Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty
Three mothers, Jane, Madeline and
Celeste, all very different in every way, find themselves forming a friendship
because their children are all starting kindergarten at the same time. During orientation a little girl comes out
of the classroom crying with red marks on her neck because another child was
choking her. Asked who hurt her, the
little girl points at Ziggy, Jane’s small and meek five year old. So starts a saga of bullying inside and
outside of the classroom engulfing the lives of not just the schoolchildren but
their parents as well.
I really enjoyed the way the story
was structured. At the end of most
chapters there are brief (a sentence or two) transcript pieces from a number of
adults about the murder at the Primary School Trivia Night. The best part? You don’t know who died until VERY late in
the book. You may guess, but if you’re
like me, you keep changing your mind about who died. And while I eventually stuck to my guns and
picked the correct victim, I was blindsided by who the murderer turned out to
be.
Moriarty tackles big problems like
bullying and domestic violence in her long, but easy to read novel. Those that like domestic drama, but do not
like Picoult would most likely enough Moriarty because she adds one thing
Picoult doesn’t: humor. Even though Moriarty
is tackling some very serious issues, and can write a very good dramatic scene,
she infuses humor in a lot of the story making the story flow along.
