{"id":4478,"date":"2024-05-14T16:44:29","date_gmt":"2024-05-14T06:44:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/?p=4478"},"modified":"2024-05-14T16:44:29","modified_gmt":"2024-05-14T06:44:29","slug":"nine-perfect-strangers-by-liane-moriarty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/?p=4478","title":{"rendered":"Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-sitebg-background-color has-background wp-block-paragraph\">Oh don&#8217;t kid yourself &#8211; Liane Moriarty may be &#8220;populist&#8221; fiction, but she writes brilliantly. The literary awards may go to men writing without punctuation, as she refers to in this novel, but Moriarty&#8217;s grasp of human beings and what drives us to make extreme choices is unparalleled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-sitebg-background-color has-background wp-block-paragraph\">Nine Perfect Strangers is a stellar example of her work. Told with lashings of humour and empathy, we are taken for a mad ride along with her nine strangers as they turn up for a wellness retreat and journey towards their nirvanas, for good and for ill. We explore unendurable loss and grief and travel the line between reality and mysticism in our attempt to answer the unaswerable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-sitebg-background-color has-background wp-block-paragraph\">I&#8217;m not certain what happened with the television adaptation. It&#8217;s like they took the same characters and told a different story with them. At any rate, the book is definitely a worthy pick up at the book store.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Oh don&#8217;t kid yourself &#8211; Liane Moriarty may be &#8220;populist&#8221; fiction, but she writes brilliantly. The literary awards may go to men writing without punctuation, &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":4479,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"{title}\n\n{excerpt}\n\n{url}","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[23],"tags":[447,620,8,619,109],"class_list":["post-4478","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-review","tag-book-review","tag-liane-moriarty","tag-mountain-ash-chapter","tag-nine-perfect-strangers","tag-review"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/9781405919463.jpg?fit=326%2C500&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pff1uY-1ae","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3253,"url":"https:\/\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/?p=3253","url_meta":{"origin":4478,"position":0},"title":"The Perfect Summer Read","author":"Elissa McKay","date":"February 10, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"\"What are we meant to do?\" My children's upturned little faces are vaguely outraged.\"Walk,\" I say. \"Swim. Cycle. Scoot. Explore. Emigrate. Be at one with Nature. We're in one of the most beautiful places in the world, so act like it. No Electronic Devices.\"My e-reader is shoved into the back\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Review&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Review","link":"https:\/\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/?cat=23"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/chen-mizrach-jL6PTWI7h18-unsplash-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C677&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/chen-mizrach-jL6PTWI7h18-unsplash-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C677&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/chen-mizrach-jL6PTWI7h18-unsplash-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C677&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/chen-mizrach-jL6PTWI7h18-unsplash-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C677&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/chen-mizrach-jL6PTWI7h18-unsplash-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C677&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1693,"url":"https:\/\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/?p=1693","url_meta":{"origin":4478,"position":1},"title":"Down But Not Out By The Docks","author":"Amanda Gambas","date":"July 12, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Baker sits alone in a filthy bedsit, in the gritty, down and out area by the docks. His clothes look and smell like they haven\u2019t been changed in a month of Sundays.\u00a0\u00a0The floor is littered with more empty whiskey bottles than he cared to count.\u00a0\u00a0Cheap whiskey. The only sort he\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Stories&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Stories","link":"https:\/\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/?cat=5"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/sander-sammy-HoOP0nxd8eg-unsplash-scaled.jpg?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/sander-sammy-HoOP0nxd8eg-unsplash-scaled.jpg?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/sander-sammy-HoOP0nxd8eg-unsplash-scaled.jpg?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/sander-sammy-HoOP0nxd8eg-unsplash-scaled.jpg?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":560,"url":"https:\/\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/?p=560","url_meta":{"origin":4478,"position":2},"title":"All Writing Is Shit","author":"Elissa McKay","date":"February 18, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Yes I\u2019m serious. It sucks. You. Your writing. The person standing right there, trembling, clutching your pages and swearing to yourself that you\u2019ll never let go of it, never publish, never be the writer you want to be because your writing is terrible and awful and just not good enough.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Soapbox&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Soapbox","link":"https:\/\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/?cat=22"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/hannah-olinger-8eSrC43qdro-unsplash-scaled.jpg?fit=801%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/hannah-olinger-8eSrC43qdro-unsplash-scaled.jpg?fit=801%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/hannah-olinger-8eSrC43qdro-unsplash-scaled.jpg?fit=801%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/hannah-olinger-8eSrC43qdro-unsplash-scaled.jpg?fit=801%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3781,"url":"https:\/\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/?p=3781","url_meta":{"origin":4478,"position":3},"title":"Book Week","author":"Elissa McKay","date":"August 22, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"It\u2019s Book Week all across Australia, which means parents are putting Harry Potter spell-themed snacks into lunch boxes and frantically scrounging up costumes late at night (note to children\u2019s authors \u2013 we need more children\u2019s books with heroes wearing pyjamas, please). But the best part of Book Week is the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Review&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Review","link":"https:\/\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/?cat=23"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/dollar-gill-0V7_N62zZcU-unsplash-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C674&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/dollar-gill-0V7_N62zZcU-unsplash-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C674&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/dollar-gill-0V7_N62zZcU-unsplash-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C674&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/dollar-gill-0V7_N62zZcU-unsplash-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C674&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/dollar-gill-0V7_N62zZcU-unsplash-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C674&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4159,"url":"https:\/\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/?p=4159","url_meta":{"origin":4478,"position":4},"title":"Yellowface by R. F. Kuang &#8211; A Review","author":"Amanda Gambas","date":"February 13, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Every page of Rebecca F Kuang\u2019s Yellowface had me internally groaning and pulling ugly faces. The fact I kept reading is a testament to the author\u2019s ability to write a gripping story held together by a morally bankrupt plot and unlikable characters. Yellowface is a rollercoaster tale of greed, lies\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Review&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Review","link":"https:\/\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/?cat=23"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Untitled-design-6.png?fit=940%2C788&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Untitled-design-6.png?fit=940%2C788&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Untitled-design-6.png?fit=940%2C788&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Untitled-design-6.png?fit=940%2C788&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4855,"url":"https:\/\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/?p=4855","url_meta":{"origin":4478,"position":5},"title":"Mosiac","author":"Bethany Sinclair-Giardini","date":"February 14, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"The strong gusts of wind were unyielding, relentlessly tugging at her umbrella and sending her auburn locks whipping around her face. The ribbon that had held her hair in place was now loose and tangled, and she gave up trying to push it back. When she had left home that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Stories&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Stories","link":"https:\/\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/?cat=5"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/pexels-gsn-travel-28852821.jpg?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/pexels-gsn-travel-28852821.jpg?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/pexels-gsn-travel-28852821.jpg?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/pexels-gsn-travel-28852821.jpg?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4478","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4478"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4478\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4484,"href":"https:\/\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4478\/revisions\/4484"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4479"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4478"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4478"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4478"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}