Mia Tang

“Nine Perfect Strangers,” Liane Moriarty’s 2018 novel, tackles themes of tragedy, transformation and closure. The psychological thriller argues that growth does not exist in sudden revelations, but rather a constant cycle of hope for happiness.

Nine people, sunken to the lowest points of their lives and seeking a fresh start, meet at a health resort, hoping to turn things around. To some, it is a break, a reprieve from the harsh realities and recent tragedies that have befallen them. To others, it is an opportunity to reinvent and rebuild. It is a chance to leave tragedy and hopelessness behind. 

Namaste, and welcome to the Tranquillum House, where a new you awaits.

“Nine Perfect Strangers” by Liane Moriarty is labeled as a psychological thriller. As its name implies, the novel follows the story of nine strangers encountering each other at a health resort, before meeting their slightly overzealous resort instructor, a woman named Masha. 

During the present reality at the Tranquillum House, Masha is introduced as an incredibly athletic, healthy, practically glowing woman who obsesses over her “rebirth.” Previously, she was a struggling, unhealthy corporate CEO, who, after suffering a heart attack and deciding to quit her job, was transformed into the person she is now.

And that is the essence of the Tranquillum House – it is meant to be a transformative experience. It seems impossible to pull a person from the lowest point in their life and to place them on a pedestal, recovered and ready to start anew.

During the first half of the resort, when Masha is still somewhat sane and taking care of her guests, it all seems like a nice break for the characters, yet nothing has changed within them. Author Frances still despairs over a poor critic review, ex-athlete Tony still struggles with his career-sustained injuries, and the Marconi family of three still dream of their lost member. Perhaps this is an example of why simple health resorts cannot work. Without taking drastic measures, nothing will change.

All of a sudden, Masha loses her mind, and the guests end up locked in a basement while the house appears to be burning. Given Masha’s obsession with her rebirth and its cause, a reader would have expected one of the resort guests to have a near-death experience to truly trigger a “rebirth”, but no character was ever in real mortal danger.

I believe the trauma of Masha’s hospitalization coupled with a conversation with an older woman triggered Masha’s rebirth. The overall emotional impact of waking up in a hospital bed after suffering a heart attack is more drastic than that of smelling some smoke, panicking, before opening a door and realizing that nothing is really on fire. Masha’s experience of an extended period of unconsciousness and near death, coupled with the sensation of reliving birth and waking up in a hospital bed, may have solidified Masha’s belief that she was truly reborn. 

However, Masha did not experience this relief, and her more drastic experiences led to her more drastic changes. Still, she has not forgotten her past life, and she still suffers from recalling her past tragedies. There is no “rebirth”, no full “renewal” – there is simply moving forward, and changing your future path. 

Coming from a dump of misery, tragedy and self-loathing, characters suddenly opening their hearts and embracing the future gives the reader a fluffy, optimistic, wholesome feeling. It gives the reader hope that no matter how old you are, where you are in life, there is always a way to move on, and there are always new chapters in your life to reach. 

Sure, the message might be a little cheesy, a little too happy-go-lucky, but it goes much deeper than simple optimism. Rather than only inspiring hope in its readers by having its struggling characters suddenly find their happy endings, the novel also presents an argument, an answer to a question.

A quote from comedian George Carlin opens the book: “Just when I discovered the meaning of life, they changed it.” 

To me, the story presents their version of said meaning: it is to fall, over and over again, and to move forward, because that is life. Anyone can stop the journey, as the son of Marconis did, but to kill oneself is to give up on that meaning. We continue life to find that cheesy, corny happy ending, and that hope is often what keeps people going during the lowest periods of their lives. That, I believe, is what “Nine Perfect Strangers” is trying to say – that this constant search for happiness is their meaning.