Real Life & Liars: A Contemporary Family Drama About Secrets, Broken Marriages, and Finding Love in Unexpected Places

by Kristina Riggle

Sometimes you find happiness where, and when, you least expect it.

For Mirabelle Zielinski's children, happiness always seems to be just out of reach. Her polished oldest daughter, Katya, clings to a stale marriage with a workaholic husband and three spoiled children. Her son, Ivan, so creative, is a down-in-the-dumps songwriter with the worst taste in women. And the "baby," impulsive Irina, who lives life on a whim, is now reluctantly pregnant and hitched to a man who is twice her age. On the weekend of their parents' anniversary party, lies will be revealed, hearts will be broken...but love will also be found. And the biggest shock may come from Mirabelle herself, because she has a secret that will change everything.

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary, Chick Lit, Family, Adult Fiction, Drama, Relationships

351 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 1, 2009

About the author

Kristina Riggle lives in West Michigan, where she writes character-driven novels about complex personal dynamics. Her debut novel, Real Life & Liars, was a Target "Breakout" pick and a "Great Lakes, Great Reads" selection by the Great Lakes Independent Booksellers Association. Her latest novel, Vivian in Red, is a story of 1930s Broadway and today about a lyricist, the clouded history of his most famous song, and the woman who inspired it.

Kristina has published short stories in the Cimarron Review, Literary Mama, Espresso Fiction, and elsewhere, and is a former co-editor for fiction at Literary Mama. As well as writing, she enjoys reading, yoga, dabbling in (very) amateur musical theatre, and spending lots of time with her husband, two kids and dog.

She appreciates readers who spread the word about her books, through reviews here and around the Web at the various book retail sites!

Reviews

[Shonda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoy reading books about family dynamics. Each family member has his/her own role that allows the family to function. In Real Life and Liars, Ms. Riggle explores the depth of family relationships.

The story is told by the four main characters in alternating chapters. There’s Mirabelle, the hippie, nonconformist mother; Katya, the oldest, materialistic daughter; Ivan, the insecure, middle son; and Irina, the youngest daughter without a sense of direction. The children come home for a weekend visit to celebrate their parents’ wedding anniversary. As each child arrives, with his and her personal problems, Mira is also keeping a secret of her own. She’s made her decision about her fate, and now she hopes her family can accept it.

Ms. Riggle did a fantastic job of writing each character and allowing him/her to have his/her own voice. Only Mira’s point of view is written in first person and I thought that only added to the richness of the story. Readers will feel compassion for this family when Mira finally shares her secret with her children.

Real Life and Liars is an honest look into what makes a family a family. The Zielinskis are far from perfect. They may not see eye to eye on things, however when it’s time to come together, they show up ready to support each other. I liked the uniqueness of each child and how he/she played a significant part to the family dynamic. As I read each scene, I could vividly picture each character in my mind and thought this would make a great movie.

Real Life and Liars is Ms. Riggle’s debut novel which I highly recommend. The next time you’re at a book store or your local library, pick it up. You won’t be disappointed…it’s that good!

[Therese Walsh · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ll be honest with you–I wasn’t certain how I’d feel about Kristina Riggle’s debut novel, Real Life & Liars, because I knew the story involved the “C” word–and I don’t mean Chocolate. Cancer in a book is a hard thing for some to warm up to, especially when you’ve lost loved ones to the disease, as so many of us have. But Kristina’s novel isn’t so much about a woman coming to terms with her own mortality as realizing her tornadic impact on the world around her–and in a very short span of time following her diagnosis, after deciding not to treat her breast cancer.

I loved this book. Kristina is truly gifted, not wasting words, but using each to reveal character with a clever, smart and humorous delivery–and even the occasional Monty Python joke. A “cancer book,” humorous? Just wait until you meet the members of the Zelinsky family, each of whom needs to learn that the ideal in life–perfection–is as sterile as symmetry and not a reflection of the lumps and bumps of reality at all. The question of what they’ll choose to believe–real life or the liars–drives this fantastic novel.

Interview w/ the author at: http://writerunboxed.com/2009/06/26/i...

[Karin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this entire book thinking "I've read this before." I didn't quit because I didn't have anything else laying around that I wanted to pick up. I checked the flyleaf and it was published in 2009, maybe I read the hardback?

Anyway, three kids (unhappy marriage, sad loner, unplanned youngest who is now unexpectedly pregnant) are coming home for their parents' 35th wedding anniversary. Little do they know that Mom has breast cancer and isn't planning on treating it. Predictably, there is a large storm that makes everyone see things clearly and start on the road to resolution, even though none of the endings is clearly stated (maybe Mom will seek treatment!).

