Here s the best news you ve heard all year: Not a single page disappoints….The only difficulty withTruly Madly Guilty? Putting it down.” Miami Herald Captivating, suspenseful tantalizing. People MagazineThe 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 … Lies, and What Alice Forgot, about how sometimes we don t appreciate how extraordinary our ordinary lives are until it s too late.
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 of 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.
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It’s everything!
This book was written by the same author as Big Little Lies, and it follows the same format. There is a big event that changes everything. The narrative jumps back and forth between the time before the event, the time after the event, and the night of the BBQ (the main event). Moriarty draws out the big reveal, just like she did in Big Little Lies. I will say I was anxious at first to find out what happened, and it made me spend more time reading just so I could find out. At one point I had an idea what happened, but I wasn’t completely right. My friend said this means I was wrong, but in truth, I was partially correct. But still wrong I guess. 😉
Bottom line, if you liked Big Little Lies, you will probably enjoy this one. It took a while to get to the point, but it was worth the wait.
Almost too true to life! This author KNOWS character.
I was expecting a lot from a book with a 4-star rating and instead found a drawn-out kind of boring read. The same story could have been told in half the pages. I found the overly descriptive style a bit endulgent and distracting. I would not recommend this book.
Tore through this in one night, sweating the outcome until the bitter end! Fascinating!
Did not care for this one, but have like other books by her.
I enjoyed this book. It does start off slow, but stick with it. The way the author weaved the story lines and how they came together was great.
Lover Liane Moriarty handling of relationships
I WON this book from a Goodreads Giveaway, and it was so exciting to win, plus, I got the e-mail that I won on my BIRTHDAY. And I had this book on my to-read but never dreamed I’d get to read it as an “early copy” and wow, yes, I had to drop the book for a few moments three or four times while I just basked in the “Oh, WOW!” of it and the out-loud thoughts of, “I can’t believe this is so good!” I really enjoyed it. It’s more risqué, I guess the word would be, than I would say all of her other books, but the story, the plot, the unfolding, the different points of view and how she strings you along so perfectly well, not annoyingly, just long enough, and then ties something else back in and “we” somehow all “go along together,” (I guess the characters and I as they tell me their points of view). It reminds me of “Vantage Point,” which is a pretty good movie, just in the different perspectives and piecing it together. Very much enjoyed reading this happy birthday free book. Thanks so so much, Goodreads Giveaways. I can’t wait to start letting several of my friends take their turn reading this book!
I’m a bit surprised that I’m actually giving this book five stars! Something about this particular story really resonated with me. I was disappointed by Moriarty’s last book, Big, Little Lies, and was afraid I wouldn’t like this one as much as I do her older ones. However, I was pleasantly surprised.
Some big event happened at a barbecue. I thought it was pretty obvious from the beginning what the big event was (I don’t know if it’s supposed to be obvious or not), but the outcome of the big event was well-hidden. The book flashes back and forth between the day of the barbecue and the present, which I believe is a month or two later. We get to know Erika and Oliver. Erika’s mother is a hoarder and she was unofficially adopted by her best friend, Clementine’s family. Clementine and her husband, Sam, have two little girls named Holly and Ruby. Clementine is a cellist trying to get into a big orchestra. We also get to know Vid and Tiffany. Vid is the big-hearted life of the party who throws the barbecue. Tiffany feels lucky to have left her disadvantaged roots to live an upper-class life. Occasionally, we get other viewpoint’s, like that of Tiffany and Vid’s daughter, Dakota.
I wasn’t bothered by the long lead up to the big event, perhaps because I had already guessed at it. I enjoyed getting to know these characters and their complicated stories. Clementine somewhat resents Erika, a girl she felt obligated to be kind to all these years. Each girl also has a complicated relationship with her mother. There were some unexpected, but poignant, surprised at the end of this story that brought unexpected tears to my eyes. I really, really enjoyed the ending for all of these characters.
Liane Moriarty, thank you for making me believe in you again. I can’t wait to see what you put out next.