Big Little Lies
Liane Moriarty, 2014
Mystery, thriller & crime Contemporary fiction
A satirical mystery about school-gate friendships, perfect marriages and the small lies that hold a community together. Witty, gossipy and quick, with a sharp eye for school-gate one-upmanship and a low hum of unease underneath the jokes.
Feels like humor, unease and curiosity. About society, family and identity.
Who it’s for
You may like it if you enjoy domestic drama with a comic edge and a mystery that keeps its answer hidden until late. Be ready for a large cast of parents and plenty of school-gate chatter between the clues, which takes some patience to track.
Why read it
It shows how small social lies stack up into something bigger, and does it while letting you laugh at costume parties and carefully managed marriages.
A page from the book
A school fundraiser where the adults have taken the dress code far too seriously.
The parents at Pirriwee Public had a baffling fondness for costume parties. It wasn’t enough that they should have an ordinary trivia night; she knew from the invitation that some bright spark had decided to make it an “Audrey and Elvis” trivia night, which meant that the women all had to dress up as Audrey Hepburn and the men had to dress up as Elvis Presley. (That was another reason Mrs. Ponder had turned down the invitation. She’d always abhorred costume parties.) It seemed that the most popular rendition of Audrey Hepburn was the Breakfast at Tiffany’s look. All the women were wearing long black dresses, white gloves and pearl chokers. Meanwhile, the men had mostly chosen to pay tribute to the Elvis of the latter years. They were all wearing shiny white jumpsuits, glittery gemstones and plunging necklines. The women looked lovely. The poor men looked perfectly ridiculous. Liane Moriarty.Moriarty is Australian and one of six siblings; her sister Jaclyn is also a novelist.
Books that feel like this
More by Liane Moriarty
The Husband's Secret
Liane Moriarty, 2013
Three women, one dusty envelope, and the ordinary afternoons that hide a decision someone made years ago. Domestic suspense with a comic edge and a very sharp eye.
Here One Moment
Liane Moriarty, 2024
A flight is delayed, a passenger stands up and predicts the deaths of the people around her, and dozens of lives have to go on afterwards.
Truly Madly Guilty
Liane Moriarty, 2016
Three couples, one backyard barbecue, and the ordinary moment when life divides into before and after. Moriarty's domestic suspense about friendship, guilt and what we hide.
Where to get it
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Questions readers ask
- Is Big Little Lies for me?
- You may like it if you enjoy domestic drama with a comic edge and a mystery that keeps its answer hidden until late. Be ready for a large cast of parents and plenty of school-gate chatter between the clues, which takes some patience to track.
- What is Big Little Lies like?
- Witty, gossipy and quick, with a sharp eye for school-gate one-upmanship and a low hum of unease underneath the jokes. Feels like humor, unease and curiosity. About society, family and identity.
- What should I read after Big Little Lies?
- If you liked Big Little Lies, try The Corrections (Jonathan Franzen), The Nanny Diaries (Emma McLaughlin) and Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella).
A taste of the feed
The arithmetic of cool, and who is left to do the ordinary work.
All around him, millions of newly minted American millionaires were engaged in the identical pursuit of feeling extraordinary - of buying the perfect Victorian, of skiing the virgin slope, of knowing the chef personally, of locating the beach that had no footprints. There were further tens of millions of young Americans who didn’t have money but were nonetheless chasing the Perfect Cool. And meanwhile the sad truth was that not everyone could be extraordinary, not everyone could be extremely cool; because whom would this leave to be ordinary? Who would perform the thankless work of being comparatively uncool?
The Corrections · Jonathan Franzen
A job interview where neither person will say the word job.
This is the only part of the Interview that resembles a professional exchange. We will dance around certain words, such as “nanny” and “child care,” because they would be distasteful and we will never, ever, actually acknowledge that we are talking about my working for her. This is the Holy Covenant of the Mother/Nanny relationship: this is a pleasure—not a job. We are merely “getting to know each other,” much as how I imagine a John and a call girl must make the deal, while trying not to kill the mood.
The Nanny Diaries · Emma McLaughlin
Three years into a career, still certain someone will notice you're faking it.
Of course, I still know nothing about finance. People at the bus stop know more about finance than me. Schoolchildren know more than me. I’ve been doing this job for three years now, and I’m still expecting someone to catch me out.
Confessions of a Shopaholic · Sophie Kinsella
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