Big Little Lies

I had a feeling that this was going to be an unputdownable read when the quote on the cover was by Stephen King, claiming it to be "A hell of a good book. Funny and scary."

Now an HBO series with an all star cast, Moriarty's book may be overshadowed by the TV presentation but it shouldn't be as it an excellent book. Dealing with three main characters and their very different lives, Big Little Lies is set in a small beachside town outside Sydney, Australia and the lynchpin around which the action revolves is Pirriwee Primary School where the mothers (and fathers) have children who are entering kindergarten.

When someone is killed at a school event, Moriarty's novel sets out to show us the circumstances leading up to the incident by taking us back to the very start to where our three main characters, Jane, Madeline and Celeste first meet.

Jane is new to the area and meets Madeline on her way to the school and rescues her from a tricky situation. Madeline becomes her friend and staunch ally in a bullying furore which starts during kindergarten orientation day and centres on Jane's son Ziggy and a girl called Amabella. Celeste is Madeline's friend too, beautiful and married to Perry, a very successful hedge fund manager - they really do look like the perfect couple.

The three of them have to navigate the school atmosphere which becomes increasingly hostile towards Jane and Ziggy, as well as the many difficulties that they have in their home lives.

Moriarty's style is suspenseful as you know someone has been killed but you don't know which one of the characters it is until the end. She switches between the main characters with ease and I liked how we heard their inner monologue, especially that of Madeline whose control in social situations is the most questionable. I also liked her inclusion of little snippets of how the other parents viewed what happened, their perspective perhaps altered by who they are aligned to in the Jane/Ziggy bullying debate.

The depiction of the new mum school experience is exaggerated but has elements true enough to keep it relevant and real. It is a good mix, funny at times as well as dealing with the dark situations in which the characters find themselves, which propose serious issues and discussion.

To paraphrase Stephen King, a really great book.