Earlier in the year, I "discovered" Australian author, Liane Moriarty, when I read her bestseller, Big Little Lies. I absolutely loved Big Little Lies ( can't wait for the film adaptation with Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon) and I was eager to read her other novels.
PLOT -Hypnotherapist, Ellen O'Farrell has just met the man of her dreams. Patrick is a handsome widower with a steady job and a young son. Ellen and Patrick quickly fall in love and everything seems perfect, until he reveals that his ex-girlfriend, Saskia, has been stalking him. Saskia is relentless in her pursuit of Patrick, which is troubling enough, but Ellen quickly realizes that Saskia is her new client.
LIKE - Moriarty has a talent for writing flawed and memorable characters. In both The Hypnotist's Love Story and Big Little Lies, she had me constantly changing my perception towards her main characters. She accomplishes this by deftly doling out the character information to build to surprise character reveals at key moments in the story. Moriarty has a keen understanding of human nature and she writes in a way that made me feel empathy towards her characters, even when they were not so likeable.
I liked how this wasn't so much a love story, but a story about finding family and shaping your own life, even if it's not the one that you dreamed of having. Life is bumpy and this is a story about learning to make lemonade from the lemons. The ending wasn't what I had anticipated, but it's touching and empowering. It gave me the warm fuzzies.
DISLIKE- This is really the story of Saskia and Ellen, both extremely rounded and strong characters. Patrick, the love interest of both women, fell flat. I wasn't sure why either woman was interested in him and half-way through the story, I was convinced that the twist would be both women realizing that they could do without him.
RECOMMEND- Yes. The Hypnotist's Love Story isn't as strong as Big Little Lies, but it's still worth a read. I'm looking forward to working my way through Moriarty's other novels. She's a talented storyteller.