October 2021 Host:  Jaci

Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty

Summary

Amazon.com Review

An Amazon Best Book of November 2018: Liane Moriarty is back with another delicious page-turner, but this time her characters don't discover their lives unexpectedly transformed by a surprising event—they deliberately buy into a ten-day spa package with the hope that they will emerge different, happier people. A few days of silence, lots of yoga and mindfulness, and absolutely no alcohol seem to be working wonders, at least for middle-aged novelist Frances Welty, who is recovering from an online swindle and a career crash. The other eight participants have astonishingly similar positive reactions to their regimen at Tranquillum House…at least until they discover why. Moriarty is at her best when she's diving impetuously into her characters' heads, exposing with affection their rushes to judgment, their contradictions, and their moments of grace and generosity. The "aha" moment that has won Moriarty so many fans with Big Little Lies and Truly Madly Guilty never quite materializes, and some readers might roll their eyes at the multitude of chapters at the end that attempt to tie everything up nicely. But in the end, it's an optimistic novel, showcasing how our shared flawed humanity is also our greatest strength in the face of duress, as long as we can create common ground. —Adrian Liang, Amazon Book Review