I really enjoyed Australian author Liane Moriarty’s last blockbuster, The Husband’s Secret, so I ordered her new one right away and wasn’t disappointed. She has a quirky yet accessible style that makes for good storytelling with lots of plot (I like lots of plot) along with well-drawn characters and a healthy dose of both suspense and humor – the perfect combo.
The characters in the new novel are parents of young children attending the same school – helicopter parents to the max. (Apparently, they have them in Australia too.) They all have baggage and that baggage gets transferred to their kids, who act out in often surprising ways. We begin the story knowing something terrible has happened but it isn’t until the last couple of chapters that we learn what – and at whose hand. We meet the mother whose ex has a new wife and child, everyone living in seeming harmony despite their simmering resentments. We meet the beautiful, wealthy couple with the perfect life and the perfect twins and find out that their “perfection” is anything but. We meet the single mom who has very little money and struggles to fit in with the other mothers, especially after her son is accused of bullying one of their daughters and is ostracized. We meet the mean girl mothers with big careers who look down at the stay-at-homes. It’s all here and I lapped it up, even though I’m not a parent and don’t have firsthand knowledge of PTA politics. Moriarty spins a good yarn, period, and she had me glued to the story until the final wrap up. The perfect escapist entertainment.
Next up on my Kindle: Amy Bloom’s Lucky Us. I’m a quarter of the way into it and loving it already.
