Truly Madly Guilty (44 page)

Acknowledgements

Thank you so much to everyone at Pan Macmillan with special thanks as always to the wonderful Cate Paterson, as well as to Mathilda Imlah, Brianne Collins, Tracey Cheetham and Lara Wallace. Thank you also to my editors in the US and the UK: Amy Einhorn and Maxine Hitchcock.

Since becoming an author I’ve been so amazed at how kind people are when it comes to sharing their expert knowledge for fictional purposes. Thank you to Fenella for giving so incredibly generously of her time and expertise. Thank you to Rowena Macneish for patiently answering questions about life as a cellist, and to Cat Seekins for answering questions about her former life as a dancer. Thank you to Chris Jones for answering my medical questions. (As this is a book about neighbours, I would like to note that I was put in touch with Chris by his parents, Sue and Ken Jones, the loveliest next door neighbours you could ever hope to have.) Thank you Liz Frizell for answering my uneducated musical questions. All mistakes are sadly mine and mine alone.

Thank you to my friends and fellow authors Ber Carroll and Dianne Blacklock for their friendship and support with this novel.

Thank you to my lovely literary agent, Fiona Inglis, as well as my US and UK agents, Faye Bender and Jonathon Lloyd. Thank you to Jerry Kalajian for my entry into the wonderful world of Hollywood.

Thank you to Mum, Dad, Jaci, Kati, Fiona, Sean and Nicola, with special thanks to Kati and Fiona for help with proof-reading, and to Fiona for that sentence I stole. Thank you to Adam, George and Anna for being you. I’m so lucky I got the three of you. Thank you to Anna Kuper for everything you’ve done for our family.

Two characters in this book are named after people in the real world. Steven Lunt was the winning bidder at the ‘Get in Character’ fundraising auction run by CLIC Sargent Cancer Support for the Young. Robyn Byrne was the winner of the ‘Be Immortalised in Fiction’ competition at the Sisters in Crime Australia Davitt Awards.

I’ve dedicated this book to my sister, the amazing novelist, Jaclyn Moriarty, because I couldn’t have finished this book without her help and support. Actually, I know I wouldn’t have finished any of my books without Jaci.

*

The following books were helpful to me in my research about hoarding:
Dirty Secret: A Daughter Comes Clean About Her Mother’s Compulsive Hoarding
(2011) by Jessie Sholl and
Coming Clean: A Memoir
by Kimberly Rae Miller (2014). The website www.childrenofhoarders.com was also a great resource.

About Liane Moriarty

Liane Moriarty is the author of six bestselling novels, 
Three Wishes
,
The Last Anniversary
,
What Alice Forgot
,
The Hypnotist’s Love Story
,
The Husband’s Secret
and
Big Little Lies
. Her books have been read by more than six million people worldwide.

Writing as L.M. Moriarty, she is also the author of the Space Brigade series for children.
The Husband’s Secret
was a number one
New York Times
bestseller. It has been translated into more than thirty-five languages and film rights have been acquired by CBS Films.
Big Little Lies
reached number one on the
New York Times
bestseller list in its first week of publication – the first time this had been achieved by an Australian author. It was also number one on the Australian fiction charts and is currently being adapted for television by HBO, starring Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon. Liane lives in Sydney with her husband, son and daughter.

You can find out more about Liane’s books at her website
www.lianemoriarty.com

Also by Liane Moriarty

Three Wishes

The Last Anniversary

What Alice Forgot

The Hypnotist’s Love Story

The Husband’s Secret

Big Little Lies

Writing as L.M. Moriarty

The Petrifying Problem with Princess Petronella

The Shocking Trouble on the Planet of Shobble

The Wicked War on the Planet of Whimsy

MORE BESTSELLING FICTION BY LIANE MORIARTY

Liane Moriarty

Three Wishes

The Kettle triplets have had a mortifying public mishap. Their noisy, champagne-soaked birthday dinner has come to an abrupt end following a violent argument and an emergency dash to the hospital.

