I felt lost and heavy with the weight of pretended perfection.
Real Life & Liars (Avon Books) is Kristina Riggle‘s debut novel and it is, in one word, amazing! It is the kind of book you want to curl into on a rainy Sunday and finish in one sitting. Riggle’s clear and honest writing pulls you into the emotional story of one family, gathered together for an anniversary party. Each member of the family has a secret that is pulling at them and begging to be revealed, but at the same time they are all striving for an ultimately unattainable image of “perfection.”
The story is told in alternating third person narratives from each member of the Zielinski family, except for one, Mirabelle. Mirabelle Zielinski tells her own story because it is ultimately her story to tell. As the matriarch of this unusual clan, Mirabelle loves them all fiercely but lives a life entirely by her own rules. As each character struggles with secrets of pain, betrayal, love and success, the truth ultimately reveals itself. Real Life & Liars has an underlying theme of sadness and struggle, but it is really a story of hope and survival and the mistakes we all make in trying to live life the best way we know how. I whole-heartedly recommend this book for anyone looking for a story that will help them see life in a more hopeful and optimistic way. Real Life & Liars proves that we really are in this together and family is certainly one of the strongest ties that bind. I can’t wait for Riggle’s next novel!
Here is the book’s summary:
Sometimes you find happiness where, and when, you least expect it.
For Mirabelle Zielinski’s children, happiness always seems to be just out of reach. Her polished oldest daughter, Katya, clings to a stale marriage with a workaholic husband and three spoiled children. Her son, Ivan, so creative, is a down-in-the-dumps songwriter with the worst taste in women. And the “baby,” impulsive Irina, who lives life on a whim, is now reluctantly pregnant and hitched to a man who is twice her age. On the weekend of their parents’ anniversary party, lies will be revealed, hearts will be broken…but love will also be found. And the biggest shock may come from Mirabelle herself, because she has a secret that will change everything.
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