Liars by Sarah Manguso is a very highly recommended scathing portrait of a marriage. Due to the brutally honesty revelations of the relationship Liars is not an easy novel to read and for some readers it will bring up painful memories or experiences.

Jane, a writer, meets John Bridge, a filmmaker, and the two fall in love, marry, and plan to continue to both have fulfilling, creative lives. When their child is born, Jane is thrilled, but is also thrust into the role of main caretaker, and cleaner, while John is often absent, doing what he wants. She is now a wife and mother whose life is overtaken by John’s ambitions, whims, and ego. Jane says, "I was in charge of everything and in control of nothing." John frequently moves them all across the country as he pursues new jobs, another form of control, while never admitting to any mistakes.

Jane tries to keep her writing and marriage going throughout all the upheavals. Her health suffers, both physical and mental. She says something that many women face, "My time, which is to say the time that was mine, for me alone, had disappeared. And at once I understood why I hadn't felt like myself in years. My own time - my own life - had disappeared, been overtaken." The novel follows their 14 year relationship. Readers know John will be divorcing her. It is clear from the start. Jane is the narrator of the story and includes within her account, her personal writing about the issues in her marriage and how marriage can make liars of us.

Honestly, this is an impeccably written but an emotionally draining novel to read, especially if you have experienced some of the same things Jane did. I appreciate Manguso naming her main characters John and Jane, common names, and having the child simply be the child. Many readers will be projecting themselves and their personal experiences into the lives of the characters. I saved many quotes from Liars, including this true fact: "He said that the clearest indication of cheating was contempt on the part of the cheating spouse."

Liars is presented as fiction, but while reading it does not feel like fiction. It feels like a realistic, raw memoir about a failing marriage. Thanks to Random House/Hogarth for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

The review will be published on Edelweiss, BookBrowse, Barnes & Noble and Amazon.

Sarah Manguso is a very particular kind of writer. It is literary and gritty and melancholic - I really enjoyed the core of the story, and the heaviness of motherhood, the unsupportiveness and self-centredness of certain fathers, and how destabilizing it is to grapple between your roles of careerwoman, wife, mother. I do wonder if the story could have been a little bit less drawn out and predictable - from the beginning, your realize exactly what you're getting with the husband, and you spent the duration of the book being frustrated by the protagonist's commitment to making bad choices, and to giving in to being flattered in small moments and signing up for multiple more years of misery. There was a lack of maturiy in the protagonist that made it hard to root or care for her. I think this book may have been groundbreaking a fear years back, but now that this topic has been explored in so many different ways (through more poetic writing, or through elements of magical realism, or with more moments of redemption or relatability), this one was not my absolute favorite of this genre - but I was very happy to have read it nonetheless. I think. a different cover could have helped as well! The eerie thriller-adjacent vibes of this cover make it seem like it will be more exciting or fiery than it was, when something more melancholic would have suited the contents better.

This book was a tough read, but the ending made me exclaim "Good for her!" This was something that I resonate with in a particular way, being a woman in my late 20s trying to navigate if marriage and children (in the bubble of a patriarchal society) are the path that I want to go down.. Sometimes it seems like I am overthinking these decisions while others take them as a given and don't give it much thought. I took this book as a look inside the mind of a women that often gets the jeers of "Why does she still stay with him?" or "Why won't you leave him?" because those stories especially need to be told. We are often given the story of women who are much stronger, independent and self confident than the average woman is socialized to be. Those women are able to leave with no fuss and we look to them as our heroine, but we also need the representation of a woman who is faced with every reason and rationale to leave but continues to stay because that is what a good woman is supposed to do. Even though we are granted the right to leave, we can still be punished in other ways, mainly financially, which will force us to stay and live in our cardboard houses. Either way, I enjoyed. I didn't even get to discuss whose names were used in this story and whose were not. I thought of it as stripping away the character and putting you into the story. The ultimate self-insert. You were Jane, these are your thoughts and this is your story.

I read the advanced ebook of Liars in two sittings and immediately pre-ordered a physical copy along with Sarah Manguso's previous works. The prose alone is worth the read. This story was equally infuriating and empowering and will stay with me for a very long time. Liars is a raw and honest look at societies expectations of women as individuals, wives, and mothers, and what we take on because we have no other choice. I will be reading this again and recommending it to everyone I know.

