Liars: A Novel
An "eviscerating" (The New York Times) novel about being a wife, a mother, and an artist, and how marriage makes liars of us all--from the author of Very Cold People and 300 Arguments "Is divorce the new marriage plot? . . . [Liars] pulses with a rare kind of anger, making it a compulsive, unforgettable read. Love stories, it seems, are out. Divorce as liberation? Very much in."--Vogue "A tour de force . . . Liars makes an old story fresh."--NPR "A bracing story of a woman on the verge."--Kirkus Reviews (starred review) A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: NPR, Town & Country, Lit Hub A nuclear family can destroy a woman artist. I'd always known that. But I'd never suspected how easily I'd fall into one anyway.
When Jane, an aspiring writer, meets filmmaker John Bridges, they both want the same things: to be in love, to live a successful, creative life, and to be happy. When they marry, Jane believes she has found everything she was looking for, including--a few years later--all the attendant joys and labors of motherhood. But it's not long until Jane finds herself subsumed by John's ambitions, whims, and ego; in short, she becomes a wife. As Jane's career flourishes, their marriage starts to falter. Throughout the upheavals of family life, Jane tries to hold it all together. That is, until John leaves her. Liars is a tour de force of wit and rage, telling the blistering story of a marriage as it burns to the ground, and of a woman rising inexorably from its ashes.
When Jane, an aspiring writer, meets filmmaker John Bridges, they both want the same things: to be in love, to live a successful, creative life, and to be happy. When they marry, Jane believes she has found everything she was looking for, including--a few years later--all the attendant joys and labors of motherhood. But it's not long until Jane finds herself subsumed by John's ambitions, whims, and ego; in short, she becomes a wife. As Jane's career flourishes, their marriage starts to falter. Throughout the upheavals of family life, Jane tries to hold it all together. That is, until John leaves her. Liars is a tour de force of wit and rage, telling the blistering story of a marriage as it burns to the ground, and of a woman rising inexorably from its ashes.
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Community Reviews
This book is so so good. I cannot recommend it enough. The description says it’s about marriage (which is true) but it’s an astonishing feminist dissection of our societal structure. It really opens my eyes to the impossible position that motherhood and marriage puts women in. The protagonist suffers anxieties and frustrations every adult married woman I know has expressed! It really made me feel like I understand my mother better and how trapped and unhappy she was when I was growing up. This would be an excellent book club pick leading to a powerful group discussion.
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