So who started it this time? Was it angry, hurt Cat, still recovering from the ‘Night of the Spaghetti’? Or Lyn, who at least on the outside seems to have everything under control. Or maybe it was the unpredictable Gemma, the sister who can’t keep a secret, except the most important one of all …

‘In this non-stop narrative, siblings rival each other, break up and make up. Moriarty is good at social observation, mixing high drama with low comedy and moments of genuine poignancy.’
SUNDAY AGE

‘Funny, wry, touching … the drama is raw and real. Each of the beautifully drawn characters is so vividly alive, their triumph becomes your own, you choke a bit when bad things happen and want to throw rocks at anyone who hurts them.’
AUSTRALIAN WOMEN’S WEEKLY
BOOK OF THE MONTH

‘I appreciated how she didn’t produce any last-minute sugarcoating out of the hat. I really did believe in the strength of the characters to pull through: in fact, it made me believe in the resilience of the human race!’ MARIAN KEYES

Liane Moriarty

The Last Anniversary

Sophie Honeywell always wondered if Thomas Gordon was the one that got away. When she turned down his proposal three years ago, she broke his heart. Now that Sophie is single, longing for a baby and nearly 40, he’s starting to look a lot more attractive …

Sophie is just as shocked as Thomas when his Aunt Connie leaves Sophie her beautiful house on Scribbly Gum Island. This tiny island is home to the famous ‘Munro Baby Mystery’ – a seventy-year-old unsolved crime.

Sophie soon discovers that nearly everyone on the island has a secret, and the biggest secret of all, the truth behind the Munro Baby Mystery, is set to explode on an extraordinary night that will test a marriage, a family and a friendship – the Last Anniversary.

‘A stunner several shades darker than typical chick lit … Moriarty’s prose turns from funny through poignant to frightening in an artful snap.’
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

‘Intriguing mystery-cum-drama … things nearly fall apart before coming together in this endearing story that, like life, is a mix of the sad, the happy, the absurd and the magical.’
AUSTRALIAN WOMEN’S WEEKLY
BOOK OF THE MONTH

‘A brave author who takes a risk to write about subjects not often found in this genre … This is a great read.’
GOOD READING

Liane Moriarty

What Alice Forgot

When Alice Love surfaces from a strange dream to find she’s been injured in a gym, her first concern is for her unborn baby. She’s desperate to see her husband, Nick, who she knows will be worried about her.

But Alice isn’t pregnant. And Nick isn’t rushing to her bedside. She is a mother of three going through a bitter divorce.

Alice has lost ten years of her life – and she wants them back.

‘A bittersweet tale by a gifted writer, whose light touch doesn’t stop her exploring darker themes, such as infertility and the sad erosion of a once radiant love.’
AUSTRALIAN WOMEN’S WEEKLY
BOOK OF THE MONTH

‘What [Moriarty] writes are acute social comedies of the feminine, where the domestic is more political than cosy … Technically this premise is a challenge, which Moriarty makes appear effortless … Great stuff.’
THE AGE

‘A thought-provoking story that explores family dynamics with intelligence, wit and sensitivity but without any sentimentality.’
COURIER-MAIL

‘An intriguing exploration of how people change … Alice’s amnesia is skilfully used and like a detective, she must piece together the details of a life she cannot remember.’
SUN-HERALD

Liane Moriarty

The Hypnotist’s Love Story

As a hypnotherapist, Ellen O’Farrell is fascinated by what makes people tick. So when she falls in love with Patrick, the fact that he has a stalker doesn’t faze her in the slightest. If anything it intrigues her, and the more she hears about Saskia, the more she wants to meet this woman. But what Ellen doesn’t know is that they’ve already met …

Saskia has been posing as one of Ellen’s clients. Unable to let go of the life she so abruptly lost, she wants to know everything about the woman who took her place.

