June 19, 2018 SHE'S A MAN EATER

New London Mall. 1981. On my sixteenth birthday--I walked into Papa Gino's--filled out an application--got my first official job. At that time THE NEW LONDON MALL WAS IT. There was NO Crystal Mall--YET. They had Orange Julius, Pepperidge Farm, The Paperback Booksmith, Hallmark, London Luggage, Tobacco Village, David's Hair International, D & L, Two Guys, Thom McAn --and an ESCALATOR AT THE OUTLET. I would go there JUST to ride the escalator--AND visit THE TALKING CHRISTMAS TREE!! Such great memories. I loved working at Papa Gino's--and learned SO many valuable things--cleaning grease traps, making dough, running a grill and MAKING PIZZAS. I  can vividly remember standing at the pizza station with my boss Lisa making pizzas from 5-9 every Friday night with Hall & Oates blaring on the Jukebox. It was CRAZY BUSY--slaving over a 500 degree oven for $3.35 an hour.  I will BE FOREVER grateful to Lisa for everything she did for me. In addition to hiring me, she taught me to be responsible and take pride in my work. She treated her employees as family and hosted several picnics for us every summer. The most important thing she did for me though sounds crazy. She ACTUALLY co-signed my first car loan. She trusted me and knew I wouldn't let her down. Thanks for giving me a chance all those years ago. 

 Erika, one of the main characters in Liane Moriarty's novel Truly Madly Guilty is feeling grateful too for her friendship with Clementine until tragedy threatens their childhood bond. As this story unfolds, Three seemingly happy families gather for a last minute barbecue in an Australian suburb. Erika and Oliver are the childless, successful couple who live next door to Vid and Tiffany. Vid is a big personality who loves a party. On a whim, he invites Erika and Oliver over for a cookout. They agree to come after Vid includes their other friends Sam and Clementine and two young daughters. The premise of the story is that  something happens at the cookout that leaves each family struggling. Their feelings are a complicated mess between guilt,  blame and lust that threatens to break families and friendships apart. This is the story of marriage, friendship, guilt, parenthood and how some seemingly innocent event  changed the landscape of their lives forever. I enjoyed this book but thought it was a little too long. I had to keep reading though because I had to find out what happened at the cookout that changed each family so drastically. I did enjoy the book and think you will too. It's about 540 pages--or a 5-6 mile run--that you will have to finish to fully understand and appreciate. Enjoy!