After the disappointment of Kate Morton’s most recent book, I approached Liane Moriarty’s latest offering with some trepidation. Both authors have had incredible success overseas and I feared that Moriarty might also be a victim of her own success.
I need not have worried. If anything, Nine Perfect Strangers is probably my favourite Liane Moriarty yet. The author of Big Little Lies, Truly Madly Guilty and the Husband’s Secret has kept things fresh by using different narrative devices. Nine Perfect Strangers does not use the same flashback story telling she used in Big Little Lies and Truly Madly Guilty and you could be forgiven for thinking it is a different author altogether.
The premise was immediately engaging for me. Nine people decide to attend a prestigious outback health retreat to help them address a range of personal problems. Run by the mysterious Masha, the guests find themselves enduring unconventional rituals designed to challenge the status quo and remake themselves.
As with all of Moriarty’s books, I loved her characters. All of their quirks and faults were endearing and I wanted to see them all reach resolution. Facing shared adversity, the unlikely group form a unique but believable bond.
Some critics have claimed the story to be implausible. Anyone who agrees should read the true story of the Australian cult “The Family” from the 1970s. Clearly intelligent people can be manipulated in the extreme when their vulnerabilities are exploited.
This was a page turner with heart.
