I Love Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty and You Should, Too

It’s possible that you haven’t read Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty.  Maybe you live under a rock, or you haven’t had access to books, or maybe a witch cast a spell on you and you’ve been in an enchanted sleep for the last five or so years.  You may be late to Liane’s Little Lie train, but I’m going to make you love it the way I do.  And I love Big Little Lies.

Liane Moriarty is one of the most popular ChickLit authors right now.  Her seven published books, What Alice Forgot, Big Little Lies, The Husband’s Secret, The Last Anniversary, Truly Madly Guilty, Three Wishes, and Nine Perfect Strangers are favorites among women (and some men) but there is no true consensus about which is her best.  There are parts of each that I have loved, but my hands down favorite is Big Little Lies.

Fall in Love With Big Little Lies’ Story

The story is funny and compelling.  The first chapter ends with Detective-Sergeant Adrian Quinlan declaring, “Let me be clear:  This is not a circus.   This is a murder investigation.”  Moriarty uses a combination of third person narration and minor character commentary to walk us through the events that led up to the calamitous Elvis and Audrey Trivia Night.  She cleverly weaves the story from end to beginning and beginning to end and makes us love and hate her characters along the way.  And all the while we’re trying to figure out who in the world got murdered!

Fall in Love With the Characters

We connect with the characters… if you don’t recognize yourself in one of the main characters, you will certainly recognize someone you know.  According to the book jacket, the three main characters are Madeline, Celeste, and Jane but if you read the book, you know that the story doesn’t exist without Renata and Bonnie.

Madeline, My Spirit Animal

Moriarty describes Madeline as someone who “remembers everything and forgives no one.”  As soon as I read that, I knew she was my spirit animal.  But when Madeline herself said, “I’m quite fond of my grudge.  I tend it like a little pet,” and, “Every day I think, ‘Gosh you look a bit tired today,’ and it’s just recently occurred to me that it’s not that I’m tired, it’s that this is just the way I look now,” I was seriously worried that Liane Moriarty might have been spying on me.  Madeline Martha Mackenzie might be younger and more sparkly, but I’m pretty sure that somehow her character is modeled after me.

The Tribe

Whether it’s Celeste, the drop-dead beauty who makes the world stop and stare, Jane, the new-to-town single mom whose sad smile hides secrets and doubts, Renata, the righteous no-holds-barred-take-no-prisoners career woman, or Bonnie the totally zen second wife/stepmom, you recognize parts of yourself in all of them.  Moriarty has a way of finding the parts of us that we love and hate and putting them into words so that we become invested in her characters.

Yes, the men do play a role in the story.  A fairly pivotal role, actually. But, just being real here…  I didn’t connect with any of them the way I connected with Madeline.  And Jane.  I could write a book about Jane, but I’m trying to keep this short.

The HBO Series…

The book is always better than anything on the screen, but I will totally give props to HBO, Reese Witherspoon, and Nicole Kidman for a fabulous job.  The show does a great job following the spirit of the book even if it does stray from the letter occasionally.

Season 2 premiers in two weeks and I’m looking forward to seeing how they take the plot beyond the source material.

Are You In Love Yet?

Of course not, but I bet you’re intrigued.  Are you a Jane?  A Madeline?  A Celeste?  Don’t you want to know what an Elvis and Audrey Trivia Night is?  And admit it, you want the chance to figure out who the murder victim was so that you can brag that you figured it out.  Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty.  If you haven’t read it yet, move it to the top of your TBR!