Truly Madly Guilty

By: Liane Moriarty

Narrated by: Caroline Lee

THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER, FROM THE AUTHOR OF BIG LITTLE LIES, now an HBO series.

Winner of Goodreads Choice Award for Best Fiction

“Here’s the best news you’ve heard all year: Not a single page disappoints....The only difficulty with Truly Madly Guilty? Putting it down.” —Miami Herald

“Captivating, suspenseful…tantalizing.” —People Magazine

Six responsible adults. Three cute kids. One small dog. It’s just a normal weekend. What could possibly go wrong?

In Truly Madly Guilty, Liane Moriarty turns her unique, razor-sharp eye towards three seemingly happy families.

Sam and Clementine have a wonderful, albeit busy, life: they have two little girls, Sam has just started a new dream job, and Clementine, a cellist, is busy preparing for the audition of a lifetime. If there’s anything they can count on, it’s each other.

Clementine and Erika are each other’s oldest friends. A single look between them can convey an entire conversation. But theirs is a complicated relationship, so when Erika mentions a last-minute invitation to a barbecue with her neighbors, Tiffany and Vid, Clementine and Sam don’t hesitate. Having Tiffany and Vid’s larger-than-life personalities there will be a welcome respite.

Two months later, it won’t stop raining, and Clementine and Sam can’t stop asking themselves the question: What if we hadn’t gone?

In Truly Madly Guilty, Liane Moriarty takes on the foundations of our lives: marriage, sex, parenthood, and friendship. She shows how guilt can expose the fault lines in the most seemingly strong relationships, how what we don’t say can be more powerful than what we do, and how sometimes it is the most innocent of moments that can do the greatest harm.

Entertainment Weekly's “Best Beach Bet”
A USA Today Hot Books for Summer Selection
A Miami Herald Summer Reads Pick

Critic reviews

Entertainment Weekly’s “Best Beach Bet,” Summer ’16

A USA Today Hot Books for Summer Selection

A Miami Herald Summer Reads Pick

“Caroline Lee with Liane Moriarty makes one of the great pairings in audio publishing. Moriarty constructs a plot the way God builds an onion...Before you know it, Lee and Moriarty have you hopelessly hooked until you reach the dense, intricately interlocked heart of this wholly satisfying listen.”--AudioFile, Earphones Award Winner

“Liane Moriarty is one of the few writers I’ll drop anything for. Her books are wise, honest, beautifully observed, and—unusually—I can never tell where they’re going to go.” —Jojo Moyes

“Moriarty’s fans will rejoice at her latest title as she tackles marriage, parenthood, friendship, and sex, in this provocative and gripping read...This novel sheds light on the truths that we all fear as parents, spouses, and friends. It’s perfect for those long summer days, but readers will have to pace themselves to not devour it in one sitting.” —Library Journal (starred review)

“Perhaps the most anticipated release this summer, Moriarty is at her finest in this keep you guessing multi-family drama surrounding a tragic event at a casual neighborhood barbecue. You will not soon forget this cast of troubled yet very likable characters, and the relationships that both bind and nearly destroy them.” —Huffington Post

"The author of Big Little Lies doing what she does best: unraveling people's public selves with an urgency that keeps you reading." —Glamour Magazine

“[A] brilliant story of love, marriage, parenthood and, of course, guilt…It’s wonderfully suspenseful, slyly sentimental, sometimes outright sad—and also truly, madly, amazingly funny.” —Forth Worth Star-Telegram

“Liane Moriarty has done it again. Truly Madly Guilty has it all—suspense, drama, humor, and a cracking story cleverly told.” —Fabulous Magazine (UK)

"[Liane] Moriarty is back with a story full of neighborhood secrets, indiscretions, and twists. Like her other best-sellers, this story centers around a fateful event, and details are doled out to readers in small, tantalizing
bits and pieces. [Caroline] Lee’s narration sets the pace with just the right amount of suspense and delicious anticipation for those wanting to know what happened in this suburban backyard gathering. Lee draws listeners into Moriarty’s puzzle, skillfully distinguishing among characters and providing them with authentic accents and emotional resonance; even the children’s shrill yells add to the neighborhood soundscape." Booklist

Not quite enough

As many others, I was on the edge of my seat waiting for the release of Moriarty's new book. "Big Little Lies" by her was in my top 10 books of all times.
With expectations high, this story was disappointing. 4 stars is generous. I would give it 3 1/2 stars if I could. I'm rating it four stars because Caroline Lee as the narrator is inspired. She is amazing. Her accents are fun and bring the characters to life, the emotion she brings added more to the story than was actually there.
Moriarty is a master at developing characters, but in this book, there wasn't enough of a story to carry the characters. The drama in this book was almost non-existent which left the characters not doing much at all. When they did respond to situations, they overreacted almost to the point of absurd.
The book in audio form made it entertaining. I enjoyed the listen. The story however left me wanting more.

Truly, madly awesome

Loved this book! The author has a way of hooking you in from the very beginning and keeping you interested the whole way through. We get to know the characters so intimately and their stories are very real. The narrator is talented and gives voices to the characters that also helps us shape them. Great listen!

Complex characters

For most of the book I did not find the characters like able. But as the weathered their experiences after an almost tragedy, they were human as each of us has flaws in an imperfect world. We try to cover them, but until we can accept who we are or who we have the potential to become, I found the resolution satisfying.

Waited a long time to get to the point.

I really wanted to enjoy this book as I had other by the author, but it came up short. I felt as though I was waiting ages to find out what really happened, and when I did it was a let down. Many chapters were the same scenes and conversations over and over, that it just got predictable and dull. Would skip this one if given the opportunity.

Worth the read!

Did Caroline Lee do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

Her voice was hard to get used to- I pushed through because the story was so good, but I definitely wished the narrator was different.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes- the story definitely held my attention and kept pulling me back in.

Any additional comments?

Definitely worth the credit- really enjoyed this book!