Liars by Sarah Manguso is a searing account of the disintegration of a marriage. In this fictionalized autobiography, Manguso resolutely dissects a (her?) marriage in sharp, surgical strokes.
The book starts with Jane writing how she never wanted to be a wife. She never wanted to be a mother. But she convinces herself that she’s met the right man and her life is going to be better for it. While she leans into motherhood despite how it eats into her writing career, her life with her spouse leaves a lot to be desired.
With marriage, she writes in the first chapter, her life “became archetypal, a drag show of nuclear familyhood.” She says she “got enmeshed in a story that had already been told ten billion times.”
And therein lies the beauty of Liars. It isn’t extraordinary fantasy. Dysfunctional marriages are a tale as old as time — this book offers a firsthand look at how they break down.
When they meet, Jane is a writer and John, an artist. Things go south soon — she wins a prestigious fellowship they both applied for and he immediately sulks. He stays out late for parties, he is photographed looking like he’s about to kiss another woman, he claims his ex is crazy… the rap sheet is long. But he apologizes, says he would never do it again, and Jane convinces herself he means it.
And so they continue their relationship, one wrought with John’s weaponized incompetence, constant belittlement, and bullying, especially as Jane’s writing career surpasses his success with art. Jane stays with him through it all, that is until he asks for a divorce — he wants to leave her for another woman.
Liars is a thorough documentation of their relationship over the years, the toll it takes on Jane, and how trapped she feels even after their marriage ends.
“It could still be worse”
John’s offences are aplenty and the most significant is his weaponized incompetence right off the bat. Like most men, he feigns ineptitude to avoid responsibility. Jane is left to take up the brunt of the housework. She cooks, cleans, handles correspondence, and later, fully takes care of their son, referred to solely as ‘the child’ through the novel. He borrows money from her early on that he never returns, he moves their family between cities multiple times for failed startups, both of which he ultimately gets fired from.
The constant displacement means Jane isn’t able to progress in her teaching career as much as she’d like, settling as she has into the role of a typical wife.
“We’d fallen into a groove. John made art on the weekends because he felt entitled to, and I did errands and chores on the weekends because I felt responsible.”
It’s not that Jane doesn’t notice his faults until much later.
In her own words, she calls her husband an “arrogant, insecure, workaholic, narcissistic bully” who maintains power over her by making major decisions without her input or consent. “It could still be worse,” she quickly adds for all our regard.
Lies and deception
Do you notice how the novel is titled Liars?
John is not the only deceiver in this story. Perhaps, in an effort to stomach the injustice being meted out to her by her bullying husband, Jane deceives herself into thinking they have a decent marriage to avoid confronting the harsh truth of it. She may be an unreliable narrator masking her own shortcomings but it is clear that the relationship has an uneven balance from the start.
“John came home and I couldn’t believe how lucky I was to have such a happy family. It wasn’t happiness; it was the temporary cessation of pain. But I wouldn’t know that for another seven years.”
She’s clearly unhappy in her marriage but there are good days too, which make her stay despite the emotional abuse.
Personal identity in a marriage
Pre-marriage Jane was a professor and a successful author of several books. Soon after marriage, in her own account, she “floated face down in housewifery.” A recurring theme in Liars is the loss of identity that comes with marriages where one person decides to become the main character. Here, it’s John and Jane does not have an identity outside of their relationship anymore.
“My time, which is to say the time that was mine, for me alone, had disappeared. And at once I understood why I hadn’t felt like myself in years. My own time—my own life—had disappeared, been overtaken. Which might have been the reason I was so angry, I thought.”
Also read: Diary of a Void by Emi Yagi
Should you read Liars by Sarah Manguso?
In clipped and matter of fact sentences, Manguso/Jane unflinchingly document the psychological and emotional fallout of a marriage that is slowly disintegrating. Liars is a very introspective read and it’s too heavy to be read in one sitting.
It could have been shorter by several chapters in my opinion and have been just as impactful but as a reader, you will want Jane to take her time to examine her toxic marriage from all angles. She deserves that time and the writing is attractive enough for the most impatient reader to give her it.
Tl;dr: Yes, you should read Liars.
Disclaimer: This is a review of an uncorrected proof of Liars from the publisher. The quotes in this article may change in the published book.
Liars releases on August 22, 2024.