The Truth is a Theory by Karyn Bristol

I had the honor, and stressful responsibility, of choosing this month's book club book. I always feel so much pressure to pick a good one and I'm thrilled to announce I succeeded! The Truth is a Theory by Karyn Bristol features the ensemble cast of Allie, Megan, Tess, and Zoe, four young women who meet on their first day of college in 1986. Told in alternating timelines of the past beginning with college and the present in Allie's journal entries with a start date of June 2000, we see how the women grow together and then possibly apart. We see how their ideal futures turn into their more realistic adult lives. We watch love bloom, marriages struggle, friends fight, and friends hold one another together.

At first I was worried that maybe I had chosen something that leaned too closely to chick-lit for book club. Not that chick-lit doesn't have its place, but it usually isn't meaty enough for a good group discussion. The more I read, the more I realized how meaty and textured this story actually was. There is something we can all relate to as women, experiences we've all had or watched friend endure. I really liked this book and it was a winner for all the ladies in my book club. The themes and topics raised in the novel led to the sharing of similar experiences and lots of really good conversation. There were characters we loved, characters we hated, and we had a good time deciding which of us was more of an Allie, a Megan, a Tess, or a Zoe.

A favorite theme of the novel stems from the title. Is the truth a theory or is it absolute? Does the truth I experience have to match the truth you experience? Or do we all experience the same event differently? A quote that has stuck with me and that I've shared with other friends since finishing this read is when Zoe and Allie are catching up over dinner with the group and Zoe asks how Allie is doing. Allie responds the way most of us do when asked that question: "I'm fine." Zoe then does what a good friend should do- she challenges her:

"Are you?...I'm hearing fine, but I'm not so sure I'm seeing fine in your eyes....You know, you say fine and I say fine, and we just add to the giant myth that everything's great for everyone else and we're the only ones who can't quite cut it. Sometime the brave face isn't the most useful."

I love this quote because it is so full of truth about being a woman, being a wife, being a mother. We all pretend we're fine and we all think we are the only ones who are lying.

I really enjoyed this book and the discussion that followed it. I hope you'll read it and then talk about it with your girlfriends.