When I got to the end, I realized that I hadn't read it before. The other book was exactly the same, except that the youngest has a miscarriage on a ferry. No ferry in this book. Still, blah. It was just stressful to read this one, lots of family drama and no real interesting plot or characters.

[Rhonda Rae Baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a wonderful novel with real people and lives so true to what we deal with on a daily basis that I found myself LOL, nervous, and yet anticipating the resolution of great things for their future.

An easy read that put me in their world. I especially enjoyed the first person narrative of the mom and the third person interjections of her children. What a great way to allow the reader an inside view of what each was feeling.

I'd recommend this book to everyone, a very enjoyable read for sure!

Real Life & Liars is one of those stories that will stick with you for a long time because everything is so real and down to earth. I'm sure that all who read this will feel the same way and look for other novels by Kristina Riggle. She is an amazing author...(-:

[Jodi · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think the reason I wasn't crazy about this book is that I couldn't relate to any of the characters. They were all realistically flawed but at the same time they didn't feel real. It's Max's and Mirabelle's 35th anniversary and their three children have thrown them a party. Each of the children are suffering through life. Katya's marriage has grown unbearably stilted, and her three children are self-entitled brats. Ivan, the middle child, desperately wants to be a songwriter if only he had the courage; and Irina, at 21, is pregnant by a man twice her age. The children bring this to the party which Mirabelle brings her breast cancer diagnoses which she has not shared with the children. She has decided against treatment, so she doesn't want the kids to know right away but emotions are running high and they do find out. The problem with her decision is that she has no idea what stage of breast cancer she is in. Her decision might make sense if it is stage IV with metastases throughout the body. It makes no sense if it is stage I with no lymph node involvement. As with most families, the kids fall back into the patterns of behavior they grew up when they are all together and it takes a crisis to shake them out of it and get them to see outside their own little bubble. But as I said in the beginning, I couldn't relate at any level to any of the characters which make it hard to really enjoy this.

[Toree K · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was very meh. There was nothing really significant about it. It took me longer than usual to finish because there wasn't too much happening in the story line that kept me overwhelmingly interested. I did like how relatable this book was however. It seemed realistic in the aspect of these could be and are people's real lives. I really didn't like the ending however. It felt like none of my questions were really answered about how any of the situations ended. If you want answers, be prepared to not get any sadly.

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was just an average book about a family and their individual issues and how all the issue impacted the other people in the family. I think it is one of those books that the basic story could have turned into something really great but it just never went to that level where depth happens and readers start to say wow.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

Up until the end this was going to be 4 stars, but it seemed to just drop off and end in a way that didn't really work for me. But I did enjoy the book and I liked the writing a lot. I may well look for more of her books!

[Rosalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading some reviews I was skeptical about this book. It was a nice read and very typical of most families. Real true to life characters.

[Alesha Erbter · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was interesting enough for a book club book but I hesitate to recommend it. The characters were stereotypical including the situation. I liked the setting and think she captured a lake/beach family nicely. I didn’t think I would like chapters switching between characters but it flowed well. A nice airplane read.

[Pamela J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Strong Senior Protagonist

I very much enjoyed this book. It’s one big unhappy family until the mother’s illness shakes up the adult kids to change their attitudes. In the midst of it all, Mom changes her perspective on some issues too. Such a pleasure to read a book where there is a long, strong, but realistically imperfect marriage.

[Debi Kyle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fabulous Book

I loved the flawed characters, The setting was so well described & I throughly enjoyed the complete honesty of this manuscript. Excellent! I highly recommend it to everyone.

[Lindajk · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a surprisingly good book. I could ha e sat and read it in one day if I didn’t have a few other things I had to get done😊
Story of a family and all the differences among the three siblings and the family dynamics!

This is a really really good read

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

In a way I could identify with this book. Even though I’m not facing any health issues like Mira the Mom) was in this book, but the whole family dynamic rang true. I can see this book resonating with people of my age group.I’m anxious to explore ore books by this author.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a lovely book. The characters are funny, sad, confused - just like real people. The main character just leaps from the pages. This is a "must read".

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Light, fun, and 100% predictable.

[SarahRead · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5

[Sam · Rating 2 out of 5]

I sped through this one but the climax came way too late and then it was over. Beyond disappointing.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Until the last 25% of the book, it would have been a 2 star read but toward the end I began to care more about the characters.

