So, it has been decided that this will be our next book. It takes us longer to choose a new book than it does to review the previous one!! The group is make up of avid readers and therefore to find a book that no one has read before is a mammoth task so , after searching through the Goodreads site and numerous others we came upon this one!
Here’s an extract I found from the Penguin site:
Madeline is a force to be reckoned with. She’s funny and biting, passionate, she remembers everything and forgives no one. Her ex-husband and his yogi new wife have moved into her beloved beachside community, and their daughter is in the same kindergarten class as Madeline’s youngest (how is this possible?). And to top it all off, Madeline’s teenage daughter seems to be choosing Madeline’s ex-husband over her. (How. Is. This. Possible?).
Celeste is the kind of beautiful woman who makes the world stop and stare. While she may seem a bit flustered at times, who wouldn’t be, with those rambunctious twin boys? Now that the boys are starting school, Celeste and her husband look set to become the king and queen of the school parent body. But royalty often comes at a price, and Celeste is grappling with how much more she is willing to pay.
New to town, single mom Jane is so young that another mother mistakes her for the nanny. Jane is sad beyond her years and harbors secret doubts about her son. But why? While Madeline and Celeste soon take Jane under their wing, none of them realizes how the arrival of Jane and her inscrutable little boy will affect them all.
Big Little Lies is a brilliant take on ex-husbands and second wives, mothers and daughters, schoolyard scandal, and the dangerous little lies we tell ourselves just to survive.
So there we go. Lounger, suntan cream, nibbles and snacks and who knows, a glass of wine or two, will all be my companions this week while I lounge in the garden reading and basking in the heat of this greatly anticipated heatwave we have been promised. Oh, how I love retirement!!
Neath Book Club Blogger 
Being part of this book club, I am also looking forward to a relaxing Summer read. I am going to place my tablet away and go to our Local to borrow this book the traditional way, there is nothing like the scent of a book and the antisipation of what lies within. Happy reading .AJ
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This was a lovely, easy read. Once I started reading, it was hard to put it down! Had an interesting twist at the end. The interview clips throughout the story kept you wondering what happened, so kept reading to know more. Fab book – highly recommended!!!!
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I am loving this book!! I am finding the characters so amusing, tongue in cheek, I suppose! It would make such a fun film!! Having spent 34 years working in a school I have seen these mothers before! Not so much the dads but most definitely the mams…. and the poor little kids!! I’m just happy to pick the book up and put it down and pick it up and again, dipping in and out of the every day lives of these crazy families! Ok Off I go to read the next few chapters!
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Oh wow; I’ve just finished Big Little Lies and absolutely loved it on so many different levels. At first I thought it was a light hearted romp through school life, hilariously funny and a brilliant take on kindy kids and mums; the dialogue at the end of each chapter highlighting such differences in people’s perceptions of the same events is clever and funny; Liane just seems to get people. However beneath the light hearted humour and school yard gossip lie sinister undertones which keep you guessing throughout and she touches on much darker themes to include domestic violence, bullying, infidelity, sexual cruelty and childhood traumas as she explores the impact these bigger evils have upon her characters which ultimately leads to the violent and disastrous outcome of Trivia night. I thought it was a terrific read and completely relevant to our current schooling system, as I’m sure all the characters are instantly recognizable within the schools our children inhabit; the poor young teacher struggling to cope not just with the children but the pushy, educated parents whose expectations and demands are sky high especially those who are convinced that their offspring are gifted. I feel I have learnt a lot about domestic violence now thanks to this book and I Let you go; in both books beautiful, intelligent, sensitive women are completely captivated and beguiled by their seemingly charismatic, charming partners and once trapped into motherhood and marriage find it almost impossible to plan an escape route from the escalating abuse and violence they endure. In Big Little Lies you know from the start that a death is inevitable and as I got to know the characters better I virtually read the book in three sittings as I wanted to know which of the main protagonists would be the victim and tried to guess in advance the outcome of Trivia night. I can’t wait to read another book of hers now; I think she did a terrific job.
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I agree with much of what you say. I also will be charging on to Amazon to buy another book by Liane Moriarty. This was a brilliant read and so clever. I have just finished reading it and even though I thought it one of our best Book Club books I feel a little disappointed by the ending but can’t pinpoint why. Was I expecting something more sinister? More tragic – how anything could be more tragic than a death, I can’t put into words, but it seems that it ended very neatly. I will have to reserve my words for book club as I am conscious that by discussing the book in depth, then I am spoiling it for anyone reading this blog who has yet to read the book. The characters were great in this world but I have to admit that they didn’t grace the playground of my school! Some of the happenings did, the accusations of bullying, nits, Chinese whispers etc etc but a petition to get a child out of school on assumptions? No. The money and the wealth? No. The teachers making the cocktails at a school quiz? Don’t think so! Everyone getting SOOOO drunk? Bit far-fetched. But that wonderful secret life behind closed doors? I assume, most definitely! It was a joy to read. I look forward to a great discussion later this evening!!
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Big Little Lies
I had very low expectations for this book. I read the synopsis and thought “oh bugger – this sounds like Chick-Lit” (endearingly and more appropriately named “Sh!t Lit” by yours truly). And in a way, it was. But saying Big Little Lies is Chick-Lit is as much of a mistake as saying the movie Mean Girls (a comedy masterpiece) is a “film for girls”.
The book was an absolute joy – not in terms of the content though. No, the content is daaaaaaark. And the scariest thing is that the dark plots of the novel aren’t monsters like Stephen King’s Cujo or Pennywise the Clown – the horror in this book is the people themselves. The people and their situations. The three leading ladies all face difficulty in their own way (possibly Madeline less than Celeste and Jane) and the issues they face are those of the real world: domestic violence, bullying, the threat of technology and even the minefield of temperamental adolescence. The ladies are all flawed, all wonderful and I adored reading about their (vastly complicated) lives. The book is very much like an Australian version of the wonderful TV show ‘Desperate Housewives’ (again, of which I am a fan!). Spouses cheat, kids misbehave and we cheer and ask for more – humanity is a race of voyeurs!
I adored the book, even the ending. But I can completely understand if someone does not. The ending wraps up each individual plot well….but possibly too neatly for some people. Not me. The best novels are grounded in reality and even in real life, the “baddies” don’t always win. Sometimes there IS justice.
**** out of *****.
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