Novel set in AUSTRALIA
- Book: Nine Perfect Strangers
- Location: Australia
- Author: Liane Moriarty
Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty, novel set in Australia.
#fromourbookshelves
Masha and Yao appear in the opening paraqraphs, so the reader is fully acquainted with how their paths crossed in a previous life. Now they pop up as main members of the therapy team at Tranquilliam House, a holistic wellness centre in the middle of nowhere.
Nine guests are making their way to Tranquillium House, a good few hours’ drive from Sydney through inhospitable terrain. It was originally built by the Victorians with the aid of convict labour. It feels quite dour, grey and imposing. It even has a grand staircase reminiscent of that in the Titanic (and remember what happened to that vessel).
Some of the guests have had the foresight to look on Tripadvisor and see what awaits them. There are some glowing reviews but there are others that should act as warning flags. Nevertheless, here they are. Successful post-menopausal author Frances – the character whom the author clearly enjoyed creating the most – is at the gates and really struggling to get let in. Ben and Jessica arrive in their Lamborghini and crack the entry code in seconds. Jessica has tampered with her body and has had all sorts of ludicrous work carried out on it. The author clearly liked shaping her as a stereotype young woman with trout pout lips and more.
The group of nine assembles and the days are fully organised with wellness rituals and exercises. Smoothies arrive in the rooms, contraband goods (alcohol, biscuits etc) are delicately removed from luggage by unseen hands and the rules of their stay are addressed. An introduction to the next 10 days’ activities also takes place. What could possibly go wrong?
This is, though, a satirical look at the wellness industry and so, of course, the story soon strays into whacky territory. There are some very sad backstories and issues that the people have come to tackle and to learn new strategies to engage with life in a more positive way. But Masha, this beautiful Amazonian, statuesque woman, who heads the retreat, has been trawling the internet for new treatments and has alighted upon one that she feels she should incorporate into the package. Put it this way, it an unorthodox strategy.
I find Liane Moriarty’s storytelling quite mixed. The writing is always excellent and there are often characters that stand out. In Nine Perfect Strangers she beautifully sets the scene and then after a while of shuffling the characters, offering their backstories and setting them in context, the narrative takes off in a pretty extraordinary way. The ending is anticlimactic.
It is interesting that it has been picked up for a TV series, starring Nicole Kidman. She would be pretty good as Masha, I think.
Not really one for me, although I enjoyed reading it for the first half, which had a good sense of expectancy and anticipation amongst the nine guests. I would love to see what kind of Tripadvisor reviews the nine might leave after their Tranquillium experience!
Tina for the TripFiction Team
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