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Published Feb 2013
336 pages
Genre: Literary Fiction
Publication Information
"Happiness at someone else's expense came at a price. Tia had imagined judgment from the first kiss that she and Nathan shared. All year, she'd waited to be punished for being in love, and in truth, she believed that whatever consequences came her way would be deserved."
Five years ago, Tia fell into obsessive love with a man she could never have. Married, and the father of two boys, Nathan was unavailable in every way. When she became pregnant, he disappeared, and she gave up her baby for adoption.
Five years ago, Caroline, a dedicated pathologist, reluctantly adopted a baby to please her husband. She prayed her misgivings would disappear; instead, she's questioning whether she's cut out for the role of wife and mother.
Five years ago, Juliette considered her life ideal: she had a solid marriage, two beautiful young sons, and a thriving business. Then she discovered Nathan's affair. He promised he'd never stray again, and she trusted him.
But when Juliette intercepts a letter to her husband from Tia that contains pictures of a child with a deep resemblance to her husband, her world crumbles once more. How could Nathan deny his daughter? And if he's kept this a secret from her, what else is he hiding? Desperate for the truth, Juliette goes in search of the little girl. And before long, the three women and Nathan are on a collision course with consequences that none of them could have predicted.
Riveting and arresting, The Comfort of Lies explores the collateral damage of infidelity and the dark, private struggles many of us experience but rarely reveal.
You can see the full discussion here. This discussion will contain spoilers!
Some of the recent comments posted about The Comfort of Lies:
As you were reading, did you feel compelled to take sides between Juliette and Tia?
I think I felt more sympathy for Tia. She seemed like a lost soul. She did give up Honor which was the right thing to do if she felt she couldn't be a parent. The fact that she longed for Nathan for so long was very sad. She was so stuck. Juliette ... - lindas
Ask Randy Susan Meyers a question about 'The Comfort of Lies'
Q. I would like to know if any of your characters has a special place in your heart?
A. In truth, all my characters live within me forever, however in [i]The Comfort of Lies[/i] I had a the softest spot for Savanannah. I wrote an epilogue from her... - vickiward
At the novel's close, do they think Tia, Juliette and Caroline are better off than they were at the opening?
Yes they all seemed to resolve their issues in different ways. - kathym
Caroline says that no one in her family resented her father for saving his deepest energies for his work - that they didn't confuse his love and his energy. Do you think this kind of parenting can work as well for mothers?
Someone said if you if you can't be a good mother you shouldn't choose to be one. But who knows that before having a child, whether birth or adoptive? Besides, who defines a good mother? Perhaps she was just an unaffectionate person who struggles ... - kathym
Do you believe that women cheat for the same reasons as men?
Basically. I think that men and women cheat on their partners because they are seeking something that the relationship is not providing. Is the reason the same for both men and women, the answer is no. - arielf
"An absorbing tale about lies and their emotional fallout in the lives of three women. Meyers creates psychologically complex protagonists by imbuing them with contradictions. This combination of positive and negative traits renders the characters all the more intriguing, for we are never quite sure what they will do until the end." - Winnipeg Free Press
"Meyers enriches her character development with class and career difficulties, as well as settings involving far differing neighborhoods of Boston. Readers who enjoyed The Memory Keeper's Daughter will feel right at home in the anxious pages of Meyers' captivating novel." - Library Review Journal
"An affair changes the lives of three women in the second novel by the author of The Murderer's Daughters. Meyers has crafted an absorbing and layered drama that explores the complexities of infidelity, forgiveness, and family." - Booklist
"Randy Susan Meyers's second novel is sharp and biting, and sometimes wickedly funny, when the author skewers Boston's class and neighborhood dividing lines, but it has a lot of heart, too. Meyers writes beautifully about a formerly good marriage the simple joys of stability, the pleasures of veteran intimacy and deftly dissects just how ugly things can get after infidelity. The battles these women fight take place on a small stage, yet they're anything but trivial: saving a marriage, making a meaningful career, learning to parent." - Boston Globe
"The characters crackle with both intelligence and wit. Meyers' women resonate as strong, complicated and conflicted, and the writing flows effortlessly in this sweet yet sassy novel about love, women and motherhood." - Kirkus Reviews
"I devoured this big-hearted story of three women whose lives collide years after a baby is put up for adoption. Meyers' wit and wisdom shine through, even when her characters are at their most sorrowful and confused. She writes with insight and compassion, about marriage, forgiveness, work, family and the true meaning of motherhood." - J. Courtney Sullivan, bestselling author of Maine
"The intertwining and heart-wrenching stories of how three women come to terms with the decisions they've made and those yet to make will touch you and stay with you long after you've turned the last page. Beautifully written. Strong characters. The Comfort of Lies is a powerful, poignant and riveting novel." - MJ Rose, international bestselling author
"I devoured this book. Randy Susan Meyers writes with great empathy and insight about three distinct women and the unlikely intersection of their lives. The story will pull you into the uncomfortable space where truths are confronted, and lead you to the other side where the world looks brighter. A sensitive exploration of why we take refuge in the comfort of lies, and what happens when we dare to release ourselves from their power." - Shilpi Somaya Gowda, author of New York Times bestseller Secret Daughter
"I spent many blissful, addicted hours with The Comfort of Lies, totally hooked on needing to know what happened next in the braided stories of Tia, Caroline, and Juliette. Meyers has an uncanny ability to get inside women whose circumstances dramatically divide them and show how at heart, we're all the same. Another unforgettable Meyers smash-hit." - Jenna Blum, New York Times bestselling author of Those Who Save Us
"A fast-paced multi-narrator story that gets to the heart of the trade-offs of motherhood. You will be drawn in by these characters because of the mystery at the novel's center and relate to the ways in which they each create their own loneliness while surrounded by others." - Heidi W. Durrow, New York Times bestselling author of The Girl Who Fell From the Sky
"The Comfort of Lies explores a complex and beautiful web of relationships between three very different women whose lives intersect in startling and heartrending ways. This is my favorite kind of read: a page-turner soaked in empathy with an elegant understanding of the human heart. Randy Susan Meyers is a first rate talent." - Joshilyn Jackson, New York Times bestselling author of A Grown-Up Kind of Pretty
"Insightful, unsettling, and ultimately hopeful, The Comfort of Lies is a compelling, multilayered story. Randy Susan Meyers skillfully exposes the insecurities and strengths of three women who find their lives forever reshaped in the far-reaching wake of a little girl's adoption." - Beth Hoffman, New York Times bestselling author of Saving CeeCee Honeycutt
"A novel about love, that explores its meaning with wise restlessness and no easy answers. Profound, clear-sighted and more than a bit slyly funny, this is a book to read, to reread and to share." - Robin Black, author of If I loved you, I would tell you this
"Randy Susan Meyers' thoughtful, gripping new novel explores the unlikely intersection of three women in crisis. The result is a haunting exploration of the secrets we keep - and how, in the aftermath of their detonation, shattered lives can be mended. Meyers is a major talent, and her writing is a gift to readers everywhere." - Sarah Pekkanen, author of These Girls
This information about The Comfort of Lies was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Randy Susan Meyers spent eight years as assistant director of Common Purpose, a batterer intervention program where she worked with both batterers and domestic violence victims. Previously, she was director for the Mission Hill Community Centers where she worked with at-risk youth. She is the co-author of the nonfiction book Couples with Children. Her short fiction has been published in Perigee, Fog City Review, and Grub Street Free Press. She currently teaches fiction-writing seminars at the Grub Street Writers' Center in Boston, Massachusetts.
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