Big Little Lies

By: Liane Moriarty

Narrated by: Caroline Lee

Length: 15 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

DON’T MISS SEASON 2 OF THE GOLDEN GLOBE AND EMMY AWARD-WINNING HBO® SERIES STARRING REESE WITHERSPOON, NICOLE KIDMAN, SHAILENE WOODLEY, LAURA DERN, ZOË KRAVITZ, AND MERYL STREEP

From the author of Nine Perfect Strangers, Truly Madly Guilty, and The Husband’s Secret comes the number-one New York Times best-selling novel about the dangerous little lies we tell ourselves just to survive.

A murder.... A tragic accident.... Or just parents behaving badly? What’s indisputable is that someone is dead.

Madeline is a force to be reckoned with. She’s funny, biting, and passionate; she remembers everything and forgives no one. Celeste is the kind of beautiful woman who makes the world stop and stare, but she is paying a price for the illusion of perfection. New to town, single mom Jane is so young that another mother mistakes her for a nanny. She comes with a mysterious past and a sadness beyond her years. These three women are at different crossroads, but they will all wind up in the same shocking place.

Big Little Lies is a brilliant take on ex-husbands and second wives, mothers and daughters, schoolyard scandal, and the little lies that can turn lethal.

©2014 Liane Moriarty (P)2014 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“Ms. Moriarty’s long-parched fans have something new to dig into...Big Little Lies [may have] even more staying power than The Husband’s Secret.” (The New York Times)

“Funny and thrilling, page-turning but with emotional depth, Big Little Lies is a terrific follow-up to The Husband’s Secret.” (Booklist, starred review)

“Moriarty demonstrates an excellent talent for exposing the dark, seedy side of the otherwise “perfect” family unit... Highly recommended.” (Library Journal, starred review)

PERFECT!! Absolutely wonderful!!!!

I'm not sure how she did it, but with the magic formula of humor, Liana Moriarty was able to deliver yet another perfect read! Bringing the issues of bullying, domestic violence, and overly pretentious helicopter parents to the forefront of this story, the author weaves a fantastic and humorous story that will get everyone involved. Every second I enjoyed, and being able to be light-hearted about some of these major problems was just what I needed to end my summer. I'll definitely be listening again.

Caroline Lee also brought home another winner with her narration. Beautifully executed!!

Not usually a fan of fiction, but...

I couldn't stop listening to this story! Not only was it a deftly told tale of the layers of pain that every single person carefully keeps hidden, it was also narrated perfectly.
I seldom waste time on fiction, especially what might fall into the Chick Lit category..I happened on this after listening to Girl On The Train and I'm so glad I did.
SUCH a great experience!

I love, love, loved it!!!

What a great story!

Just like the last book I read by Liane Moriarty (The Husband's Secret – which I also loved) I was completely swept up by the characters. There were a lot of them in this book, which is usually very difficult for me as I have a lot of trouble remembering who is who, but the characters were all so dynamic and interesting that it was it pretty easy this time... although not effortless, I did get mixed up occasionally!

The story is like a mystery in reverse - you know there has been a murder but you don’t know anything about it, like: who dunnit? Why? How? Who died? Then rewind 6 months and let the build up begin; like circling down around a drain, closer and closer to the last day – the day it all happened.

The storylines are all interconnected, and as the story moves along you discover just how much. I don’t think anyone could have guessed the ending ahead of time, but all the red herrings certainly made it fun to try!

I am downloading What Alice Forgot right away!!!!

Really Loving Moriarty!

This is my third Liane Moriarty book and I'm now a real fan. I just love her ability to take everyday life and extraordinarily real characters and delve really deeply into circumstances and emotions. And, she is able to do this through normal human interactions and humor. Clearly living on the North Shore of Sydney isn't any different than any upper middle class US suburb. Caroline Lee's performance was spot on.

A clever story with a great ending

There are a relatively large number of key characters in this story, and I thought the author did an excellent job of developing each of them. From children to old timers, there is a great mix of characters. Most are interesting and likeable, but a few are totally despicable. The story is complex and as a result there are times when I questioned where the book was headed and how everything is connected. I was almost pleasantly surprised when all the pieces came together in the end, and with quite a few surprises! Well worth the investment in time to listen to this tale that grows more and more compelling as the 'pages turn'.

Rivetting social insights

This book is going to stay with me a long time.

The themes and insights are powerfully presented.

The main one that impacted me was the shocking cruelties and the complexities of domestic violence (“I should take part responsibility…..I should have picked up the children's leggo….” "That's not who he really its......"). There are the horrors of this violence perpetrated subtlety so the bruises don’t show, it is not technically rape, so (but this is wishful thinking) the children don’t see this terrible behaviour. Delusion has a commanding presense.

How splendidly does Moriarty portray the confusion on the part of the victim and the perpetrator, the anguished path to objectifying, understanding and then dealing with what is happening. If the reader hasn’t needed to identify and understand domestic violence before, this rich novel offers an outstanding introduction.

Important issues are presented in a natural flowing style that unobtrusively (and the gentle voice of reader, Caroline Lee, supports this) and easily bring characters, place and events to life.

There are other themes: early childhood education and parental attitudes; an outsider mother trying to become part of a community; understanding and respecting young children – establishing communications within trust. This was huge: allegations that are in no way substantiated but accepted on the basis of prejudice. The power of friendship and loyalty. The pain inflicted on others. Single motherhood. The arbitrarily created and often cruelly maintained social stratas. The enormous stresses and obligations placed on schools and the individual teachers. the deep pain of exclusion.

This is a rich and satisfying novel. It is made thoroughly entertaining through the compelling structure which draws the reader into the need for resolution of pain, and, most provocatively, what will happen at the school trivia night, a night that the lives of so many seem to be inexorably travelling towards.

Satisfying!

What made the experience of listening to Big Little Lies the most enjoyable?

I resisted this book for a long time. I didn't think I wanted to listen to a story about competitive and superficial suburban parents, which is the impression I had of this book. I'm really glad I decided to try it. I was hooked from the very first minute. It was light and fun listen with just the right amount of drama. The only word I have for the narration is "special". It made me care about the characters way more than I would have if I had just read their words. The writing moves fast. I felt like I was watching a movie in my head. Maybe not a serious and important Oscar winning movie but very entertaining and surprisingly complex. I found it unpredictable without being farfetched. I don't know when was the last time I actually stopped in my tracks and said "oh my god!" out loud during a book. I did it a few times toward the end, once startling the person next to me on the subway!

Loved it! Great story and great narration.

Better than the husband!s secret because characters were more fully defined and the story was more compelling. I finished this within two days! Highly recommend!

Didn't see that coming!

Kept me up late just to finish. Totally loved the story the characters. Enjoyable read. You won't be disappointed at all

Loved it!

I'm sad the book is done. Now I want to read all of Liane Moriarty's books!

Kept me guessing and also managed to be charming while dealing with some heavy topics.