“Did anyone really know their child? Your child was a little stranger, constantly changing, disappearing and reintroducing himself to you. New personality traits could appear overnight.”

Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty takes place on the Pirriwee Peninsula in Australia and centers on the children and their parents from the Pirriwee Public School. This is a small beach town which at first may seem rather quiet and uneventful. It is not. The story follows three women, each at a crossroads. There is Madeline who tells it like it is in both humorous and biting ways. Celeste appears to have it all, beauty, wealth, and twin boys. But beneath the surface things are not as they appear. Jane is a young single mother with a kindergarten son Ziggy, and their arrival in the beach community really stirs things up!

This book is funny, serious, and thought-provoking. There are some dark moments hidden through little lies and silence. We are privy to the thoughts and comments of numerous people in the novel. At the end of each chapter Moriarty offers us bits and pieces of comments, gossip and observations. It is fascinating to see how the rumor mill keeps churning through innuendo, the misreading of a situation and pure conjecture. There is a trivia night at the school where the women dress like Audrey Hepburn and the men dress like Elvis. The caterer is late, someone put too much alcohol in the delicious pink cocktails and the grapevine is running wild! Then something unexpected happens and all their lives will be changed forever.

I have also read The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty and she can certainly put a new spin on an ordinary situation and surprise the reader in the most interesting ways. I recommend both Big Little Lies and The Husband’s Secret.