As the title indicates, this is a book about liars--people lying to other people, each other, and themselves. Early on there is a scene that serves as a metaphor for what's to come when Jane, the narrator, tries to use a marker to hide the fact that her thrift store fur coat is disintegrating. Soon after this, she fills in her 'patchy eyebrows' with a pencil. When Jane, who is a writer, meets John, a self-identified artist and filmmaker, this habit of covering up reality gets more serious. They begin a relationship quickly and it's clear that this is a mistake, especially when they decide to get married. Jane realizes this on some level, but is pretty good at lying to herself and at 'keeping up appearances' with the people she knows. As she says about herself, 'I was a layer cake of abandonment and hurt, and fury, iced with a smile.' (p36) John does his own lying to her and to others. He lies to himself as well, but in a different way than Jane does. He has delusions of grandeur regarding his artwork, which isn't particularly good, mostly, although he seems to think he's a genius. John is lazy and manipulative and seems to fail at everything, leaving Jane to pick up the pieces and cover for him as best she can. Meanwhile, Jane is a successful writer, which John resents. When 'the child' arrives, things get worse and the pressure on Jane builds, particularly when they move back and forth between NY and California a few times while John chases down funding for his ideas. The pressure is always on Jane. John needs someone to blame for his own failings and inadequacies. 'He kept telling me to stop letting it show on my face. To hide how I felt so that no one would know, no one would be able to read the proof of my shame and humiliation, which by then I always felt for John so he never needed to feel it himself.' (p 81)

And so the lies continue throughout the book as things continue to fall apart. It's not quite the case that this is a portrait of a marriage falling apart, but more that the marriage was falling apart before it began because the two people involved were already in crisis before they met. The (unnamed) child both exacerbates the situation and gives Jane someone to be stronger for, even as she sometimes uses him as an excuse to stay in the marriage.

The book is structured in short paragraphs of various lengths and this fits the narrative well. Jane goes back and forth--one minute she has clarity about what is going on and the next she's telling herself that she's so lucky and of course she loves John and they have a happy family. The short paragraphs illustrate this as the reader whipsaws back and forth with Jane's thoughts. The book is extremely well written and I was drawn in from the start, finishing in one sitting because I didn't want to put it down. This book is almost exclusively focused on the devastation of the relationship and Jane's responses to it. There is a lot about how overwhelmed Jane is at what seems to be required of her as John's wife and 'the child's' mother, as well as how she feels she is losing herself in the process, but here and there are sprinkled comments about the next book she is having published, so clearly there was writing time happening, even if it was hard to carve out. This is a painful book to read at times. John was pathetic and thoroughly unlikable. That said, this is an excellent book and I'm glad to have read it. I haven't read any other work by this author, but will now seek it out.

I had never heard of the author before, but the title and description of her book intrigued me. The style of writing, more like diary excerpts, took me a while to get used to and made it difficult to connect with the story at first, but once I did, I was hooked, at least for a while.

It was interesting that the two main characters were called John and Jane – which are the names given by US police to unknown corpses. To me it created an emotional distance between the reader and the protagonist. Calling their son “The Child” throughout also jarred with me, but was obviously deliberate and further added to this emotional distance.

The story through the eyes of Jane the narrator, forensically examines the unravelling of a fourteen-year-old marriage, (which finally ends when John walks out to live with his lover), and the impact it has on a woman’s identity. The fragmented style further helps to reflect the visceral, raw emotion Jane feels throughout.

Jane is a successful writer who meets and marries John an artist. Instead of two creative minds coming together, Jane finds herself subsumed in a marriage with a selfish, egocentric, insecure and manipulative man. She puts her ambitions, her skills and creativity on hold, while she becomes a dedicated wife and mother, subservient to all her husband’s needs. John considers himself above criticism, and blames Jane for all their problems. They constantly move house as John chases potential jobs, without a thought of the impact it may have on his wife and child. Jane is constantly in turmoil between the extreme love she has for her son, and her utter dedication to being a perfect wife, taking out her frustration by constantly deep cleaning the house.

Manguso portrays fantastically how Jane manages a failing relationship and the sacrifices she makes to retain the family unit even to the extent of becoming a mere shadow of what she once was. The title indicates how marriage makes liars of us all. However, I felt the story began to feel repetitive and towards the end I found myself losing interest - in fact I started feeling angry with Jane for not getting out of the relationship sooner, especially once her husband had left her. When Jane eventually successfully rises out of the ashes of her failed marriage, I found I didn’t really care.


