Truly Madly Guilty

June 27, 2016
In bestseller Moriarty's (Big Little Lies) latest, one small decisionâgoing to a barbecueâreverberates through the lives of the six adults. Childhood friends Erika and Clementine couldn't be more different. Obsessive-compulsive Erika is married to Oliver; both are accountants, and they have no children. Clementine is a disorganized classical cellist with a husband, Sam, and two small children, Holly and Ruby. These two families are unexpectedly invited to a barbecue at the opulent home of Erika's neighbors: wealthy and vivacious Vid; his "smoking hot" wife, Tiffany; and their 10-year-old daughter, Dakota. During what is supposed to be an ordinary afternoon of food, drink, and lively conversation among people just beginning to become friends, a harrowing event deeply affects all these characters, forcing them to closely examine their choices, not only of that day but of their entire lives, and the effects of those choices. The novel holds back the meat of the story until the reader is about to burst with curiosity, but this technique strangely doesn't feel like torture; it gives readers a chance to consider the endless possibilities of every moment.

Caroline Lee with Liane Moriarty makes one of the great pairings in audio publishing. Moriarty constructs a plot the way God builds an onion. The characters are human and interesting in the outer layers, though in ways opaque, like the behavior of strangers whose inner lives we don't understand. Here, Clementine, her family, and their friends, Erica and Oliver, have been devastated by something that happened at a neighbor's backyard barbecue. But what? How? Why? Lee's performance is emotionally shrewd and irresistibly entertaining, always fully invested in each character as he or she is by turns touched, puzzled, outraged, or horrified by unfolding events. Before you know it, Lee and Moriarty have you hopelessly hooked until you reach the dense, intricately interlocked heart of this wholly satisfying listen. B.G. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine

October 15, 2016

All is not well at a pleasant get-together of old friends and new--but what went wrong? The combination of three married couples, three kids, one dog, and a cranky neighbor doesn't seem to be a recipe for disaster, but something happened that turned their lives upside down. Chapters alternate between the characters' lives after the infamous barbecue and flashbacks to that day. The characters try to go about their lives but struggle to deal with the intense fallout. The suspense builds beautifully and keeps listeners working to puzzle out what went down. Using multiple points of view, Moriarty (Big Little Lies) shows her skill in character development, making them come alive on the page. Narrator Caroline Lee does a marvelous job voicing the characters, giving them distinct personalities through inflection and accents. VERDICT This fun listen maintains humor and levity even in the darkest of times. Highly recommended. ["Alternating between present day and the day of the barbecue, the author builds suspense, keeping readers on the edge of their seats wondering what happened": LJ 7/16 starred review of the Flatiron: Macmillan hc.]--Erin Cataldi, Johnson Cty. P.L., Franklin, IN

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