Three Wishes | Liane Moriarty
Meet the Kettle sisters, Lyn, Cat, and Gemma. A set of thirty-something triplets from Sydney, Australia, their deliciously intertwined lives are full of exactly the twists and turns that one might imagine multiples to have. And just when the author seems to have one or another of their personalities sorted, whoops! Another layer of secrets is revealed and off the story jaunts in a surprising new direction. Rich with relationships between the sisters, their parents, partners, workmates and children, as well as a number of observant strangers who cross the triplets' paths, this is the first of nine domestic thriller in Moriaty's best-selling body of work.
* * * * *
“It happens sometimes that you accidentally star in a little public performance of your very own comedy, tragedy, or melodrama.”
Cat and Dan have been together over ten years and they are having a ball. Competitive, clever, full of their own inside jokes, and always up for a lark, they enjoy each other's company immensely and, while their lives aren't perfect, seem to be keen candidates for #marriagegoals.
Spoiler alert.
Spoiler alert.
Spoiler alert.
And then, one day, Dan cheats. He promptly confesses his sin and swears he'll never do it again, but Cat is so outraged, so bitter, so incapable of letting her anger go, that Dan runs back to his lover's arms and in short order, leaves Cat and never looks back.
Now, as this ugly little plot line played itself out, I winked at the story and smiled to myself. Liane Moriarty has a long track record of sending her characters into marital maelstroms and eventually pulling them back out again, settling them safely upon strong emotional bedrock and assuring us, dear readers, that a successful marriage need not be perfect but simply determined. Many of her books feature this powerful picture of people who choose to fight for their marriages and I trusted her to deliver once again.
But sadly, she did not.
Now to be fair, Moriarty uses this story line to give Cat a chance to reinvent her life, to have a second go at discovering who she is and what she stands for. Sure enough, the end of the novel sees Cat moving in positive new directions, and I'm very happy for her.
"You are young. A whole life is in front of you. Stop wanting other’s dreams. Start chasing yours."
But I felt utterly inconsolable.
Why? WHY. Why on earth would I feel so sad about a marriage break up between two fictional characters?
As I lay awake in bed that night, tossing and turning as I tried to chase the sadness from my heart and answer this question of WHY, I slowly came to understand.
I am all in on marriage.
Before I was married, I loved the idea of teaming up with another person, heading straight on into the crashing waves of life's challenges with a partner at my side, riding out the storms and enjoying the occasional calm seas together. Now that I'm decades in to my own marriage, my romanticized notions are cold hard fact:
Marriage is indeed not for sissies.
You have to want it. You have to work on it.
And short of adultery, abuse, or addiction, you have to be willing to fight for it, no matter what.
Now I see that one of the things I've loved about Moriarty's books is that she has championed that fight. She has cheered me on, celebrated my values, and created characters to whom I can connect.
Until Cat and Dan.
“He has mistakes in his past. I have mistakes in mine. The fact that we actually are each other’s mistakes is irrelevant!”
But what finally cleared my head and settled me off to sleep is the simple idea that it's okay.
It's okay for Cat and Dan's failed marriage to symbolize transformation and rebirth and healthy change.
It's okay that not every marriage has a happy ending.
And it's okay for a novel to be just an interesting story rather than a guidebook for my life.
And maybe, if I need a cheerleader to remind me of the amazing transformative power of an imperfect but determined marriage, it's okay for me to simply cheer myself on.
* * * * *
Hey! Wanna read more about the books I've read in 2022? Check these out"
The Vanishing Half
* * * * *
For a full list of books I've read in the past few years, click here:
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please comment...I'd love to hear from you!