In Liane Moriartys Truly Madly Guilty, the trouble begins at a backyard party
Friends since childhood, accountant Erika and cellist Clementine could not be more different as adults. In the first chapter of Liane Moriarty's emotionally riveting "Truly Madly Guilty," we learn that their friendship has been strained due to an incident during a backyard barbecue some years back. Now Erika is nasty, sniping at Clementine's clothing ("She looked almost ... frumpy"), her work and her memories of that fateful day.
Finding out what’s going on between these two women will encompass the entire novel, roping in several other characters, including their husbands, a pair of eccentric neighbors and assorted children.
Moriarty alternates her story between flashback and fast-forward, a choice that is edgier than her usual straightforward style and may confuse the now-devoted readers of her books "What Alice Forgot," "The Husband's Secret" and "Big Little Lies."
Hints about what sparked the chilliness slowly emerge. On one “ordinary day” in Sydney, it seems, Erika and her devoted husband, Oliver, invited Clementine and her husband, Sam, for dinner. Erika’s overreaching neighbors Vid and Tiffany insisted on hosting in their over-the-top back yard that includes a fountain-cum-paddling pool. That flashy water feature turns out to be the flash point of the drama that infects the rest of the characters’ lives.
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Erika nearly breaks down trying to cope with a hoarder mother (the real sort of hoarder, with dirt and mold, not the neat overshopper kind). Clementine, normally a fiercely competitive musician, can hardly pick up her instrument to practice. And Tiffany has good cause to worry about her tween daughter, Dakota, especially when she finds a strange totem in the girl’s room.
Unfortunately, all of the present-day distress overshadows the final reveal. By the time readers discover what really happened on that “ordinary day,” we’re preoccupied with things going on in the present. What will happen to Erika’s mum? Is Clementine going to win an orchestra seat? Can Tiffany steer her little family in the right direction? Even faster alternating chapters don’t help.
Still, Moriarty is a deft storyteller who creates believable, relatable characters. The well-drawn cast here will engage readers and remind them that life halfway around the world isn’t much different from life here — families argue, neighbors meddle and children push boundaries.
Bethanne Patrickis the editor, most recently, of "The Books That Changed My Life: Reflections by 100 Authors, Actors, Musicians and Other Remarkable People."
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Truly madly guilty
By Liane Moriarty
Flatiron. 418 pp. $26.99
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