Publisher: Henry & Holt Co / Macmillan Audio
Published: September 14, 2021
Source: Print – ARC Paperback via Henry & Holt Co / Audio – ALC via Libro.fm
Summary:
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Liane Moriarty comes a novel that looks at marriage, siblings, and how the people we love the most can hurt us the deepest
The Delaney family love one another dearly—it’s just that sometimes they want to murder each other . . .
If your mother was missing, would you tell the police? Even if the most obvious suspect was your father?
This is the dilemma facing the four grown Delaney siblings.
The Delaneys are fixtures in their community. The parents, Stan and Joy, are the envy of all of their friends. They’re killers on the tennis court, and off it their chemistry is palpable. But after fifty years of marriage, they’ve finally sold their famed tennis academy and are ready to start what should be the golden years of their lives. So why are Stan and Joy so miserable?
The four Delaney children—Amy, Logan, Troy, and Brooke—were tennis stars in their own right, yet as their father will tell you, none of them had what it took to go all the way. But that’s okay, now that they’re all successful grown-ups and there is the wonderful possibility of grandchildren on the horizon.
One night a stranger named Savannah knocks on Stan and Joy’s door, bleeding after a fight with her boyfriend. The Delaneys are more than happy to give her the small kindness she sorely needs. If only that was all she wanted.
Later, when Joy goes missing, and Savannah is nowhere to be found, the police question the one person who remains: Stan. But for someone who claims to be innocent, he, like many spouses, seems to have a lot to hide. Two of the Delaney children think their father is innocent, two are not so sure—but as the two sides square off against each other in perhaps their biggest match ever, all of the Delaneys will start to reexamine their shared family history in a very new light.
My thoughts:
It’s been a while since I’ve picked up a book by Liane Moriarty, but as soon as I heard about this one, I just knew I had to read it and it became an anticipated read for the month. I’m so happy to say it is definitely a winner!
Stories about dysfunctional families are without a doubt my favorite and this one is just so fun – it’s messy and filled with secrets, drama and mystery. It’s a layered, dimensional story with many moving parts and I appreciated that. This isn’t just a book about a missing person, nor is it just a book about a famous tennis family. There are so many intricate layers to peel back on this one and I just loved how it all unfolded.
This book kept me engaged and guessing as to where things were heading. It’s more of a character-driven novel than plot-driven, and that was fine with me. I was completely captivated by all the family drama that had ensued between the mother going missing, which occurs in the present, and the appearance of a stranger at the parents house in the past. I also loved that the story is told from multiple points of view, including the detectives. I felt this really helped to increase the drama at times, as well as the intrigue.
One thing I have come to realize with this author’s books is that she is on point with her observations and writings on human relationships and character flaws. At times, I felt as if I was looking at a mirror of my own family. I loved the idea that we all have different perceptions and/or memories of what really happened of an event from the past and this comes out a few times throughout this book.
I really enjoyed this book and definitely recommend picking it up if you like a good family drama with all the messiness that comes along with it!
Audio thoughts:
I was able to listen to this book and thought the audio was really well done. Caroline Lee does a fantastic job bringing this book to life and her accent is spot on! Her pacing and intonation were perfect and she really made this long book a treat to listen to.
