Real Life & Liars

This was a really nice story - just an enjoyable book to read. Loved the characters and everything about it.

Real Life & Liars (Avon Books) is Kristina Riggle's debut novel and it is, in one word, amazing! It is the kind of book you want to curl into on a rainy Sunday and finish in one sitting. Riggle's clear and honest writing pulls you into the emotional story of one family, gathered together for an anniversary party. Each member of the family has a secret that is pulling at them and begging to be revealed, but at the same time they are all striving for an ultimately unattainable image of "perfection." The story is told in alternating third person narratives from each member of the Zielinski family, except for one, Mirabelle. Mirabelle Zielinski tells her own story because it is ultimately her story to tell. As the matriarch of this unusual clan, Mirabelle loves them all fiercely but lives a life entirely by her own rules. As each character struggles with secrets of pain, betrayal, love and success, the truth ultimately reveals itself. Real Life & Liars has an underlying theme of sadness and struggle, but it is really a story of hope and survival and the mistakes we all make in trying to live life the best way we know how. I whole-heartedly recommend this book for anyone looking for a story that will help them see life in a more hopeful and optimistic way. Real Life & Liars proves that we really are in this together and family is certainly one of the strongest ties that bind. I can't wait for Riggle's next novel!

I enjoy reading books about family dynamics. Each family member has his/her own role that allows the family to function. In Real Life and Liars, Ms. Riggle explores the depth of family relationships. The story is told by the four main characters in alternating chapters. There's Mirabelle, the hippie, nonconformist mother; Katya, the oldest, materialistic daughter; Ivan, the insecure, middle son; and Irina, the youngest daughter without a sense of direction. The children come home for a weekend visit to celebrate their parents' wedding anniversary. As each child arrives, with his and her personal problems, Mira is also keeping a secret of her own. She's made her decision about her fate, and now she hopes her family can accept it. Ms. Riggle did a fantastic job of writing each character and allowing him/her to have his/her own voice. Only Mira's point of view is written in first person and I thought that only added to the richness of the story. Readers will feel compassion for this family when Mira finally shares her secret with her children. Real Life and Liars is an honest look into what makes a family a family. The Zielinskis are far from perfect. They may not see eye to eye on things, however when it's time to come together, they show up ready to support each other. I liked the uniqueness of each child and how he/she played a significant part to the family dynamic. As I read each scene, I could vividly picture each character in my mind and thought this would make a great movie. Real Life and Liars is Ms. Riggle's debut novel which I highly recommend. The next time you're at a book store or your local library, pick it up. You won't be disappointed...it's that good!

Every reader will see some of themselves and their own family dysfunction in the Zielinski's, a troupe of troubled Michiganders who come together to celebrate Max and Mira's 35th wedding anniversary. Mira has breast cancer and has secretly decided to not fight it. But when each of her children--Ivan, a struggling love-starved artist; Irina, a whorish young girl whose arrival into womanhood is none too graceful; and Katya, a selfish high strung perfectionist--arrive for the party, Mira realizes that her mothering still very much matters. But will her children's respective crises be enough to change her mind and go under the scalpel? The world Ms. Riggle creates is charming and vivid in its detail, and the pop-off-the-page characters become so three-dimensional, you could almost swear you know them personally. The book conveys real wit and wisdom when confronting some serious issues such as abortion, infidelity and domestic abuse, with just enough humor to lighten the tone. Ms. Riggle strikes a wonderful balance between 4 incredibly-crafted points-of-view to create a compelling page-turner I heartily recommend. Bravo!

I adored this first novel by [...] fiction coeditor, Kristina Riggle. The novel takes place over the course of a weekend, when Mira Zielinski's three grown children come home to celebrate their parents' wedding anniversary. I loved all the characters, from the knowing but flawed Mira, her distracted novelist husband Max, and then their three kids: Katya, a suburban mother of three who, as Mira puts it, "drags [her younger siblings] along under the wheels of her train"; Ivan, a struggling songwriter who can't see the love that's right in front of him; and Irina, who is accidentally (reluctantly) pregnant and married to a man who isn't going to let her screw it up. They are vivid and engaging, and the writing is terrific; I kept stopping to reread sentences, letting the images sink in, and to wonder, with pleasure and admiration, "How did she think of that!?"

I read this book in two evenings - which is not unusual for me. What is unusual is that I am so not done. I feel the characters deeply and want to know about Mira's decisions, Irina's baby, Katya's marital future and whether Jenny keeps her man. So very well written. The characters are full and vivid and the author tackles difficult subjects with absolute dignity, creeativity and class. Whoever Ms. Riggles is, I hope she is working on her next novel. Seriously excellent writing!