[Crystelle Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice easy quick read.

[Kristina · Rating 2 out of 5]

The best part was the back story for the title- there’s real life and there are liars. How true!

[Paschalis]

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[Melanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story kept me entertained and interested, but it didn't blow me away.

[Monique · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hmm did not like this book as much as I expected..I just figured with the title there would be alot more secrets, more well drawn characters, more drama, just more..And I dont feel it lived up to my own personal hype but still I labored through just to find out what was going to happen...however you never really find out the answer to any of the storylines you really care about and it just really leaves you hanging..a great book club read as it poses many questions..Okay so the plot three children Katya, Ivan and Irina come together to celebrate their parents Mira and Max's 35 year anniversary..Everyone in the family has their own issues and time is devoted to each, except Max you never really know what he is thinking, with the strongest character in Katya and the most interesting in Irina...Katya struck me as the realest person in the whole book though her life is built on a facade of perfection with her rich husband, lavish home and lifestyle, three children and personal business when inside she is a mess, lovestarved and insecure..Her relationship or lack thereof with her husband, her inability to control her children and need to control everything her sister and brother do make her so easy to understand and relate to..It is her cynical view of life that she relates to Ivan that gives the book its namesake as she so eloquently states after one too many glasses of wine.."There is no such thing as perfect, only real life and liars." So true I loved it..There was also moments of intrigue with Irina the youngest child who finds herself impulsively and foolishly married and pregnant and not ready for either, who comes home to surprise her family with both pieces of news, that and that her husband is black...I loved Irina who reminds me of myself in my younger days, just headstrong, passionate and silly but adamantly reserved to stick with whatever dumb plan she can come up with..I liked their stories and could not really get into the hippie, pot smoking, natural woman Mira and the lazy, foolish and silly Ivan with his love life and failed songwriting career..I felt there were parts of the book that should have been elaborated on and a whole lot that could have been deleted but overall I think its a fast read to entertain and then forget..recommended as something to read on a plane because you want to know whats going to happen but after you find out you promptly forget..On to the next book..

[Laurel-Rain · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mira and Max Zielinski are about to celebrate their thirty-fifth wedding anniversary, and the grown children will soon be descending upon the family home.

As Mira contemplates their descent, she reminisces about moments in the past and about how, despite her efforts, none of them seem to share her values. For Mira, a professor, is an aging flower child, while each of her children seems to represent the antithesis of her beliefs.

Katya, Ivan, and Irina--whose names were chosen from Mira's "Russian novel phase"--have each distanced themselves with their own versions of those names: Kat, Van, and Reenie.

"Real Life & Liars" is told from the points of view of Mira and the three children, with Mira's story in first person narrative while the rest are in third person voice.

As the family assembles, they each come to "the party" bearing secrets, disappointments, and resentments.

As Mira's secrets are released, what will be the fall-out on the assembled family? What will each of them discover about the connections between them? Will the unleashing of their secrets reveal the fragility of their connections, or will they discover new strength in the ties between them?

Katya's apparent self-confidence and perfection as the oldest has rendered her almost unapproachable at times. So much so that Van, struggling with his career choices, wants to know how she managed to achieve such perfection. She replies:

"There is no perfect. Only real life and liars."

A perfect example of how each of them has constructed false images of the others. In reexamining these beliefs and reassessing their own choices, can they finally find a way to move on from their childhood roles?

From the first page, I loved the character of Mira. Her imperfections, about which she made no apologies, offered a real person to enjoy as she blundered along, dealing with her secret and with the confusing realities of her children's lives.

To me, Katya seemed the most annoying, in her bossy, dramatic, and sarcastic way, while Irina's whining made me want to slap her. And yet each of them suffered with their choices and hid their real selves behind the facades they had created. I loved this story: five stars from me.

[Heather]

Real Life & LIars by Kristina Riggle follows Mirabelle and her husband Max as they plan to celebrate their anniversary with a party thrown by their children. Mira is just an old hippy and Max is an author who has the tendency to check out when he is working on a project.
Their children Van, Katya and Irina are as different as can be and often clash but then come back together in a circle of dysfunctional family love.
The day of the party arrives and with it comes major upheaval in the life of the main characters. Mira and Max have been dealing with her diagnosis of breast cancer and none of the kids have been told of the battle their mother is facing. The secret is kept in hopes that the party will deliver fun and relaxation without the pall of cancer dimming the celebration.
It soon becomes apparent that the family has much more on its plate than Mira's cancer. Katya and her husband are struggling both financially and emotionally and their kids are looking for attention; Van is a man dealing with dating and job woes and Irina ushers in the biggest surprise of all when she brings home her new husband that her family has never met.
The family staggers through the event loaded down with emotional baggage that they refuse to share with one another and Mother Nature hasn't even dropped off her present yet. As the party winds down a storm blows in and the entire family ends up in a dirty, cobweb laced cellar waiting for a calm to return; in both nature and their own lives.
Riggle's novel reminds us that no family is completely normal and that a little communication can be an important bridge between family members. This book was funny and sad and made me glad to be part of the family that I have. There will be at least one character that you can relate to as the story unfolds.