Despite my reservations this was a great introduction to Manguso’s writing, and I shall certainly read some more of her work.

Liars is a character-driven study of our female main protagonist who early on we’re told is going to be dumped by her husband of many years for another woman. The novel then goes back in time to when the couple meet and we follow their relationship in chronological order from dating to their marriage then pregnancy and then their life after raising their child. Until John (the husband) eventually leaves the wife for another woman. In the last 30% we see how the wife copes with her divorce and life after.
The characters were very archetypical. I’m not sure if that was deliberate on the author’s part.
This story was a really frustrating one to read mostly because John was so exhausting from the beginning of the story. Throughout the book we see their relationship which is toxic and emotional abusive from the beginning. I wasn’t sure why the wife didn’t just leave her husband earlier or why she chose to be his girlfriend in the first place. I had no empathy for John. The story is extremely slice-of-life. We see the wife putting up with John’s manipulative behaviour and I just wanted to scream in rage unable to understand why she chose to put up with such maddening behaviour.
There’s a very angry, feminist tone to this book which was engaging (don’t get me wrong) and acutely observational at times with prose that was painfully raw at times. However I did find that domesticity of this story got repetitive at times with John throwing his fits and the wife cooking, cleaning and accommodating her husband. John apologising. They have sex. But then John gets angry again and decides to sleep in another room. The next morning the wife still cooks breakfast and cleans the house. John apologies. They’re fine for now. But then John gets angry again. The wife tries to make it up to him by continuing to be a dutiful wife. John appreciates it and apologises for being grumpy and not appreciating her enough. Rinse and repeat x100 the rest of the way through the novel until eventually John leaves her for another woman. I just wanted someone to tell the wife to leave her husband. I wish we saw more of that - more of why she was conditioned to be a wife and why she didn’t feel she could leave him.
Also I felt the story could’ve been shorter. It did feel very memoir-like at times. Nonetheless it was an eye-opening and an uncomfortable read about being in a relationship with a narcissistic. Some readers might find that triggering so please do your research.

wow guys this book was unbelievable! manguso’s writing is so powerful with how she interweaves such hyperbolic emotion into very simple sentences. I had visceral reactions to this book that I was honestly stressed reading it,but in the best possible way. this book releases on 22nd august and you should absolutely go out and buy it!

It's not so much the plot of this novel that's the stand-out here, because it is a plot that has been (and will be) explored again and again, but it's the narrative style - the way of telling it. Written in fragments (often overlapping and backtracking), this is a novel that, to me, was poignant and meaningful. There are so many one liners that demonstrated the intelligence and deepest feelings of the protagonist, Jane, in her (ultimately doomed) marriage to John. The fragmented style epitomised, quite literally, the ups and downs of a modern relationship and the intensely inward internal process of managing a relationship that is failing. Brilliant in every way. My thanks to the publisher and to NetGalley for the ARC.

A compelling but sometimes uncomfortable read. The kind of novel where it slowly moves you forward without major dramatic moments. Even though there are moments of drama, they are written about in the same vein as the main protagonist Jane writes about cleaning the house. I narrative of a marriage that is based on lies - the lies John tells his wife and the lies Jane tells herself.

Jane is a writer who married an artist. She hoped that in marrying John, who is also a creative she would have a different kind of life, one that is not stuck in the patriarchal cage marriage, but that's where Jane finds herself. Living in a house with a child without steady work constantly taking care of all the things John deems insignificant but never helps with. He accepts no criticism while constantly blaming Jane for all their problems, constantly moving to chase jobs and not caring about the impact it has on Jane and their child. Sarah Maguso beautifully describes the pull of the love you have for your child and how as a woman you are torn between fulfilling your own ambitions and being a "good" wife and mother.

“ A wedding vow is a mind game. You have to guess whether the person currently on his best behavior will someday value your physical, emotional, and financial health above the convenience of being able to just break the contract.”

I could understand and empathise with the narrator’s pain and frustration while also understanding her reasons for wanting to stay in a hopeless marriage. It was heartbreaking to witness.

This read like a memoir rather than a novel. I read it all in one sitting, simply because I couldn't stop reading.

Manguso captures, in an astonishingly raw and brittle way, a rotting marriage where signposts had been seen but ignored. It contained many of the elements of Wifedom (Anna Funder) about the expectations that women lay upon themselves about being a wife and how their narrative is erased and re-defined.

