Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty

I didn’t intend to read this book — it wasn’t on my TBR list or even on my radar, but read inhale it, I did.

It was a really slow day at the bookstore and I was shelving fiction when I recognized Ms. Moriarty’s name from one of my favorite TV series Big Little Lies. This popular Australian author is known for writing a book a year, and I would categorize her novels as Chic-Lit Thriller (I just made that up).

I decided to randomly pick one of her titles to browse through it – just browse, mind you – there’s a ton of books at home to read, I told myself.

Seventy two hours later, I closed Nine Perfect Strangers and looked around blurry eyed, as if emerging from a cave.

The setting is Tranquillum House, a remote health resort in Australia and nine people have gathered to revive their lives — some to loose weight, some to gain mindfulness, and others just to get a fresh start. Frances Welty, a middle-aged, romance writer whose novel sales have been dwindling, arrives at the health resort with a bad back and a broken heart. She quickly realizes that most of her fellow guests don’t look to be in need of a health resort at all. The owner/director of the resort is odd, but charismatic, and Frances wonders if she should leave or stick it out. But stay she does and as she participates in the meditation, Tai Chi, and drinks the daily smoothies – Frances begins to feel a great deal better.

Several chapters go into the psyche and problems of each of the guests. We learn about their problems; marriage issues, a family recovering from the loss of a child, a has-been soccer player – all of them seeking health and bliss. But, the main focus is on Frances and Masha, the spa director. I laughed out loud at Frances and nodded in agreement at her attitude towards wellness and dieting. I had empathy for some of the characters and frustration with others, but overall I had anxiety on behalf of all of them — Tranquillum House is not all it appears to be. To paraphrase Bette Davis – fasten your seat belts, it’s going to be total nutter of a ride.

As the plot unspools, the transformative spa treatments start to take a dark turn. Masha gets weirder and the guests start to have strange interludes. I’ll stop there and won’t divulge any more. Just know there are lots of plot twists and some Agatha Christie-type scenes — all of which kept me turning the pages and turning the pages…

Nine Perfect Strangers is not high literary fiction, instead it has a ridiculous plot with some cliché characters, but it is also quirky, fun, and entertaining. The ending is a bit over the top, but the final chapters nicely tie up each characters’ story. I was on the edge of my seat throughout the book — Ms. Moriarty certainly can write a page turner and I now understand why she is a best selling author.

But now, afterwards, I think the experience was akin to eating cotton candy. Lots of fun — but why?

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I’ve read that Nicole Kidman bought the rights to Nine Perfect Strangers and is planning a series. Come to think of it, she would make the perfect Masha.