Book Club: Truly Madly Guilty

Book of the week!

Last week I asked for suggestions over on Insta-stories for 'good books' to read. A few people got back to me with various titles and the one I decided to go for was Truly Madly Guilty by Liane Moriarty. Initially I was a bit like 'Oh Jaysus there's 465 pages in this,' but I had heard so many good things about this author I decided to take the plunge. 

Liane is the author of Big Little Lies, which has been turned into a TV series starring Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon. I plan to make my way through more of her books after this one and already have the next one on standby rearing to go.

Don't worry I'm not going to give away any spoilers! Truly Madly Guilty is set in Sydney and is based on three couples. There is Erika and Oliver, both accountants and both with a passion for spreadsheets and an orderly life. Then there is Clementine and Sam. Clementine is a talented cellist and herself and Sam are much more chilled than the fore mentioned pair. They have two small daughters named Holly and Ruby. 

Erika and Clementine are childhood friends but they have a very strange relationship. In fact if it wasn't for Clementine's mother Pam taking pity on Erika as a child, you'd wonder if these two would ever have become friends at all. It seems highly unlikely. 

Vid and Tiffany are Erika and Oliver's next door neighbours. They have one child named Dakota. They are warm friendly people who love entertaining. They innocently decide to hold a barbecue one Sunday afternoon.

Vid meets Erika outside their house and he invites herself and Oliver over. When Erika mentions that her friend Clementine and her family are coming over for afternoon tea Vid insists that they all come to the barbecue too. Erika reluctantly agreed.

I don't think I have ever read a book filled with such suspense. The first sentence of the book is 'This is a story that begins with a barbecue,' said Clementine. She had been going round giving talks about what happened at the barbecue since that day. We don't actually find out what happened at the barbecue until well over half way through the book. That's what keeps you reading. You just want to find out WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED AT THE BARBECUE?!! 

After we finally find out what happened at the barbecue, there are various themes emerging from this book. Regret, shame, guilt, gratitude and even one character suffering from PTSD. I don't want to give too much away but it's definitely worth a read. If anyone has any book suggestions I'd love to hear from you! You can buy Truly Madly Guilty here.

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