Lovers are led a merry dance
Take your pick from an irresistible selection of page-turners for women
LIANE MORIARTY’S sixth adult novel Big Little Lies aired last year as a glossy, gripping HBO series starring Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon, and explored escalating tensions between school-gate parents. Here she returns with a novel set in another subculture ripe for satire: the wellness retreat.
Nine motley guests have assembled for a 10-day stay at remote “boutique health and wellness resort” Tranquillum House.
It will change their lives, albeit not in the way they were expecting when they paid their extortionate fee.
Among their number is Frances Welty, once a bestselling romance author, whose professional and private lives are now in crisis.
She is nursing a bruised ego after her latest “airport trash” novel was rejected, and a broken heart after falling for an internet romance scam.
Among her fellow guests are Ben and Jessica, 20-something lottery winners whose new-found wealth has put their relationship under painful strain. Ben is a car fanatic who was happier before he gave up his job as a mechanic, while insecure Jessica has had so much distorting cosmetic surgery Ben can barely see the woman he fell in love with.
More tragically, Heather and Napoleon have checked into Tranquillum House with their daughter Zoe as an escape of sorts from the third anniversary of their son Zach’s shock suicide.
Also present are mum-of-four Carmel, former Aussie Rules professional Tony, and handsome hotshot lawyer Lars.
However, as the guests half-heartedly embark upon a programme of inadequate meals, fasts, blood tests, dawn yoga classes, meditations and mysterious mandatory juices, we discover that there is more to Tranquillum House than meets the eye. It is run by Masha, once a Russian corporate high-flyer who suffered a heart attack and a near-death out-of-body experience that transformed her into a wellness zealot.
And Masha has just made some bold, controversial changes to the programme, convinced that her new regime will benefit her guinea pig guests.
The fact that her plans are highly illegal is a minor detail. Needless to say, they are a recipe for disaster.
It is a clever conceit on Moriarty’s part to bring nine strangers together in a scenario that will push them to their limits. And their mobile phones and cars are confiscated so they are all effectively trapped.
Part of the fun is seeing which unlikely alliances are formed although, at the point where the guests are under the greatest pressure, they pull together and offer mutual support.
While we would all be grateful to experience this scenario in real life, in a novel, it feels like a missed opportunity to develop a more high-stakes plot.
And when you have nine key characters – 10 if you include the formidable Masha (and the guests of Tranquillum House underestimate her at their peril) – it is a challenge to make all of them three-dimensional.
But the best-drawn characters such as Frances and Napoleon are endowed with charm, charisma and humour.
Moriarty has an entertainingly keen eye for the absurdities of modern life – from the fakery of the Instagram generation to the invisibility of menopausal women and the aggressive monomania of the hyper-healthy.
She is also as adept at writing laugh-out-loud scenes as tugging on the reader’s heartstrings. As a result you’ll plough through Nine Perfect Strangers like a warm knife through butter.