Could ten days at a health resort really change you forever? In Liane Moriarty’s latest page-turner, nine perfect strangers are about to find out...
Nine people gather at a remote health resort. Some are here to lose weight, some are here to get a reboot on life, some are here for reasons they can’t even admit to themselves. Amidst all of the luxury and pampering, the mindfulness and meditation, they know these ten days might involve some real work. But none of them could imagine just how challenging the next ten days are going to be.
Frances Welty, the formerly best-selling romantic novelist, arrives at Tranquillum House nursing a bad back, a broken heart, and an exquisitely painful paper cut. She’s immediately intrigued by her fellow guests. Most of them don’t look to be in need of a health resort at all. But the person that intrigues her most is the strange and charismatic owner/director of Tranquillum House. Could this person really have the answers Frances didn’t even know she was seeking? Should Frances put aside her doubts and immerse herself in everything Tranquillum House has to offer – or should she run while she still can?
It’s not long before every guest at Tranquillum House is asking exactly the same question.
Review: wow, I have loved Liane Moriarty's previous novels so this one had a lot to live up to and it really stepped up to my high expectations. Firstly, I loved the setting of this book. I have read other novels in the past set in spa or heath retreats of some kind and I just think that it is a great setting, people are exposed and vulnerable and I think the relaxing setting puts the reader at ease as much as it does the characters.
Then we have this colourful cast of characters. Nine strangers. This author is the queen of slowly slowly eeking out the information regarding her characters and her plot and we really don't find out everything about any of these characters until the very end of the book. I thought that Frances, a menopausal romance writer acted as a kind of linchpin for the story and it is her that we meet first so you do feel a certain affiliation for her as the novel progresses. Carmel is a mother of four who is recently divorced and struggling to cope with her new body and new circumstances, again something very relatable. Tony is an interesting one who we really only learn in small chunks at spaced intervals. Then we have Ben and Jessica, a young couple with a lot of money, what could they have to be unhappy about and Lars, a successful family lawyer who does this kind of thing often. The Marconi family are the ones who intrigued me the most and their secrets just keep on coming, once we scratch the surface, there are some seriously dark things lying within.
As I mentioned, this writer reveals plot points h so slowly as well so everything unravels and unfurls and twists and turns, it feels a bit like a tangled necklace that as you start to pull out the knots, you actually find that it is three very fine necklaces and they are way longer than you thought. Like Liane's other novels, there is a kind of thriller aspect to this one but we're just not sure how dark and sinister things are going to get and whether anyone is going to make it out the other side or not.
The other thing I loved was that this book had an epic epilogue. There is one chapter which spans nearly a year and then about five shorter chapters after that that eventually sum everything up. It's not called an epilogue but it acts so well as one and I just loved every moment of it! Overall this was a really great read, I didn't really ever know what to expect when I started a new chapter and I was kept on the edge of my seat turning the pages right up until the end and even now I have questions. This was the first of her novels I haven't done on audio and it felt nice to read an as actual book, I would definitely recommend this one!
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