But it’s not only Saskia who doesn’t know when to stop: Ellen also has to ask herself what lines she’s prepared to cross to get the happy ending she’s always wanted.

‘A compelling love triangle … romance with an edge … the latest triumph … What lifts this tale to another plane is the level of empathy that runs through the narrative.’
AUSTRALIAN WOMEN’S WEEKLY
BOOK OF THE MONTH

‘Superb in technique … All of her novels set themselves extremely difficult tasks … The novel blends elements of crime, horror and love story …’
SUNDAY AGE

‘A warmly humorous, gently poignant, ultimately comforting tale of frustration and redemption … Moriarty writes with both a frisky wit and a generosity of spirit that’s truly disarming … It will make you feel warm all over.’
USA TODAY

Liane Moriarty

The Husband’s Secret

Cecilia Fitzpatrick, devoted mother and successful Tupperware consultant, has found a letter from her husband.

‘To be opened only in the event of my death’

But Cecilia’s husband isn’t dead, he’s on a business trip. And when she questions him about the letter on the phone, Cecilia senses something she hasn’t experienced before. John-Paul is lying.

We all have secrets. But not like this …

‘Intelligent and funny with a good strong plot and an intriguing premise’
SATURDAY AGE

‘Amid three intertwined storylines and terrific plot twists Moriarty presents a nuanced and moving portrait of the meaning of love, both marital and familial’
USA TODAY

‘One of the Top Ten Books of the Year’
PEOPLE MAGAZINE

‘Emotionally astute, immensely smart … destined for critical accolades and a big-screen adaptation’
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY

‘A bold and daring novel, layered and morally challenging’
RICHARD AND JUDY BOOKCLUB REVIEW

Liane Moriarty

Big Little Lies

‘I guess it started with the mothers.’

‘It was all just a terrible misunderstanding.’

‘I’ll tell you exactly why it happened.’

Pirriwee Public’s annual school Trivia Night has ended in a shocking riot. A parent is dead. Was it murder, a tragic accident . . . or something else entirely?

Big Little Lies
 is a funny, heartbreaking, challenging story of ex-husbands and second wives, new friendships, old betrayals and schoolyard politics.

No. 1 
New York Times
 bestselling author Liane Moriarty turns her unique gaze on the dangerous little lies we tell ourselves every day and what really goes on behind closed suburban doors.

‘Let me be clear. This is not a circus. This is a murder investigation.’

‘It draws out lashings of dark humour, and ultimately drama . . .  although the style and emotional register are quite different, Moriarty’s ability to mine suburban anxieties in a compelling way calls to mind Tsiolkas’
The Slap
.’
SATURDAY AGE

‘The secrets burrowed in this seemingly placid small town . . . are so suburban noir they would make David Lynch clap with glee . . . A fantastically nimble writer, so sure-footed that the book leaps between dark and light seamlessly; even the big reveal in the final pages feels earned and genuinely shocking.’
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY

First published 2016 in Macmillan by Pan Macmillan Australia Pty Ltd

1 Market Street, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 2000

Copyright ©
Liane Moriarty 2016

The moral right of the author has been asserted.

All rights reserved. This publication (or any part of it) may not be reproduced or transmitted, copied, stored, distributed or otherwise made available by any person or entity (including Google, Amazon or similar organisations), in any form (electronic, digital, optical, mechanical) or by any means (photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise) without prior written permission from the publisher.

Cataloguing-in-Publication entry is available

from the National Library of Australia

http://catalogue.nla.gov.au

EPUB format: 9781925479928

Typeset by Post Pre-press Group

Cover design: Christabella Designs

Cover concept: Emily Mahon

Cover images: Getty Images

The characters in this book are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

The author and the publisher have made every effort to contact copyright holders for material used in this book. Any person or organisation that may have been overlooked should contact the publisher.

Love talking about books?

Find Pan Macmillan Australia online to read more about all our books and to buy both print and ebooks. You will also find features, author interviews and news of any author events.