The Liars' Club is a memoir by American authorMary Karr. Published in 1995, it tells the story of Karr's childhood in the 1960s in a small industrial town in Southeast Texas. The title refers to her father and his friends who would gather to drink and tell stories when not working at the oil refinery or the chemical plant. The book became a New York Times bestseller. In addition to winning the PEN/Martha Albrand Award, the memoir was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. In 2005, a 10-year anniversary edition was published with an added introduction from Karr. The book is credited for launching a resurgence in popularity to the memoir genre. After the success of The Liars' Club, Karr followed up with two more memoirs. Cherry, which picks up at the end of The Liars' Club, was published in 2001, and Lit in 2009.
Plot
The book tells the story of Karr's troubled childhood in a small Texas town in the early 1960s. Using a non-linear story line she describes the troubles of growing up in a family and town where heavy alcohol abuse and psychological problems are common issues. The memoir details her experience being raped and molested as a child, her mother's mental instability, and her witness to death and disparity. The book is split into three sections, each a different period of her life. The first, called "Texas, 1961", details Karr's and her sister Lecia's upbringing in Southeast Texas. The narrative includes backgrounds of her mother Charlie and her father J.P., including how they met, and their previous relationships. Karr also writes about her maternal grandmother who, at 50 years old, died of cancer. The second section of the book is called "Colorado, 1963". Karr explains that her family "moved to Colorado wholly by accident". While in Colorado, Karr's parents get divorced, and J.P. moves back to Texas, while Karr and her sister stay with Charlie. Her mother eventually meets Hector, who tries to make the girls call him "Daddy". After Charlie begins to drink again, Karr and Lecia become scared after one night when their mother points a gun at and threatens Hector. Eventually, J.P. flies the girls back to Texas. Charlie and Hector travel to Texas too, and after J.P. punches Hector, Charlie leaves him, returning to her ex-husband for good. The third section, "Texas Again, 1980", jumps ahead 17 years, to when Karr is older and living in Boston. She returns to Texas after her father suffers a stroke. Karr helps Charlie in caring for J.P. While there, Karr reconnects with her mother and learns more about Charlie's mysterious past and previous mental health issues.
Reviews
The Liars' Club received universal acclaim upon its publication in 1995. Sheila Ballantyne of The New York Times lauds the memoir's "haunting, often exquisite phrasing of states of being and qualities of mind that resonate long after a page is turned." In The Washington Post, Jonathan Yardley wrote, "The Liars' Club is a tribute to and lament for a world its author no longer occupies.... It is the essential American story."
