So, those of you who know me (if you don't, HI!) are probably aware of the hold that The Husband's Secret had on me. It was one of my favourite books of 2013 and it's safe to say I was a tad impatient for Liane Moriarty's next release Little Lies or as it's known in the USA and Australia, Big Little Lies. Why the difference? Not a clue! So yes, I was wandering around, slightly grumpy and without the pretty cover (did I mention I saw this on the way to Florida and my Dad noticed and made me walk away? Le cry.)
But finally, great things happened and I got my copy! And boy, did I lug that thing everywhere! As much as I like hardbacks, they are a struggle to fit into my handbag alongside all the rubbish that I pack in there, so I am usually crammed into the 7am train to work with the book practically touching my nose and my handbag on my lap as commuters glance around me on their Kindles, (I am too stubborn to convert. And books smell good. Fact.)
Anyway, enough about my strange morning habits, onto the story!
This story focuses around the topic of lies, but more so around a group of parents whose children are starting their first day at kindergarden. From what I can tell seeing as the children all seem to be around the age of five, for the UK, that is about Reception year. Now as some of you know, parents can be very...lets say...interesting when it comes to their children. A variety of those different personalities crop up, personalities which we have all seen on the playground, be it if you were a parent yourself, a sibling, or the little darling child waiting to be picked up, you've seen them.
We have Madeline, the type of mother who hides her insecurities by buying the latest stilettos despite her money issues, all whilst being quite whimsical in her way alongside her partner in crime Celeste, who has a super rich husband and is so naturally beautiful she would make any woman weep. Oh, and did I mention that they're gossips?
Next up, we have Renata, the working mother who reckons she runs the school, the parental committee and probably everyones bladder functions. Seriously, she's that bad. And to make matters worse, she has a loyal lapdog in the form of Harper. You know, when you were in high school and you saw the irritatingly smart popular girls backed up by little minions who echoed what they said like parrots? Yeah. That.
There's Bonnie, the new wife of Madeline's ex husband whose determined to show Madeline's 14 year old daughter Abigail a new natural, calm and namaste way of living...
And last but by no means least, there's Jane. The character who changes everything. Why, if she hadn't come to Piriwee would any of this have happened? Oh, and did I mention she sticks out like a sore thumb? She's not a gossip, a hippy or a control freak. Nope, she's just...
Yeah. Not as classy.
Moriarty begins Little Lies through the eyes of an elderly lady who lives by the school. All poor Mrs Ponder is doing is talking to her cat as if she were a person, and happens to pace over to her window to hear quite a ruckus. As the reader, we are keen to continue, what the heck is happening, you ask?
Well folks, as they say in good ol' Midsomer (points if you get that reference) THERES BEEN A MURDAH!
Cool it, no supernatural stuff here. (though that skeleton is creepy eh?) Just a murder. That happened at a trivia night. Where all the parents were. Holy crap. So the book continues from what innocent old Mrs Ponder saw into a classic who-dun-it story with so many other storylines that your brain starts to wander off from the main one, in the classic Moriarty style, making the ending even more gripping and so very satisfying. I've found Liane Moriarty to be, like Linwood Barclay, an author who I can never guess the ending of her books. And I love that in an author. Of course, as a writer myself and an avid reader, I expect myself to know endings to books, and to be surprised so often is refreshing and exciting. Just like with The Husband's Secret, I had to take a few minutes after reading one of the penultimate chapters (Moriarty always reveals the twist a few chapters before the end, and gives us the last few to deal with it, wonderful!) and then still had a complete fangirl meltdown.
Congrats Liane Moriarty you did it again!
Goodreads Rating: 5 Stars...duh.
No comments:
Post a Comment