This was my first book by Liane Moriarty and there were times when I felt like giving up on this weighty tome. It requires quite a considerable injection of your time as it rocks up at a mighty 480 pages. Honestly I only persevered with it because two authors that I really enjoy – Lisa Jewell and Karin Slaughter – had both given it five star reviews. But I digress.
Set in Sydney, Australia the locals are restless. It hasn’t stopped raining for two months and that damp darkness of winter underlines this story. Sam and Clementine have the kind of idyllic life that movies are made of. Sam has just started a job that he only dreamt about and Clementine balances being a mum of two daughters with being a professional cellist. She has an important audition coming up and is struggling to find enough time or solitude to practise.
Erika and Clementine have been best friends since they were children. They know each other really well but it has become quite a complicated relationship. When Erika casually invites them to a barbeque at their neighbours house no-one is really prepared for the consequences.
You need to be quite patient to get the best out of his book. It is only after 100 pages that you start to get some clues about what happened on the day of the barbeque and over half way through the book before you realise exactly what transpired. It is a story of complex relationships, of guilt and loss and how what you don’t say can be just as important as what you do. I’m glad that I persevered with it but it feels more like a study in suburban relationships than a book that I would willingly come back to time and again.
Supplied by Net Galley and the Publisher in exchange for an honest review.
UK Publication date: 28 July 2016. 480 pages.
Categories: 3 Stars Book Review
angelnet69
Prolific reader, enthusiastic theatre and movie-goer and ex-Olivier Awards judge who spent twenty years working in the music industry in London. Sharing my house with a gorgeous cockapoo called Harry who has taken over completely.
I love sharing my favourite books with friends - nearly always spoiler-free as I hate reading a synopsis of the whole book in other reviews.
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