“‘You have no idea what it means to be a Southern woman…It means fixing messes that the men make. It means running the Underground Railroad right under a husband’s nose, and it means rebuilding the South after fathers and husbands and brothers started the war with their stubborn pride. The women were the ones that fed and clothed and housed and had babies and buried and then got up the next morning and did it all over again,'” (Bird 298).
Pearl Williams has up and died days before her eightieth birthday and now her three granddaughters have to turn her surprise birthday party into a wake, as if their lives weren’t stressful enough. Pastor’s wife Tara makes decisions for her family that could put them in a tricky place with the church, June will do anything to have a baby even if her husband Nic disagrees, and Clementine is having an affair with her much older professor, eager to ignore the claims against him. And then of course there’s Stephanie, their sister-in-law who knows all of the Williams women’s secrets, and is ready to reveal all to the Sheriff, especially when a man goes missing in the Appalachian woods.
I Love It When You Lie has the premise of a thriller but in all actuality is Women’s Fiction. This isn’t a bad thing, the book is an interesting enough read without the mystery, it only that it annoys me that the book is marketed in a genre that it doesn’t fit. Yes, there’s a missing man, but the book really isn’t about that. The book follows the build up to what happened to this missing man and instead focuses on the lives of the three William’s sisters, none of which are wholly innocent but you can’t help feeling for either. Tara is a pastor’s wife who’s become frustrated with how much they struggle on a pastor’s salary and pilfers funds to help her husband and teenage daughter Lottie without either of them knowing. Middle sister June steals a baby when she’s working the night shift after a recent miscarriage as she’s overwhelmed by grief, sure that her husband will see that they’re meant to be the baby’s parents. And youngest Clementine wants to be taken seriously despite writing erotic fanfiction, and is willing to ignore the #MeToo allegations against her current lover who she’s having an affair with. The characters are complicated, flawed but readers can understand the logic behind the decisions they make.
But then there’s Stephanie, the honourary fourth Williams woman as she’s married to the Williams sister’s older brother Walker. Stephanie is the first Williams woman we’re introduced to, a first-person point of view compared to the third person of the sisters, and Stephanie brings readers into the present interrogation with the Sheriff over the missing man while the Williams sisters’ story are told in the past leading up to the missing man. Another reviewer on Goodreads mentioned (and I had trouble finding the review again, sorry!) that it felt like Stephanie was only added to give the book it’s mystery/thriller label and I completely agree with that. Stephanie (and Walker) really add very little to the story. I understand why, as a suspension of disbelief, these characters were included but they really truly don’t add anything to the story. I was much more interested in reading from Tara, June, and Clementine then Stephanie who really just didn’t fit into the story well.
Overall, it’s a fine enough read. Bird does a great job creating the Southern Appalachian atmosphere as well as complicating what readers may think of the South. Tara and her husband John aren’t the stereotyped pastor couple, June is married to a Peruvian man and gets upset by the subtle (and not so subtle) racism he has to deal with on the daily, and Clementine struggles with believing the women claiming her lover is a monster when he’s only ever treated her tenderly. The story of Pearl’s past and the Sheriff’s mission to “get” the Williams women was weak, but I blame that again on trying to shoehorn in the mystery aspect of the book. It was a fine enough story with the characters, and I think would have been stronger if the mystery was pushed even more into the background.
Overall not a bad read. Entertaining and it wasn’t what I was expecting. I don’t know if I’ll read any more of Bird’s work only because this isn’t my usual genre, but if one came into my hands I’d read it!
Publication: March 14 2023
Publisher: MIRA
Pages: 352 pages (ARC Paperback)
Source: OLA
Genre: Fiction, Mystery, Thriller, Contemporary
My Rating: ⛤⛤⛤.5
Summary:
Just days before her eightieth birthday, Pearl Williams has the gall to up and die on everyone. Now her granddaughters must make plans for a proper send-off…all while their own lives unravel a little more each day.
Tara, the pastor’s wife, makes a series of decisions that could scatter his flock. Then there’s June, who would do anything to have a baby of her own, even if her husband won’t. Clementine, the youngest, is entangled in an affair with her professor, desperate to ignore who he really is. Finally, there’s Stephanie, the sister-in-law—an outsider who knows all the family dirt.
But Gran won’t be the only one they’ll put in a grave this weekend…because now someone has gone missing in the dark Appalachian woods.
And if Gran has taught them anything, it’s how to get rid of a good-for-nothin’ man…
Sarah O'Connor 