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The Truth About Her
The Truth About Her | Jacqueline Maley
4 posts | 5 read | 5 to read
How can you write other people's stories, when you won't admit the truth of your own? An absorbing, moving, ruefully tender, witty and wise novel of marriage, motherhood and the paths we navigate through both, for fans of Ann Patchett and Anne Tyler. 'I loved The Truth About Her. It's an intelligent, compelling, nuanced tale of guilt, culpability, pride, shame and atonement. But most of all, it's a love letter to daughters, from the mothers who raise them. An astoundingly good debut.' Annabel Crabb Journalist and single mother Suzy Hamilton gets a phone call one summer morning, and finds out that the subject of one of her investigative exposes, 25-year-old wellness blogger Tracey Doran, has killed herself overnight. Suzy is horrified by this news but copes in the only way she knows how - through work, mothering, and carrying on with her ill-advised, tandem affairs. The consequences of her actions catch up with Suzy over the course of a sticky Sydney summer. She starts receiving anonymous vindictive letters and is pursued by Tracey's mother wanting her, as a kind of rough justice, to tell Tracey's story, but this time, the right way. A tender, absorbing, intelligent and moving exploration of guilt, shame, female anger, and, in particular, mothering, with all its trouble and treasure, The Truth About Her is mostly though a story about the nature of stories - who owns them, who gets to tell them, and why we need them. An entirely striking, stylish and contemporary novel, from a talented new writer. PRAISE FOR THE TRUTH ABOUT HER 'Heartfelt, funny and will resonate with many readers. This tender, witty and beautifully written novel is for fans of Georgia Blain, Charlotte Wood and Ann Patchett.' Books+Publishing 'A stunning novel, sharply observed, beautifully written, enthralling.' Julia Baird 'Read the first sentence of Jacqueline Maley's debut novel, and you will be in it until the end. Electrifying, deeply unsettling and so, so satisfying. And, if you've ever tried to manage the sharp end of a career with the blunt demands of parenthood, fiercely recognisable.' Meg Mason, author of Sorrow and Bliss 'I loved The Truth About Her. I could not put it down - whip-smart, sexy and with so much heart - and god, that ending packed a punch. The sort of book that all mothers need to read.' Eliza Henry- Jones, author of In the Quiet and Ache
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review
TrishB
The Truth About Her | Jacqueline Maley
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Good read- the MC did annoy me sometimes (hard that she was being betrayed as in her late 30s!) but good secondary characters and storyline.
Thanks Carolyn ❤️

MicheleinPhilly This sounds really good! Stacked! 2y
TrishB @MicheleinPhilly I think you‘d like it 👍🏻 2y
CarolynM Glad you liked it 🙂 2y
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TrishB
The Truth About Her | Jacqueline Maley
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Thank you Carolyn 😁 this was a lovely surprise- as I‘d forgotten all about it. Will look forward to reading it. Hope you‘re holding up ok in current lockdown, it seems never ending, whereas we have decided to just ignore!
Thanks again 😘

Cathythoughts Sounds good 👍🏻❤️ 3y
CarolynM I'm glad to see it has arrived. Hope you like it. We can still get our coffee so we are ok😬🙂 3y
TrishB @Cathythoughts it does 😁 3y
TrishB @CarolynM well at least that‘s something! 3y
78 likes4 comments
review
Jeg
The Truth About Her | Jacqueline Maley
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My daughter gave me this book for Mother‘s Day. Author is an Aussie journalist and this is her first novel. I really enjoyed the story but best for me was her writing style. It just flows with great descriptions. Universal situations and feelings.
#joysbooks2021
@MrsMalaprop

CarolynM Yes, there were quite a few excellent, pithy descriptions and some nice observations too🙂 3y
15 likes1 comment
review
CarolynM
The Truth About Her | Jacqueline Maley
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Suzy is a single mother to a preschool daughter and an award winning journalist. When a couple of poor professional decisions blow up in her face and the subject of one of her exposes kills herself, she is out of a job and grappling with her guilt. Then the dead girl's mother appears, demanding atonement. It's an interesting premise and a well written book, but I didn't like it as much as I feel I should have. 👇
#Bookspin #ozfiction

CarolynM ☝️It's my IRL book group read for this month. We have 2 members who are ex-journalists so I am very much looking forward to hearing what they have to say. Have you read this @JennyM @LeeRHarry @Abailliekaras ? I'd love to hear your views. (edited) 3y
TrishB It does sound really interesting! 3y
CarolynM @TrishB If you'd like to read it I'll send it to you. There were things that annoyed me about it as I was reading but thinking about it now that I've finished I'm coming to the view that it's quite good. I didn't like Suzy, but really, why should I? She was completely believable, just messed up. I'm going to be thinking about it for a while. (edited) 3y
See All 18 Comments
JennyM @CarolynM I listened to it on audio a few weeks ago. I really enjoyed it for the most part but felt it dragged a little at the end. I liked it‘s focus on storytelling, at all levels, and motherhood. I think you could tell the author was an ex-journo. (edited) 3y
CarolynM @JennyM I believe it's partly based on her own experiences as a journo, so yes, that part felt very real. I thought some of the stuff on motherhood was great but the Suzy-Maddy thing was a bit sickly sweet for my taste. I really liked Jan and the conflict she clearly felt about her children. I could have done without Terry turning up - that raised a whole other set of issues that were dealt with a bit too perfunctorily. 3y
CarolynM @JennyM I wish I could have felt more sympathy for Suzy. She really didn't treat people very well. I thought it was interesting that she focussed her guilt on the suicide of a stranger rather than harm done to people close to her. I don't know what Tom saw in her and the suggestion they were getting back together at the end felt a bit too neat to me. 3y
Cathythoughts Book sounds good. Coffee looks great ❤️ 3y
JennyM @CarolynM I really didn‘t like the Terry storyline - it felt an unnecessary add on. And the Tom plot was tidied up too conveniently for me too. I didn‘t particularly like Suzy either - but weirdly I really liked Jan. I felt sad for her. I do think it dragged on a bit and needed some editing. But it has stayed with me so that‘s a good sign - I like how she played with the concept of the stories we tell ourselves and others. Good debut 3y
TrishB @CarolynM thank you! When you‘re near a PO,no rush ❤️ 3y
TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! 3y
Jeg Just finished this. Loved the writing style. Great first book I thought. 3y
Abailliekaras I haven‘t read this, but sounds intriguing! 3y
CarolynM @Cathythoughts It was a good book for discussion, that's for sure🙂 Coffee from one of my favourite cafes - always delicious! 3y
CarolynM @JennyM Good point about the stories🙂 Interestingly my ex-journo friends found the journalist aspect unbelievable. They said journalists don't authorise publication of stories so they're never held responsible for libels (in fact they are told to write everything and let the editors and lawyers decide) and they'd never known any one lose their job in the circumstances described. 3y
CarolynM @Jeg I liked the writing too. It was an excellent choice for book group, we talked more about this book than about 90% of the books we read! 3y
CarolynM @Abailliekaras I'd recommend it, in spite of my criticisms. There's a lot in it to think about. (edited) 3y
JennyM @CarolynM oh wow. I find that fascinating! I assumed that because of her background the book would be realistic in that aspect. Curious! I bet you had a great book club discusson (edited) 3y
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