What’s worse than a big little lie? An even bigger little truth . . .
Ten years ago, at the Pirriwee Primary school gates, the friendships of Celeste, Jane and Madeline were forged in the fires of young motherhood, the big little lies we all tell to hide our deepest fears and secrets – and the event that changed everything.
Now mothers to hormonal teens, these frazzled friends are starting to worry about the strangers occupying their kids’ bedrooms. Or they would, if they weren’t so distracted by their own problems.
Because:
Madeline’s landmark birthday is about to land a bombshell.
Jane’s rock-solid marriage is suddenly crumbling.
And Celeste’s mother-in-law is asking awkward questions about the past.
Not to mention the mystery of who sent the school principal a freshly severed finger.
So many difficult little truths.
Such a pity then that not a one of them can see the biggest ugliest truth hiding in their midst . . .
Reading this book felt like catching up with old friends and listening to their latest gossip. It was good to be back in Pirriwee and it’s a testament to the HBO series that I was surprised to be in Australia. The music, casting and setting of the series were so strong that I was seeing Reece Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman as I was reading. The ongoing lives of Madeline, Celeste and Jane are narrated in chapters headed with their names. In between is the transcript of a group counselling session with all the teenagers. All of this must link to a package, sent to the school containing a severed human finger. Their narration has all the hallmarks of life in the dreaded ‘middle’ even though Jane is a little younger than her friends. Their days are taken up with the care of their teenagers and elderly parents, ill health, the question of more children before menopause, big birthday celebrations and a role as mother of the bride for one of our friends. There’s also a cool new teacher at the school who’s keen to make friends. Underlying this are the events of the previous novel – the trauma of domestic violence for Celeste and the loss of Perry her husband, the discovery that Jane had a non-consensual experience with Perry resulting in the birth of her son Ziggy, and Perry’s ‘accidental’ death at a fancy dress party. Bonnie, the wife of Madeleine’s ex-husband Nathan is processing the trauma of pushing Perry to his eventual death and both she and Renata have larger roles in this follow up.
Our new storylines are the growing presence and confusion of Celeste’s mother-in-law Mary Louise, who is both monstrous and hilarious at the same time. Celeste has to cope with Mary-Louise’s perception of Perry as her golden boy and her perception of Bonnie as a murderer. In a co-hort of liberal and correct women, her loose canon approach is hilarious at times. However she’s in danger of ruining her twin grandsons and turning them into their father. On a more positive note she treats Jane’s son Ziggy equally and insists on spending time with all three, much to Jane’s anxiety. Jane is coping with Perry’s ever widening circle of victims as the consequences of his actions affect her marriage and Tom in particular. Celeste is worried that Mary-Louise is being unusually spontaneous, erratic and forgetful. The fear of being responsible for a woman she never bonded with is always in the back of her mind. Madeline is turning 50, but instead of all eyes being on her the limelight is stolen by her eldest daughter and the ‘perfect boyfriend’ when he decides to publicly propose. Madeleine is just waiting for the cracks to show in this seemingly faultless young man, but soon planning for the wedding falls to the wayside as she finds a lump in her breast and needs to undergo diagnostic procedures. Facing her mortality and waiting for her test results has Madeline on a very thin rope, however it’s a bombshell from husband Ed that really brings life to a crashing halt. It. was interesting to see Madeline actually lose some of her famous composure and with very good reason.
The peripheral characters are also back and with a little bit more space to grow, something the author has deliberately done after watching actress Laura Dern turn the small role of Renata into something really interesting. Now she’s in the centre of the group more and I really enjoyed her ballsy choices and independent spirit, such as taking motorcycle lessons. She’s also a lot more astute than the others give her credit for, calmly sitting back and reading people perfectly. Bonnie has always felt underused in the first novel, now we focus on her a little more as she continues to process the trauma of Perry’s death and struggles to communicate with her daughter. Then there’s new woman in town and everyone’s favourite teacher, Melody, who is soon at Tom’s morning boot camp and gravitating towards the friends. She’s a good listener and brilliant at giving women permission to focus on their own needs between all the demands on our time. The freedom Jane feels when she’s taken to a club spontaneously and just lets loose is so lovely to see. The rather magical weekend away she organises is another hit, allowing Madeline to open up about struggles she’s having. Melody starts to feel like a fairy godmother and as the women welcome her into their friendship group, their teenagers enjoy her approach to teaching and she looks like a welcome addition to their community. There’s a new principle too and Celeste meets a man called Marco who has also just moved to Piriwee and is pleasantly surprised to feel that tingle of excitement when meeting someone who has romantic potential.
So when a severed finger arrives at school addressed to the new principal rumours start to fly. A particularly worrying one for the parents is their kids casual joke about a ‘paedo’ middle aged man hanging around and asking questions about the school. Another rumour involves a mob boss who has the reputation for sending body parts through the mail when displeased, but who is his intended target? This central mystery meanders along through their busy lives. As before this set of parents are trying their best to work together, despite their tangled web of blended families. Jane hates being with Mary Louise, in fact it makes her feel sick, but if it’s the price of Ziggy having a grandmother in his life she will persevere. Maddy tries to work with Bonnie and Nathan, actually turning to her ex-husband for help when she realises that she’s overwhelmed. I felt so much for Jane and her experience of giving birth to the child of a man who has assaulted her. She finally shares something about Ziggy’s birth that I really identified with and found very emotional. The only jarring note in the whole narrative was the transcript of the teenagers who seem to be super intelligent and articulate compared with teenagers I know. They felt way more sophisticated (and rich) than me. I did have some inkling of the central mystery but it didn’t detract from my enjoyment at all. I’d feared I might be let down by this sequel but it definitely lived up to the first novel and the TV series. It still had that difficult to describe magic that makes you want to read it all in one go and I pretty much did.
Out now from Michael Joseph
Meet the Author
Liane Moriarty is the Australian author of nine internationally best-selling novels: Three Wishes, The Last Anniversary, What Alice Forgot, The Hypnotist’s Love Story, Nine Perfect Strangers and the number one New York Times bestsellers: The Husband’s Secret, Big Little Lies, Truly Madly Guilty and Apples Never Fall. Her books have been translated into over forty languages and sold more than 20 million copies.
Big Little Lies, Nine Perfect Strangers and Apples Never Fall were adapted into popular television series with the star-studded casts including Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon, Melissa McCarthy and Annette Bening.
Liane lives in Sydney, Australia, together with her husband, son and daughter.