The most powerful element (for me) was the description of the torment and self-questioning engendered as Jane's fourteen year marriage unravels. The intelligent continuous present writing, without pause, made it resonate with the relentless toll toxic relationships can take. The emotions are so visceral that it felt like feeding on carrion. I found it achingly familiar.

I really didn't like the way all the characters were named except the couple's son who is referred to as "child" but that was the novel's only flaw from my perspective.

With thanks to #NetGalley and #PanMacmillan for the opportunity to read and review

Very engrossing story of how ego can poison a relationship. Written in a slightly tricksy way which takes a bit of getting used to but definitely worth it.

I requested this book as it had such good reviews, but I must be in the minority as I didn’t enjoy it. I really didn’t like the way it was written and this stopped me from connecting with the characters. I kept waiting for the book to grab me, but unfortunately it just didn’t.
With thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review..

Thanks for access to the new Manguso. I had only ever heard about her, and leapt at the chance to read her latest. It was visceral, propulsive and compelling. I finished it in just a few sittings.

On a sobering and intense tale of a marriage falling apart and what it does to a woman’s identity. I saw this book on a few lists and was thankful for this advanced reader copy. I think it’ll be one of the biggest works of fiction this summer.⁣
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The story is centred around the story of Jane and her 14-year marriage to John. Jane is an aspiring writer who meets John Bridges, a filmmaker, who seems to want the same thing as her. Not long after, they’re married and have a child, and Jane finds her role reduced to being a wife and a mother. She tolerates her husband’s ego, manipulation and emotional abuse, and lies to herself along the way. That goes on until John comes home one day and asks for divorce.⁣
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The book is filled with very detailed and astute observations of how a tumultuous relationship can fail a woman and do to the way she sees and believes in herself. At times, I thought I was reading a work of non-fiction. ⁣
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“I was proud of our family and of John’s career, so when he played video games all night, spent weekends painting, or stayed out bodysurfing in deep water while the child and I waited, shivering, on the beach, I didn’t push back. I multitasked and made my own needs as small as possible because, I thought, I was just more capable than he was. I assumed that made me valuable. ⁣
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I took three shits before breakfast and two tranquilizers before the mediation session. John said that he wasn’t to blame for the divorce but that his hand had been forced. He described me as volatile and unsafe for the child to be around. ⁣
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I wrote the word LIAR on a sticky note and stuck it onto the computer screen. It covered John’s face.”⁣
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Just what that could do to a woman? Anger, rage and so much more. The book is phenomenal.

Liars is an emotive read, I was sad, angry and despairing throughout. The story is addictive and enthralling. Following Jane through her relationships and health struggles is like wading through water. The writing is amazing and doesn’t feel like a piece of fiction. I loved the detached tone and haven’t read anything quite like this. It’s motherhood, marriage and being mortal all wrapped into one. Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for an ARC. This is a voluntary review of my own thoughts.

Liars tells the story of Jane and John from the beginning of their relationship, through job changes and multiple long-distance house moves, having a child, and eventually the end of their relationship.

I'm a bit puzzled as to why I didn't like this book more than I did. It's a brutal but realistic portrayal of an emotionally abusive relationship, with a deeply feminist narrative that highlights the patriarchal nature of marriage and societal expectations of women. I saved many quotes throughout the book that really stuck with me. However I didn't like the lack of structure (no chapters), although presumably this mirrors the endless days in an unsatisfying marriage for Jane, days that blurred and merged together. I wasn't particularly gripped by the story, perhaps due to my views on marriage and men in general. I read it one sitting, more to get it over with than because I was compelled to keep reading.

I am going to keep thinking about why I didn't really like this book, because I feel like I *should* have.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my advance copy. All opinions are my own.

I loved this book, really loved it. It detailed the motions and emotions the protagonist experienced during her long relationship with her partner/husband. A talented writer who put her work aside to appease her ‘jack of many trades, master of none’, emotionally manipulative husband, she tries to get through each day with her son while trying to save their marriage.

I thought this was brilliantly written - I loved the writing style and all the details. It was very real and kept me glued to the e-pages until the end.

