Liane Moriarty

Mommy wars are hardly anything new. They've probably been going on as long as there have been moms (i.e. forever). Liane Moriarty's Big Little Lies has its roots in drama between mothers, but there's a bigger story here. It begins on the first day of kindergarten in a small seaside Australian town, drawing together a group of women who all have children starting school that day: hotheaded Madeline, her ex-husband's serene yoga instructor wife Bonnie, her beautiful best friend Celeste, and the new arrival in town, young and insecure single mother Jane. Of these women, only Madeline is much like she seems to be on the surface.

It seems frothy, this story about the bonds between women, and in some ways it is, but there's a lot of darkness behind the surface veneer of fun. Lovely Celeste with her perfect life and doting husband isn't quite as #blessed as it would seem, Jane's sweet little boy is the product of a heart-wrenchingly sad encounter, and Bonnie's secrets are too much a part of the suspense to give away. All we know when we begin the book is that there was a death a school function, and interviews with the police frame the chapters, dropping little hints about what might have happened and to whom.

I'll be honest...this is a genre of book that I tend to see on airport bookstore shelves and walk right past. But Big Little Lies is a great example of why it's often a fruitful exercise to get outside my comfort zone every once in a while. I found the story of the relationships that grew (and frayed, sometimes) between the women to be well-told and emotionally resonant, which meant that by the time all is revealed at the end, the payoff was earned and carried weight. The mystery of what happened keeps the plot moving forward through character-building beats, resulting in a book that's well-balanced between the story and the people who populate it (in other words, both plot and character lovers will find something to enjoy here).… (altro)

What would you think if someone came up to you and told you generally how and when you would die? How would your life change? Would it change?
In HERE ONE MOMENT, a lady stands up and points at each passenger on a plane stating how they will die and the age of death. At first noone knows how to take her, but it isn't long before passengers figure out what is going on. Some laugh, others scoff but everyone seems to pay attention especially when the get home.
We see some of the people and how their lives are, how they came to be and how they change because of this incident. The characters entrance you as you attempt to figure out who they are, as they deal with their happiness and grief. All the while, the question becomes do you believe in parapsychology? Can you alter your future based on knowledge obtained from a psychic reading?… (altro)

The mystery in this story is about the events surrounding a 69-year-old Sydney woman’s disappearance. Joy and Stan Delaney met as champion tennis players more than 50 years ago and ran a well-regarded tennis academy until their recent retirement. Their long, complicated marriage has been filled with perhaps as much passion for the game of tennis as for each other or their five children. Then Joy disappears February. 14, 2020. The last text she sends to her now-grown children...Amy the bohemian, Logan the passive one, Troy the flash, Brooke who suffers severe migraines, is too garbled by autocorrect to make any sense of...and Stan, the fifth and the strangest child, refuses to believe or accept that there might be a problem, for some odd reason. Days pass and Joy remains missing with no other communication attempts...which is not like her at all. As details begin to come together the police finally become involved. At this point the mystery is becoming clearer when it jumps back several months into the past. Here, we return to the day that a stranger named Savannah turned up one day on the Delaney's doorstep, bleeding...and Joy welcomed her to stay for an extended visit. Who is Savannah? Is she’s an innocent, or is she a scammer, or could she be something else entirely? This all continues to remain unclear. This author is very good at only giving the small details such as the tossed tennis racket or the repeated appearance of apple crumble and the abandoned bike that's found by a passing motorist. The evidence that accumulates around what happened to Joy constantly challenges the reader both take notice to which are minor details and which characters are telling truths or mere half-truths. It became at one point difficult to distinguish between what are red herrings, buried clues, or out-right lies. The ultimate reveal is troubling. I finally interpreted it that the authors main focus was on the mystery of family...what it means to be a parent, or a child, or a sibling in the Delaney family, or in any family, for that matter, more than what actually happened to Joy. The story is funny, sad, astute, occasionally creepy, but absolutely intriguing.… (altro)

Liane Moriarty has created lovely, complicated, and heartwarming characters in this family drama about Joy and Stan Delaney, parents who run a tennis school behind their home in Sydney, Australia while raising their four talented children. In retirement, Joy and Stan find themselves with too much time on their hands while waiting for one of their independent offspring to provide some grandchildren. When a young girl, a victim of abuse, turns up on their doorstep, Joy is quick to step in as a motherly figure. From this act of kindness, Joy and Stan quickly become victims as their lives are upended, and their past lies are revealed. The tennis theme is used well in this family drama to illustrate the parents' difficult task of setting standards, playing fair while raising a family, and keeping their marriage alive while dealing with life's unpredictable choices. "Apples Never Fall" is a suspenseful murder mystery with an ending that brings it all together.… (altro)