The two little girls are entertained by Tiff and Vid’s ten-year-old daughter Dakota, but sometime later on, with much alcohol having flowed and one or two secrets revealed, something terrible happens. Vid has recently discovered classical music and becomes a bit fixated on Clementine Tiffany has something of a shady past. Erika was foisted on Clementine as a child, and the two have been friends ever since, although sometimes Clementine wishes Erika was less friendly with her mother and wasn’t always in touch.Įrika and Oliver invite their friends for afternoon tea to put forward a proposal, carefully planned before the two families head next door to a barbecue hosted by wealthy and gregarious Vid and his glamorous younger wife, Tiffany. But both have had terrible childhoods which has helped them connect with each other, if not with other people. They are a fit, childless couple and to many seem a bit boring.

It’s all causing a toll on their marriage.Įrika is socially awkward and, like her husband Oliver, works in accounting. Clementine is a cellist, anxious about an upcoming audition Sam is stressed about the way their finances depend on a his new job in advertising where he feels out of his depth. Three families who probably shouldn’t really be friends come together to socialise: There’s Sam and Clementine and their two little girls, Holly and Ruby. Moriarty creates a powder keg of volatile ingredients a bit like a chemistry experiment gone wrong.

Simmering with problems, insecurities and resentments, the characters are all set for some kind of train wreck the setting: an ordinary suburban barbecue. They’ve all got their quirks and kinks of temperament, their baggage – some more than others. Truly Madly Guilty is a novel about ordinary people.

Truly madly guilty by liane moriarty