Being Erika’s friend is just something that has always been required of her, as per her mother’s request and continuing expectation, and it really did rouse my sympathy towards Clementine, who was essentially being manipulated by her mother, and used by Erika. Clementine is dogged by a sense of obligation to Erika, even though she doesn’t particularly like her or share any of the same interests. Pam’s sympathy for Erika’s neglectful and traumatic home situation cloud her judgement and the ripple effect of her ‘good deed’ continues to be felt by Clementine decades later.

Her mother, Pam, essentially forces Clementine as a child to befriend Erika and then does everything she can to ensure the two girls are always together. I spent much of the novel feeling sorry for Clementine.

Thrown together by Clementine’s mother and her social cons, the two women have a relationship steeped in guilt and obligation. The heavy element of suspense was still present, but with the confusion and constant guessing game dispensed with, I was able to just knuckle down and enjoy the story for what it was: an excellent examination of guilt and the effect this has on all sorts of relationships.Įrika and Clementine are ‘best friends’, but they really aren’t. For me, the second half of the novel travelled along much better than the first. Given that 300 pages is more than most commercial fiction novels contain in total, it’s testimony to my faith in Liane’s writing skill, that I hadn’t already given up. It’s quite a thick book, clocking in just over 500 pages, but it wasn’t until I hit page 300 or so, that I began to see the story take shape. While I haven’t read all of Liane’s novels yet, out of the ones that I have, this is by far the most drawn out in terms of knowing what was actually going on. In Liane Moriarty’s most recent novel, Truly Madly Guilty, the ripple effects of a single incident are deconstructed and examined in the most intricate manner. It was just an ordinary Sunday afternoon… Once again Liane Moriarty uses her unique, razor-sharp observational skills to sift through the emerging fault lines of seemingly happy families. They could so easily have said no.īut she and her husband Sam said yes, and now they can never change what they did and didn’t do that beautiful winter’s day. It was just an ordinary backyard barbeque on a Sunday afternoon. What if they hadn’t gone? That’s the question Clementine can’t stop asking herself.

Truly madly guilty plot