Truly Madly Guilty

“This is a story that begins with a barbecue.”

The novel begins with Clementine sharing the events of the narrative at a community talk. Clementine’s talk functions as foreshadowing and creates a self-referential frame for the story. The reader doesn’t find out what transpired at the barbecue until near the end of the novel because Moriarty intentionally reveals the events gradually. This narrative approach keeps the focus on the characters’ psychological journeys more so than the “big reveal” of the ending.

“Wherever she went, whatever she did, part of her mind was always imagining a hypothetical life running parallel to her actual one, a life where, when Erika rang up and said, ‘Vid has invited us to a barbecue,’ Clementine answered, ‘No, thank you.’ Three simple words. Vid wouldn’t have cared. He barely knew them.”

Moriarty relies on foreshadowing to build tension and suspense. The reader does not know what happened at the barbecue, but it’s evident that Clementine keeps imagining an alternative timeline where it didn’t occur. Additionally, Clementine believes the barbecue’s outcome could have been avoided had she declined Erika’s invitation. This passage signals Clementine’s latent guilt.

“No matter how much time poor Sam gave her, it would never be quite enough, because what she actually needed was for him and the kids to just temporarily not exist. She needed to slip into another dimension where she was a single, childless person. Just between now and the audition.”

Clementine feels a conflict between her existence as a wife and mother and as a musician. She believes that Sam can’t understand what she needs, in part because he wants another child and loves being a father. Although Clementine loves her children, she doesn’t want to sacrifice her music just to be their mother.