It’s almost immediately obvious why the audiobook of Liane Moriarty’s wonderfully fun novel is still on the bestseller’s list for both Bolinda Publishing and Audible. Reader Caroline Lee lives every word, breathing life into this collective of all-too-familiar personality types and their dysfunctional behaviours.
Truly Madly Guilty is set in typical suburbia where we meet three families and their friends, all of them ordinary people whose lives are changed dramatically at one fateful social gathering. Taking place before, during and after the eventful day, Moriarty milks the mystery of what happened by teasing out the day of the barbeque in small morsels that get hijacked into side-stories of the participant’s lives.
We meet childless couple, Oliver and Erica, and her hoarder mum, Sylvia; we explore the troubled but loving relationship of Sam and Clementine with their demanding young children Ruby and Holly; and we get to know the hosts of the barbecue, Vid and Tiffany, with their bookworm daughter, Dakota.
Each character is complicated, three-dimensional and ordinary. They’re people we know, with all the laughter, frustrations and inappropriate passing thoughts that we recognise in ourselves. Moriarty quickly ensures that we fall in love with every personality so when the far-reaching consequences of the barbecue become evident, the heartbreak is enough to make you choke back the tears. And I did.
Much of the credit for such emotional involvement must go to Caroline Lee. Whether she’s screaming “Mummy!” like a precocious child, or mumbling a throw-away line, she is utterly exquisite to hear. By giving voice to such well-define characterisations and with such faultless delivery, we hang on her every word and are carried on the same emotional rollercoaster as the people we get to know. We laugh with them and at them, scowl at the grumpy old man next door, find ourselves yelling at the children to shut up, and hope with all our heart that their problems will be overcome.
Running 17 hours 36 minutes over 15 CDs, Truly Madly Guilty is far from a marathon effort. There’s so much comedy, pathos and intrigue that it’s near impossible to hit pause and, as the final credits close the last CD, the urge is already there to return to the neighbourhood.
Reviewed by Rod Lewis
Twitter: @StrtegicRetweet
Rating out of 10: 9
Publisher: Bolinda.com.au
Release Date: 28 July 2016
RRP: $49.95 on CD or MP3
More News
