Paromjit's Reviews > Big Little Lies

This is my first read of a Liane Moriarty book and I have to admit I found it engaging and entertaining. Set in Australia in a Sydney suburb, it has the measure of certain small communities and focuses on three women. Madeline is feeling bitter about her ex-husband and his new family, Celeste is beautiful, thin, and rich, seems to have everything including the envy of other women, and incomer Jane become friends on a orientation day at their childrens' kindergarten at Pirriwee Public School, Its a world of competitive mums, gossip, smothered parenting, the past and secrets. An accusation of one child bullying another starts to draw the battlelines between the parents.

However, once you start penetrating the surface, a number of dark issues emerge such as rape, bullying, domestic abuse and less than happy lives. And oh, yes, those big and little lies. Then there is murder and mystery at the school trivia night with the police interviewing parents. This is a story that I found myself drawn into and it even has a twist. It homes in on the divide between what is happening in the private personal sphere and the public face and gloss. A read that definitely captured my attention. I haven't seen the tv series yet but have heard many good things about it. Thanks to Penguin Michael Joseph for an ARC.