Contemporary Fiction/Mystery

Both of these rather modern mysteries explore the notions of friendship. How loyal must a friend be? How might we test the limits of a friendship? Ella Berman’s Before We Were Innocent and Ruth Ware’s The Lying Game explore these questions - in the context of secrets, death, and lies. In each novel - the friendships develop in a rather entitled sort of atmosphere (there is definitely a boarding school - love a boarding school book!) - these girls forge friendship as young ladies, and their secrets tie them together for a lifetime.

Ten years after a college trip to Greece ends in tragedy - Joni needs Bess for an alibi. Bess finds herself unable to say no. They are inextricably tied together because of the tragic death of their friend Evangeline. They are both forced to relive and reflect on this trip. Bess begins to wonder about most of the choices she’s made. So begins When We Were Innocent. Similarly, in The Lying Game, when Kate reaches out with an “I need you,” her girlfriends come, immediately. Isa, a new mother with baby in tow, Fatima, and Thea arrive at the beach house where they spent countless vacations and weekends while in boarding school together. Their friendships are also forged in a shared secret in just one academic year. They, too, begin to question what they’ve believed for over a decade. In both cases suspense builds and long held perceptions are challenged -as are the friendships themselves.

I’m not sure what it says about me that in both books I found myself increasingly frustrated by the…loyalty of these ladies. Like most, I have not always made the wisest decisions regarding friends. However, time and again I wanted to shake these characters into some sort of sense. (You know these people are NOT real, my students would consistently remind me when I got emotional.) I was particularly frustrated when Isa continually put her baby in danger. While I value friendships, some of them the lifetime kind, I suppose I can count myself lucky that I don’t fully understand the bonds formed in the kinds of tragedies they faced. And yet, both authors created suspense in a way that kept me fully engaged. I love to try and figure out the puzzle pieces of a good mystery, and both of these were good mysteries. Nothing makes me happier than thinking I have a mystery figured out, only to find out that I am not quite there yet. Both Ware and Berman write this kind of mystery/thriller for me here. In the hazy days of summer in both cases tragedy happens. As grown women reflect, we get to look back on the events of their lives with them. Maybe we can see something that they did not.

I have often thought about how I was shaped by my childhood and youth - perhaps a little less so after some good counseling and being solidly in middle + age. In any case, I appreciate how these thirty-forty something protagonists look back and try to figure out a good way to move forward - to be unstuck in the tragedy of youth. Berman especially leaves me slightly uncomfortable with the choice made by Bess, but the discomfort is something I like as well. I have never found it particularly easy to wrap things up in a nice, neat bow, and I like some of my books to end that way as well. Please read The Lying Game by Ruth Ware and Before We Were Innocent by Ella Berman - entertaining, suspenseful and thoughtful!