You don’t have to be a character in a novel to be unreliable. When you think about it, we are all unreliable narrators of our personal stories. We edit. We modify the truth. We try to show the world a spruced up version of ourselves, whether it’s to impress a date, a boss or our children. We Photoshop and we brighten. Now more than ever, we harness the power of social media platforms to create a curated view of our lives. We choose the photos our “friends” see, we create our world and present it through our own filters. And we can make ourselves look perfect, happy, blessed to those on the outside looking in.
But we all know that no one’s life is perfect. Part of the ongoing fascination with domestic suspense novels in particular is getting the chance to go behind the closed doors of seemingly perfect lives. Paul and Mia appear to have it all. It’s only when we get a glimpse of what’s really going on that the facade begins to crack.
In Best Day Ever, Paul is trying to impress us with his intelligence, his love for his wife and kids, and his unparalleled business success. But of course, we can read between the lines. Sometimes it’s more about what a character doesn’t say than what he admits to doing. And that’s the appeal of writing, and reading, a book like this. Hopefully, you’ll agree.
Kaira.