Truly Madly Guilty by Liane Moriarty

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"--

Reviewed by Sam@WLABB on

5 of 5 stars

Share
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.

Last modified on

Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 10 July, 2016: Finished reading
  • 10 July, 2016: Reviewed