[Laura de Leon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this book, and then talking about it at our book club meeting.

The strength of this book was in the characters. Each one had an aspect I identified with. Each also had something about them that made me want to slap them upside the head. Some were closer to one part of this than the other. They were all wonderfully complicated.

Mirabelle is the hippy mom that tried very hard to impart her values (forcing non-conformity!) on her oldest child, but relaxed some when it came to her youngest. Now her children are grown, and she's facing a very personal challenge. She wants to handle it on her own terms, but realizes this won't go over well with her family.

Katya has gone the other way with her kids, letting them have everything they want. As they become teens, she's realizing that maybe this wasn't the best path. Her husband has secrets, and she's afraid she knows what they are.

Ivan is a wannabe songwriter with a fantastic (female) best friend and a very complicated love life.

Irina is the youngest. She's having a hard time being a grownup, and has made some bad decisions along the way. Now she's pregnant and realizing that she'd better grow up quickly, and isn't sure she's up for the challenge.

Even more than the individual characters, I enjoyed their relationships with each other. One character says that whenever she gets together with one of her siblings, the other sibling is the preferred topic of conversation. She assumes that when they talk, she comes up in the conversation. They rarely agree with one another, but when Irina was in trouble, she turned to big brother Ivan.

As the family meets up for what she be a celebratory occasion, they all have their own crises to deal with. I thought the interactions led to great book.

[Cassandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to say, I really enjoyed this book. I loved how it shifted views from character to character, really letting us get a look at what was going on in each of their minds and lives. Though a family, the siblings all lead completely different lives, which the others know nothing about, as is especially obvious in the relationship between Ivan and Katya. Towards the end, Ivan seeks to know Katya's secret to having a perfect life, while we, as the reader, know that there is a lot more going on behind all the polished perfection that Ivan sees! The book didn't wrap everything up for you either - it keeps you wondering. You don't know in the end if Mira chooses to get the surgery or not. You don't know if Ivan's career takes off, if Irina stays with Darius, or if Katya loses her house and all its trappings due to Charles' embezzling. In this case, I feel that it was all okay. Though part of me would like to know, another part is content to just wonder.

This book really did keep me reading, but there were a few editing errors here and there - nothing major, just slight irritations. It was a good book overall, and I'd recommend it. I'll definitely read more of her writing.

[Caroline · Rating 5 out of 5]

I adored Real Life & Liars, the first novel by LiteraryMama.com's fiction coeditor, Kristina Riggle. The novel takes place over the course of a weekend, when Mira Zielinski's three grown children come home to celebrate their parents' wedding anniversary. I loved all the characters, from the knowing but flawed Mira, her distracted novelist husband Max, and then their three kids: Katya, a suburban mother of three who, as Mira puts it, "drags [her younger siblings:] along under the wheels of her train"; Ivan, a struggling songwriter who can't see the love that's right in front of him; and Irina, who is accidentally (reluctantly) pregnant and married to a man who isn't going to let her screw it up. They are vivid and engaging, and the writing is terrific; I kept stopping to reread sentences, letting the images sink in, and to wonder, with pleasure and admiration, "How did she think of that!?"

[Rafal Szymanski · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did not finish the book (got up to 73%), but feel confident in giving a review. I'm not entirely sure how this book ended up in my Kindle collection, but the only way it would have is via some recommendation I would have found online – unfortunately I didn't find the book appealing at all, and am curious as to where I got this recommended.

The book follows three children who go on to visit their parents on their 35th wedding anniversary. For a book with "Real Life" in its title, I found all the characters a bit fake, and the whole thing to be more of a sketch with stereotyped characters than a rendition of real life. There is too much drama for it to feel realistic.

I did enjoy the narrative structure – every chapter is told from a point of view of one of the characters instead of a third person narrator, getting us a bit closer to the feelings and thoughts of every family member.