When Jane and John meet they had mutual interests and goals and it was destined that they should be together. Jane was a writer and John was an artist, writer and filmmaker. They marry and the red flags began to appear when Jane won a coveted award for her writing and John was jealous. She made every effort to support him though he had one failure after another throughout their 14 year marriage. Over the years, she realized she was losing pieces of herself and carrying anger as she attempted to accommodate and appease John. The end of this dysfunctional marriage made her face his lies and the lies she had been telling herself to survive.
Many parts of this novel brought back memories of my first marriage. I could certainly relate to events and decisions made. Fortunately, rather than anger, I felt relief and didn’t look back.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Company

Sarah Manguso’s Liars has a stream of consciousness vibe which felt like reading a journal or blog posts. Her writing is excellent and I identified with more of the narrator’s reflections than I anticipated, but this may be a difficult read for anyone with marriage tension or problems.

John and Jane’s problems are vividly and painfully presented by Jane, sometimes glossed over, sometimes dwelled upon. And while Jane is not perfect, John is one of the most realistically deplorable characters I think I’ve ever read. If I had a chronically ill and financially restricted and controlled friend married to someone like him, I don’t know how I’d be able to stay quiet. Even in the spots where Jane was fond of him, I just didn’t find anything appealing about him. No conflicting feelings for sure.

The reflections about marriage and parenthood are sociologically insightful and piercing at times. It’s a deep examination that’s fascinating to read, but it can be a struggle if you have a hard time emotionally detaching from characters you dislike.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for providing this archive in exchange for my honest review.

Ugh I loved this so much. Stylistically unique in that it has a stream of consciousness feel but covers a large timespan. We get short quips about moments in our main character’s relationship that all culminate in the failing of a marriage.

Jane’s husband is flighty, oblivious, and jealous of her career success. He gaslights her from the beginning, and it feels like Jane recognizes this but decides to absorb the abuse. She wears the longevity of her shitty relationship as a badge of honor and feels superior to her peers for her ability to stick it out.

Both characters are very flawed but I did not want to look away from the train wreck.

I received an eARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Liars is an incredibly brave novel. This was my first time reading something from Sarah Manguso and I was blown away by her execution – both the flow and prose within this novel make it hard to put down. I think that many readers will relate to Manguso’s story, and the invisible administrative burden seemingly inherent in marriage.

So many elements of the relationship recounted in Liars are difficult to read, and often left me seething with frustration. At the same time, this anger is propulsive, and balanced by the writer’s love for her child. In the same way the narrator finds joy in parenting, there are also quiet acts of escapism and reclamation of self-hood in her persistent journey to write and publish.

I very much enjoyed my experience with Liars. Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for providing me with an advance reader copy.

This was a difficult read. While I love the author’s writing style, it felt very autobiographical and voyeuristic. It was difficult to understand why the narrator married this guy in the first place, once he had already demonstrated who he was, and you knew it was only going to get worse from there.

Is the story of a woman stuck in an unhappy marriage relatable? Yes. Do I enjoy reading about it? Apparently, the answer is no.

Again, to be clear, this book is great for what it is. The writing is stunning. It just wasn’t for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

Liars by Sarah Manguso is the story of a toxic and tumultuous 14 year marriage. Basically, he is a complete a-hole and she is utterly miserable. It’s told in fragmented snippets that spans their entire relationship via paragraphs and 1-2 pagers, all from the wife’s perspective. A little like a series of journal entries, but untitled and not dated.

I loved the unique writing style and clever nuances (the use of generic names, John & Jane for instance). Initially I thought it was leaning towards a domestic thriller and then I guessed maybe it was taking the ‘unhinged revenge’ route but ultimately it veered towards being an emotional and thought provoking “read between the lines” kind of novel - my favourite:)

All in all, I very much enjoyed it and recommend it to readers that enjoy the unconventional and those prepared to not necessarily ‘like’ the characters wherein.

It is hard to “like” a book which is centered around two repulsively self-centered people. This book can only be described as grim, no matter which side of the marriage you end up rooting for, and it is almost impossible to know whether Jane, who narrates this tale is a reliable narrator, or if she is embellishing her story, or if she is truly “crazy.” I found myself feeling uncomfortable with the level of details Jane spouts about her marriage, her husband, her own insecurities, and her feelings abut being a mother. The style of this novel is immersive, the thoughts and feelings expressed are jarring, this couple is clearly dealing with a deep level of dysfunction, and I question the need for anyone else to have to experience it along with them, but it is well-written, and the Afterword at least allows for some relief from the anger and resentment long enough to reveal some real pearls of wisdom.

Really a novella. This was a quick read, but not my favorite. I would recommend to those who like to read between the lines.

This is the one book I couldn't wait to read because it sounded so interesting, but unfortunately, it just didn't do it for me. I just couldn't get into the writing style and the characters.

A married couple Jane & John whose relationship spans 15 years suddenly ends when John announces he wants a divorce.

After years of doing all the housework and caring for their son following her husband across county for several moves due to his jobs Jane as aspiring writer is undermined by her husband. He attempts to make her past mental struggles against her: making them seem current..

