Reading All The Books: Liane Moriarty

Since I seem to be having such a hard time posting reviews, let’s try something different today.

Liane Moriarty.

For months a friend of mine was on me to read The Husband’s Secret. Taking book recommendations is still something I’m working on so I didn’t. Then book club read Big Little Lies.

And I was hooked on Liane Moriarty.

I read The Husband’s Secret. Then The Hypnotist’s Love Story. What Alice Forgot. Three Wishes. I’ll read The Last Anniversary and then I will wait for Moriarty to write something else!

I’m sure that some of you have seen her books and assumed that they followed in the grand tradition of sugary, superficial chick lit and you want no part of it. But Moriarty is much more in line with Marian Keyes than Emily Giffen. Moriarty’s characters are fully formed women with secrets and dreams and careers and families. They are sisters and friends, PAC moms and business owners.

Moriarty’s ability to write women and their relationships to other women are what set her apart. In Big Little Lies (soon to be a miniseries with Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman), it’s mommy wars of a kind. Friends and acquaintances pitted against each other to figure out what is going on at the school – which of the kids is hurting a little girl? Everything comes to a head at the annual parents’ night out with shocking consequences. The Husband’s Secret follows the lives of three women decades after something tragic happened to one of them – she never got any answers but she has her suspicions. When the truth comes out, there are ramifications for everyone involved.

These books are funny. They are sharp. And clever and absorbing and wonderful. These are the kinds of books that make me forget that I’m on the bus. I’m surprised to look up from these books and discover that I’m nearly at work because I’m so completely engrossed in the lives of Moriarty’s characters.

I’ve loaned these books to friends and recommended them to people for long haul flights, beach vacations, weekends away, something to shake up their reading ,given them as gifts. One friend told me that Big Little Lies was exactly what she was looking for and she loved it so much. She has since read What Alice Forgot and is awaiting delivery of Three Wishes.

Do yourself a favour and pick up one of Moriarty’s books. I recently picked up a blind date book at my library and unwrapped it at home to discover it was Big Little Lies. Maybe a sign that I should read it again?