Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Akashic Books (July 7, 2015)
ISBN-10: 1617753513
ISBN-13: 978-1617753510
Price: $15.95
Purchase: Amazon | BN | Akashic Books

Description

Merryn Huntley is rudely awakened to the many bad decisions she has made in her life when she is told by two Dallas police officers that her wealthy husband Beau has been killed in a car accident, along with a local waitress. Merryn’s first instinct is to flee in order to protect her nine-year-old daughter, and the only place that feels safe enough is her mother’s beautiful, isolated home in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.

Merryn’s mother, the redoubtable Bibi, always said to her as a child, When you tell a lie, make sure you keep it as close to the truth as possible, because it will be easier to remember. Ironically, from the moment Merryn arrives, she is forced into twisting the truth—about how much she knew of her husband and his shady business affairs; about her own secret lovers; and most importantly, that she is beginning to doubt the one person who has always been the greatest influence in her life: her mother.

The situation worsens when two FBI agents show up and begin to ask Merryn questions about her husband’s business, which only intensifies her need to continue lying. While Merryn’s perfect world begins to crumble around her, she must decide whether or not she can face the most painful reality of all—that she has been lying to herself her entire life.

Review

Kaylie Jones is an absolutely beautiful writer. The Anger Meridian was a unique, interesting, emotionally charged, suspenseful, surprising and romantic story. It had a little bit of everything. The characters were real, complex and dynamic.

Kaylie Jones brings San Miguel de Allende to life, rich in its landscape and vivid imagery. Everything she describes, you are able to experience with your senses.

I was transported into Merryn’s world, between her deceased husband, her mother Bibi, her nine year old daughter Tenney, and all the other relationships she formed. Kaylie Jones describes the inner workings, psychological and emotional dimensions of Merryn with such depth, including her secrets, and the lies she’s forced to tell.

The mood, pacing, prose and plot is phenomenal. The events which transpire in this story, keep you guessing and wondering what will happen next.

This is by far my favorite novel in 2015. I highly recommend it.

KAYLIE JONES has published seven books, including a memoir, Lies My Mother Never Told Me, and her most recent novel, The Anger Meridian. Her novel A Soldier’s Daughter Never Cries was adapted as a Merchant Ivory film in 1998. Jones has been teaching for more than twenty-five years, and is a faculty member in the Stony Brook Southampton MFA in Creative Writing & Literature program and in Wilkes University’s MFA in Creative Writing program. She is the author of Speak Now and the editor of Long Island Noir. Her newest endeavor is her publishing imprint with Akashic Books, Kaylie Jones Books.

You can follow Kaylie Jones on Facebook and Twitter.