Tuesday 13 January 2015

Reivew: Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty.


Book: Big Little Lies

Author: Liane Moriarty

Pages: 515 (on iBooks)

Read On: My iPad.

How Long It Took Me To Read: Across 3 days off and on

Plot Summary: 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.
General Thoughts: I read and quite enjoyed The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty. She writes well and she writes about secrets and marriages and families and what goes on therein. All very interesting. You can read my review of The Husband's Secret here. So, I was quite excited when I came across a new book by Ms. Moriarty, which once again focused on similar themes- families, lies, half-truths and playground politics- and was quite excited to read it.

This book, much like The Husband's Secret, is a bit of a murder mystery. We're told at the beginning of the book that somebody had died at that annual Parents' Trivia Night at the local Elementary school and the police were attempting to piece together the events that led to that night and that death. So, the book captures the weeks (and months) leading to the Trivia Night from the perspectives of the three main protagonists of the book- Madeline, Celeste and Jane.

Things I Liked: Quick list:

  • I really liked Madeline- she is feisty, loyal and kind. I liked her relationship with her second husband- Ed- and how they balanced each other. Madeline and Ed are not rich but they are content and they make their situation (Madeline's ex moving to their suburb, Ed and Madeline's flexi work-from-home careers etc.) work. I also liked how Madeline always stood up for the underdog- in this case Jane and her little boy, Ziggy. 
  • I liked the setting of the pre-school and the petty and not-so-petty playground politics of the mums. Apparently, stuff like this (not the death, hopefully) happens in real life! Cliques of moms square off against each other and birthday parties become war zones- most thrilling! *grin* 
  • The book makes some excellent points about the impact of domestic violence upon children, even if you do assume that kids have not witnesses the violent act. I also enjoyed the way Celeste's journey was portrayed- from being in denial (it's not domestic violence if I hit him back too and if he is really sorry) to accepting it for it is and doing something proactively about it. 
  • The book is fairly fast paced and there is loads happening, plus there are chapters from multiple people's perspectives, so you don't get bored and the story keeps moving on ahead. 
  • There is also some working moms vs. stay-at-home moms (SAHMs) type of rivalry going on, with snide comments being passed and judgments being made, which was quite interesting but often a tad too dramatic. 


Things I Didn't Like: Again, quick list:

  • Jane was an interesting character that I wished was more fleshed out. We get to see a few chapters from her perspective and most of those had her worrying if her son had inherited a violent streak from his father (a man whose name is all she knows) and such like. We don't really get to know Jane as a real person. At least, I felt that there could have been more of her in the book since in many ways she is the catalyst (of sorts) for the events in this book. 
  • The big mystery of this book- the identity of Jane's baby daddy- was not even a mystery. It is pretty obvious who it is. Also, it is pretty obvious who died on Trivia Night, which kind of brings down the fun of the whole mystery aspect of the book. 


Rating: 3.5/5


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