Author: Sue Watson
Publisher: Bookouture
Publication Date: November 2018
Genre: Thriller / Suspense
Buy The Book: Amazon | BN | Audible
Description: How far would you go to protect your perfect life?
Marianne has a life others dream of. A beautiful townhouse on the best street in the neighborhood. Three bright children who are her pride and joy.
Sometimes her past still hurts, losing her mother early, growing up in foster care. But her husband, Simon, is always there. A successful surgeon, he’s the envy of every woman they’ve ever met. Flowers, gifts, trips to France: nothing is too good for his family.
Then Simon says another woman’s name. The way he lingers on it, Caroline, gives Marianne a shudder of suspicion, but she knows it’s nothing – she can’t entertain this flash of paranoia.
In the old days, she’d have distracted herself by excelling at work, but Marianne left her glamorous career when she married. She’d speak to a friend, but she’s too busy with her children and besides, Simon doesn’t approve of the few she has left.
It’s almost by accident that Marianne starts to learn more about Caroline. But once started, she can’t stop, because what she finds makes her wonder: is the question she should be asking not ‘should she be jealous,’ but... ‘should she be scared?’
My Thoughts: With Our Little Lies, the talented Sue Watson delivers another domestic thriller that left me on the edge of my seat, breathless with anticipation of what would happen next. She creates characters that are extraordinarily complex and well developed which gives me, as a reader, a sense of knowing and caring about the characters and the ability to relate to the events occurring around them.
This story was riveting because it explores the reality of marriage and relationships and what goes on behind closed doors instead of what the outside world sees and makes assumptions about. Additionally, this story gave me a sense that truth can be subjective, depending on the perception of the narrator. Marianne Wilson is such a character. Married to successful surgeon, Simon, she has a beautiful home, three children and a life that, on the outside, everyone envies.
On the inside, Marianne is a woman who is highly paranoid and struggles with what is reality and what is fantasy, manufactured by her mind in times of anxiety. Her greatest struggle lies in whether her husband is cheating on her. He’s done it before, numerous times, or has he? Marianne doubts herself and when her husband says another woman’s name, she could let it go, but the way he says it, caressingly, lovingly, starts Marianne on a path of paranoia, suspicion, and delusion she can’t separate fact from fiction and has numerous gaps in her memory. I didn’t agree with a lot of decisions and choices Marianne makes but I understood why she did. To further complicate matters, it was apparent to me that Simon was verbally, mentally, emotionally, and physically abusive to Marianne. He gaslights her incessantly, blaming her for anything and everything, breaking her down into a mere shell of a woman who is all too eager to accept blame and responsibility for the slightest of infractions, such as throws and pillows not perfectly displayed on the couch. For Marianne, Simon’s love and acceptance is vital to her survival.
As much as I felt bad for Marianne, it was a challenge for me to discern whether Marianne is mentally ill or not. I absolutely loathed Simon. He’s a terrible husband and absentee father. He never misses an opportunity to degrade Marianne, questioning her ability to be the perfect mother and wife. He has perfectly isolated Marianne away from having friends or career or even hobbies that may bring her a sense of accomplishment or pleasure. He’s a vile, despicable character and I desperately wished Marianne would have found the strength and presence of mind to save herself, take the children, and leave, but as victims of domestic violence know all too well, they have limited options without friends, family, or money.
A major plot twist in the final 5% brings closure but it felt rushed and I would have preferred a different outcome, but still found this story very intense and very enjoyable.
My Final Verdict: I highly recommend Our Little Lies by Sue Watson to readers who love nail-biting thrillers that catapult the reader into a story where the lines between right and wrong, good and evil are not clear.
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