Gosh. This book was really interesting. I enjoyed it a lot and yet it was also frustrating.
The writing style felt like poetry at times. I liked that and I do think it served the narrative, but it took me a while to connect to the story because of this.
I had so many feelings about Jane. Several times in the first half I was incredibly irritated by the fact that she was still with him, and later on I was so angry for her. Honestly, sometimes it felt sort of bleak, but in a way that made me feel quite fired up too.
This was my first Sarah Manguso book and I will definitely be reading more of her work.
Thanks to Net Galley and Pan Macmillan for this ARC.

such an addictive read, even though it becomes heavy and sad at times. it tells the story of a woman, a writer, who chose freedom but found herself trapped in a marriage, bound by her husband’s insecurities and lies. it’s sad to think that jane, our main character, believed she would never go through something like this, yet somehow found herself in the very situations she despised.

the narrative unfurls continuously, devoid of chapters, mirroring jane’s diminishing patience and escalating anger. her storytelling feels like reading a mother’s diary, where she reveals only fragments of her day—as she barely had time for herself and her writing—before bursting out her frustrations.

connecting with jane isn’t difficult, right from the start i already cared about her, even unmarried or childless women can empathize with her and share her anger. this leads me to reflect on her revelation—that she married her husband believing his calmness to be wisdom, only to realize later that “it wasn’t the stillness of wisdom. it was the absence of empathy.“ how many times must women suffer at the hands of a society where men lack even a trace of empathy, only ego and insecurities?

it also makes me ponder why some people find it so hard to break free from the shackles of a toxic relationship, no matter how many times they’re asked why they remain. if they leave, they fear becoming nothing, as their entire identity is tied to this marriage. jane sacrificed her dreams to follow john, and leaving her marriage would only fill her with more regrets of not doing it sooner.

i don’t know much about the author, but this feels autobiographical. the emotions are so vivid, it seems like manguso poured a lot of authenticity into jane. even if it turns out to be purely fiction, it just shows how incredible she is at infusing this story with such authentic female rage.

I am completely in love with this book! A rallying cry to all women who feel that they have put their entire lives on hold to support their husbands and families only to be dumped on from a great height!

This book made me feel so many things, from anger, frustration, relief and joy. I felt so much for Jane and was rooting for her so much.

Answering important questions like who is responsible for the breakdown of a relationship? Who are the liars and what lies do they tell? Whether to themselves or others.

I could not put this book down and highly recommend it.

I was recommended this from a bookstagrammer who gave it 5 stars, so I looked forward to reading it, but unfortunately it didn’t work so well for me. The writing style is sort of detached (fragmented, like snapshots, also the child remains unnamed), so it made it a bit difficult for me to get attached and really feel for any of them. I get the message of the book, and I felt infuriated at the husband of the protagonist, of course. But the red flags were everywhere from the beginning and she was aware of them. But she stayed (even before the child came along) because she thought no better man would love her. She never loved him either. So that makes it really hard for me to feel sorry for her. But I understand the book is about the mysoginy and abusive relationship with a manipulative partner, and how low self-esteem makes an educated woman get stuck in a marriage knowing it’s not working.

This is the worst bookish cliché but I promise you that finishing Liars by Sarah Manguso felt like letting go of a breath I didn't realise that I was holding. This is a female rage, good for her, fast-paced literary read about a marriage on fire.

Liars is about Jane, an aspiring writer, who meets a filmmaker, John. He is very charming and she believes everything that she could want in a life partner. As they begin their relationship and we watch it blossom, we begin to pick up on some red flags that John is waving. As many people do, Jane finds a way to excuse this behaviour and moves on from it. They eventually get married and have a child and as their relationship goes through the years we see more and more how John & their marriage strips Jane of her identity as an artist, who happens to also be a wife and mother, and reduces her down to only being a wife and mother.

This isn't a thriller book but it's absolutely paced like one. Not only is it an extremely tightly wound and claustrophobic feeling story that had me breathlessly turning the pages but also Manguso formats her work in vignettes which I find keeps the pacing quick. If you have a day with nothing to do where you can commit yourself to read all day, this is a book that you could read in one sitting.

There is so much bitterness in these pages, it's the kind of book that makes you frustrated and angry as you read it. It’s a book about reducing a woman to her most basic stereotypes, it's about all the invisible work that a lot wives and mothers do, and it also felt like a good reminder to not accept mediocrity in our relationships and to pay attention to red flags. Reading this really made me so thankful to have a partner who is helpful and supportive in all of the things that I do.

Liars is a brutally honest representation of how marriages can end up. I'm not somebody who is often drawn to books that explore romantic relationships like this but I genuinely couldn't look away from this book. I think Sarah Manguso has such a knack for writing about the motions of life and without a doubt I will continue to pick up anything else that she releases.