Hello! I absolutely love Liane Moriarty’s books because they have such complex characters and character dynamics. I also love that she looks at people’s lives in their 30s and 40s and usually it is not all about ‘finding the one’ but the messy but lovely reality of complex families and friendships. However, every time I look here or at recommended online lists people suggest murder mystery books or romance books but this aspects of Moriarty’s work is so secondary to me and I just love the other aspects, people living real lives. I’ve tried her sisters’ writing and would give it another go but I just wish she had written more books!
I know JoJo Moyes and Marian Keyes. I do read more conventional literature like Donna Tart and the Booker shortlist this year and classics like Austen and Tolstoy etc and enjoy them but Moriarty is my comfort food/main audiobook listen and I just would love recommendations. Even if they are ‘chicklit’. Thank you!
by kereru-in-the-kauri
7 Comments
Try Kate Morton! I think her book Homecoming would be right up your alley!
Sally Hepworth! She scratches the Liane Moriarty itch for me in a big way.
I loved *Here one Moment,* though I didn’t read it as that much of a thriller – rather a life story
I’d say *Liz Moore* is somewhat similar to her writing, in which the study of characters and their respective dynamics takes centrestage, rather than the mystery itself
I also love this about Moriarty. Have you tried:
Lisa Jewell, female protagonists with stories about more than romance
Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver. It’s in my top five ever.
Mother Daughter Murder Night by Nina Simon. I liked that one of the main characters is a woman in her 60s. She had some grit and it was an enjoyable read about female relationships.
I know exactly what you are talking about, and I have found that JoJo Moyes captures that vibe well, but I see you are already well familiar.
I don’t think I‘d exactly call them read-alikes to Liane Moriarty, but I do think you would like:
* *The Wedding People* by Alison Espach
* *Community Board*, by Tara Conklin
* *Nothing to See Here*, by Kevin Wilson
you might like:
-The Measure – Nikki Erlick
-The Inheritance Games series – Jennifer Lynn Barnes
-The Murders at Fleat House AND/OR The Royal Secret by Lucinda Riley. You might like her seven sisters series too
-Lauren Weisberger has several good chicklit books too
These are older, but if you have not read them then try Mary Stewart- The Moonspinners, The Ivy Tree, Madam Will You Talk, Nine Coaches Waiting. Airs Above the Ground – are often called romantic suspense, but they hold up very well, and the romance is secondary to the plot, they are great reads.
I also like the Elizabeth Pewsey “Mountjoy Books. They are set in the same are with some characters crossing over, but most people are in past first youth, and the plots and characters are interesting and gently humorous while not being cutesy: Children of Chance, Divine Comedy, Unholy harmonies, Volcanic Airs, Unaccustomed Spirits, and Brotherly Love.
Finally, Susan Howatch’s Church of England Series: Again they revolve around people in the same social mileiu, with initially three clergymen as the leads and later their children- scandal, theology, psychology, they are great fun- starts with Glittering Images.
For more straight forward mystery suspense, with lots of character work try Jane Harper, those these stories are darker.