarty, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Husband's Secret, Big Little Lies, and What Alice Forgot, about how sometimes we don't appreciate how extraordinary our ordinary lives are until it's too late. "What a wonderful writer--smart, wise, funny." --Anne Lamott Six responsible adults. Three cute kids. One small dog. It's just a normal weekend. What could possibly go wrong? In Truly Madly Guilty, Liane Moriarty turns her unique, razor-sharp eye towards three seemingly happy families. Sam and Clementine have a wonderful, albeit, busy life: they have two little girls, Sam has just started a new dream job and Clementine, a cellist, is busy preparing for the audition of a lifetime. If there's anything they can count on, it's each other. Clementine and Erika are each other's oldest friends. A single look between them can convey an entire conversation. But theirs is a complicated relationship, so when Erika mentions a last minute invitation to a barbecue with her neighbors, Tiffany and Vid, Clementine and Sam don't hesitate. Having Tiffany and Vid's larger than life personalities there will be a welcome respite. Two months later, it won't stop raining, and Clementine and Sam can't stop asking themselves the question: What if we hadn't gone? In Truly Madly Guilty, Liane Moriarty takes on the foundations our lives: marriage, sex, parenthood, and friendship. She shows how guilt can expose the fault lines in the most seemingly strong relationships, how what we don't say can be more powerful than what we do, and how sometimes it is the most innocent of moments that can do the greatest harm"--

• ISBN10: 1250069793
• ISBN13: 9781250069795
• Publish Date: 26 July 2016 (first published 20 July 2016)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 10 December 2024
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Flatiron Books
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 432
• Language: English

Reviews

[gazmanic]

Just posting to clarify an important point that CPR is now 30:2 not 15:2 as in the story.
So 30 compressions to every 2 breaths.
https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/how-to-perform-cpr
https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/conditionsandtreatments/cardiopulmonary-resuscitation-cpr
https://www.redcross.org.au/get-involved/learn/first-aid/first-aid-app

[stressedrach]

I am a huge fan of Liane Moriarty and have read almost all of her books now so when Truly Madly Guilty was released I just had to get my hands on it.

This book focuses on three families, Erika and Oliver, a married couple with no children and good jobs, both had rubbish childhoods due to their parents so are made for each other. Clementine and Sam are a married couple with two young daughters, Holly and Ruby. This couple are friends with Erika and Oliver, although apparently not as good friends as Erika had thought. Clementine is a cellist and hoping for big things and Sam works in an office but doesn’t particularly enjoy it. Then we have Vid and Tiffany, they have one daughter, Dakota and a dog, they are Erika and Oliver’s next door neighbours. They have an extravagant house. Vid is an electrician and Tiffany spends her time doing up places.
The book starts Clementine doing a talk about a barbecue, Erika is watching the talk, hoping that it will jolt her memory to that day. The focus of this book is the day of the barbeque, the events that take place before the barbecue right up until the tragic event. Unfortunately you do not find out what this actual event is until about half way through the book. From then on in, we find that Erika is still trying to remember what actually happened as she had a blank spot in her memory about that afternoon. We also find that relationships are strained and the whole aftermath of the events of that day and a lot of guilt is floating about from all characters.
The book goes back and forth from the different characters and giving their POV’s from present day and the day of the barbecue but it does not get confusing as the author has put on the top of the chapter if it was a past event. It reminded me of a crime being reconstructed in some ways, but it definitely built up a wide and focused picture of what actually happened. The further into the book you go the more things are revealed and I was left quite shocked at some of the revelations.
Truly Madly Guilty is very much like Liane’s other books in the fact that it will keep you guessing but my also get you a little frustrated if you are not a patient person and wants to know what actually happened quickly.
I think the way Liane laid out this book was a great way to get the readers hooked, I certainly was. It was well written and although the event was not revealed for a long while I think that it made the characters more likeable and they developed greatly throughout. I like to get to know a character and you certainly do in this book.
All in all I think Truly Madly Guilty is fantastic read, it kept be hooked, which a good book should and I would definitely recommend it.

[Sam@WLABB]

Many, many thanks go out to Caitlin at www.thebookshire.com for meeting me at BEA and gifting me an ARC of this book. XOXO

This is the Liane Moriarty I love. I adore the way Moriarty weaves the lives of her characters together, and how she slowly reveals that piece of the story that jars you. Until about page 425 (I think), I kept saying, "What happened at this barbecue?!" When the "what" was finally revealed, many of the behaviors began to make sense, and THEN! LM throws in another interesting tidbit, and adds another interesting layer to the story. But, wait, BOOM! She drops another bombshell. The last reveal was slightly shocking, but I suspected that was what had happened.

I found this book an interesting study of how a traumatic event can cause people to look at their lives, what they have or don't have, those they love or think they love. The event at the barbecue had our MCs reflecting on their romantic and "familial" relationships. One big relationship that was under the microscope for the entire book, was the friendship between Clementine and Erika. It was a tenuous relationship that began through Clementine's mother's urging and had endured many years. It was interesting to see the cracks that both women were aware of, but never faced head on, and how it took this "event" for each of them to reflect on what the other meant to them, and perhaps, discover the value of one another.

Moriarty did a wonderful job of slowly revealing the layers of her characters. Some, lost their shine during the course of the book, while others were quietly revealed to be quite beautiful souls. The only thing I didn't really understand, was the need for Vid and Tiffany AFTER the event. They seemed like superfluous characters, and their "secret" did not really seem important with respect to the story. Other than that, I loved this book, and the quiet beauty of the ending left me with a smile on my face and warm heart.