At the beginning of their relationship Jane had the money and John was often borrowing from her at one time: a huge sum
When money was tight, John would often spend needlessly while Jane always scrimpt to get by.

When she asks him if the reason for the divorce is due to a particular female friend they know he denies it. Jane however finds out this isn't true and the "other woman" has let her marriage and her two young daughters behind.

An interesting fact is their son is always known as the child , he is never referred to by name nor do we learn what his name is.

Sarah Manguso can do no wrong! I love her writing style. It is so real and flows well. This book is painful but also hopeful. I highly recommend reading this.

This was a book unlike anything I've read before, and that makes it sort of hard to rate. It's told entirely from the perspective of Jane and reads like a stream of consciousness.

I'd say it's a very raw, real, depressing look at what marriage and motherhood can be. I think there are sadly probably many, many women who will relate to Jane, stuck in an unhappy marriage where they continue to trudge on.

One quirk that I'm sure had an explanation is that the "child" is never named in the book. The protagonist refers to her child as just "the child", which started to grate on my nerves. I don't know why a name was left out, but it was clearly intentional on the author's part, and I'm sure the author could explain the reasoning behind that decision.

I appreciated the story that was being told, though it was in no way uplifting or joyful. If you are stuck in a bad marriage, this book is not going to make you feel good or give you any insight or even any hope. It'll make you feel seen, but that's about it.

I got about 40% of the way through the book when I started to wonder if it was really "going" anywhere. I strongly considered not finishing it, as I realized I wasn't invested in the characters and I didn't see it going anywhere, but I decided to push through. I don't regret finishing, but I never really became invested in it, either.

I think this book is going to be fairly polarizing, which is ironic, because my review is right in the middle of the rating scale. But I think many people will either love it or hate it, without a lot of in between.

This is probably not a book I'd recommend to others unless I come across someone whose taste is so specific that I think they'd like this book. I didn't dislike it, but it's also not one I'd read again. Given it's uniqueness, though, I don't think it's a book I'll quickly forget.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

He was the main character, and I was his wife. Wives and more wives, all the way down.

Liars by Sarah Manguso is an absolutely gorgeous novel that explores complexities of marriage, motherhood, sacrifice, and identity. Manguso follows Jane, an aspiring writer who marries John Bridges, a filmmaker. Initially, they are bonded by their creative inner lives, but as their marriage progresses (and Jane's career does as well), Jane is increasingly overshadowed by John's egocentric ambitions and demands. As her career flourishes, her marriage deteriorates, and readers are left to bear witness to Jane's struggle for autonomy against John's gaslighting and manipulation.

Powerful and thought-provoking with sharp and evocative prose.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and Hogarth for the ARC. This book is out July 23.

Quite an extraordinary book. Cannot believe what I just read. Cannot wait to read more from this author.

When John and Jane fall in love, she is a writer and he is an artist, and at 30ish they are both still trying to establish themselves in their careers. Over the next fifteen years, they negotiate marriage and parenthood, shared finances and career balances. We see all of this from Jane's very intimate first-person point of view, which roils with fury and heartbreak. Reading it is a lot, in both good and less-good ways.

The good: The writing was wonderful, both lyrical and highly specific. There were so many moments that felt both particular to this couple and universal. A favorite: "He thought it was a hilarious personal quirk that I could only shit at night by then, after the child was in bed and the chores were done. He didn't realize that I didn't have time to shit during the day. He still shitted like a bachelor, whenever and for however long he liked."

The less-good: There is exactly one important event in the story (the dissolution of the marriage, about 2/3 of the way through) and aside from that it's essentially a long meditation on the impossibility of marriage and motherhood with no thesis or structure. After a while, I began to get frustrated with Jane, who is self-effacing and servile but clearly hates her husband and ignores her own psychological issues. I was hoping that at some point we might see John's perspective on a marriage to someone so passive-aggressive and volatile, a woman who uses her clearly sharp intellect to endlessly correct her spouse's failings instead of focusing on her own fulfillment.

3.5 stars. Not a fun read, but a smart and interesting one.

Thanks to NetGalley for the chance to read this arc!

I have to say I wasn't really vibing with this one for the first 15% or so. I couldn't tell you when exactly I got sucked in but I'm glad I did. The writing kept me invested. The story was fast-paced and never boring. Everything flowed in a way that never seemed forced.

I already had doubts about marriage and this sure didn't help matters. This book had me absolutely infuriated most of the time. I definitely had moments of wanting to reach through the book to slap certain characters. What made my anger worse was knowing that so many relationships look like this. Of course, I have to admit there's a chance that we don't get the whole truth. Jane could be an unreliable narrator.