Three Little Truths

As a group we enjoyed this tale of three very different women and the cul-de-sac where they live. We felt it was well written and well-plotted including mystery, sympathetic characters, and occasional humour.

The main characters are Martha, who just moved to Dublin’s Pine Road with her family after a traumatic event at their previous home; Robin, a single mother who moved back in with her parents after a fall-out with her dodgy boyfriend; and Edie, newly married to Daniel and desperate for new friends and a new baby. When Edie befriends Martha, she stumbles across her new neighbour’s secret: She moved her family to Pine Road after they were the victim of a home invasion prompted by her husband Robert’s bank job.

This backstory is the spine that holds the book together, for example the mystery of who was behind the home invasion. The action moves forward at a good pace, and Shortall works in a relevant subplot about girls at the local private school being targeted , The crisis affects another Pine Road neighbour, Trish, who is the principal of the school.

We found the story shone a light on quite a few problems of a modern era but Shortall does a nice job of mixing those in with comedy and drama in original ways. However, with so many families living on the cul-de-sac, and with their myriad problems—too many rats and too few parking spaces— we found it was hard to keep track of the minor characters. But we enjoyed the climax at the street’s annual pre-Easter party, mixing all of the characters, elements, and setups for an excellent ending.

Submitted by Donaghadee Reading Group