Big Little Lies

Author: Liane Moriarty
Genre: Modern Fiction, Women's Fiction
Type: Hardcover
Source: Local Public Library
Pages: 408
Publisher: Putnam Adult
First Published: July 29, 2014
First Lines: "That doesn't sound like a school trivia night," said Mrs Patty Ponder to Marie Antoinette. "That sounds like a riot."

Book Description from GoodReads: Sometimes it’s the little lies that turn out to be the most lethal. . . .   A murder… . . . a tragic accident… . . . or just parents behaving badly?  What’s indisputable is that someone is dead.   But who did what?
 
Big Little Lies follows three women, each at a crossroads:   Madeline is a force to be reckoned with. She’s funny and biting, passionate, she remembers everything and forgives no one. Her ex-husband and his yogi new wife have moved into her beloved beachside community, and their daughter is in the same kindergarten class as Madeline’s youngest (how is this possible?). And to top it all off, Madeline’s teenage daughter seems to be choosing Madeline’s ex-husband over her. (How. Is. This. Possible?).

Celeste is the kind of beautiful woman who makes the world stop and stare. While she may seem a bit flustered at times, who wouldn’t be, with those rambunctious twin boys? Now that the boys are starting school, Celeste and her husband look set to become the king and queen of the school parent body. But royalty often comes at a price, and Celeste is grappling with how much more she is willing to pay.   New to town, single mom Jane is so young that another mother mistakes her for the nanny. Jane is sad beyond her years and harbors secret doubts about her son. But why? While Madeline and Celeste soon take
Jane under their wing, none of them realizes how the arrival of Jane and her inscrutable little boy will affect them all.

Big Little Lies is a brilliant take on ex-husbands and second wives, mothers and daughters, schoolyard scandal, and the dangerous little lies we tell ourselves just to survive.

My Review:  I blame Liane Moriarty for my demeanor and appearance for the couple of days that it took me to read this book.  Why? Because I couldn't not, for the life of me, put this book down until the wee hours of the morning a couple of nights in a row.  Yes, it was that good.

Prepare for some gushing praise, my readers!  I simply loved this book and I think the reasons are that I was invested into the lives of the main characters pretty much from the get-go. Her characters felt authentic and I felt for them - well, some of them anyway.  I could easily imagine the snotty, posh moms, the competitive moms, the bullied child ...  Then she adds the mystery component and 'Oh calamity!!' ** I had no chance in putting this book down for any length of time.

** I just have to say that as soon as I saw one of the characters utter this phrase I knew that I had to add it to my vernacular as soon as possible usually with a southern drawl - don't ask me why

Needless to say, this was a delicious romp through the trials and tribulations, betrayals and lies we tell in order to survive.  You think you know your friends, neighbours and fellow school parents but do you really?  This book tells you that you probably don't.  Everyone has skeletons in their closet and this book brings them to light.

I wouldn't deem this book a 'Chick Lit' read because it deals with some serious topics -- elitism, murder, bullying, infidelity and another serious topic that I won't divulge in order to save the plot.  But nor is it as dark and dismal as it could be and even had quite a sense of humour to it as well.  Let's just say that it was a nice balance between the two poles.  I loved how the author set up the murder and then went back several months to unfold who was murdered and how circumstances occurred in order for that to happen.  The addition of police interviews as well as the tertiary characters and their gossip was the icing on the cake for this Nosy Nelly.
Big Little Lies is all about the secrets we keep and tell ourselves in order to be able to keep going in life.  To protect ourselves and those around us that we love.  It's also a bit of a satire about the social microcosm within the school among parents and children alike.  I think Moriarty is a wonderful storyteller. She creates believable characters while balancing her plot with scenes from silly and humourous to serious and intense.  It shows that there are no easy answers and that as we get older sometimes the decisions get even harder to make as are the repercussions from those choices. 

I can't believe that this is my first book by Liane Moriarty.  Shame for this book blogger!  I definitely plan to pick up more of her books -- specifically her 'The Husband's Secret' -- very soon. 

My Rating: 4.5/5 stars