Review ~ Little Lies by Liane Moriarty

Michael Joseph
Penguin UK
July 2014

Jane and her small son, Ziggy move to a beach resort in one of the Australian suburbs. It’s one of those small towns where everyone knows everyone else and for a time Jane struggles to fit in, until she is taken under the capable wing of Madeline, who introduces her to the other mothers with children at the Pirriwee Kindergarten. However, in this upper middle class utopia, emotions run high, petty jealousies are rife and the ubiquitous competition between these upper middle class mothers is so fierce it’s frightening to behold.

Although the story starts off slowly, don’t be fooled into thinking nothing much is happening, because the tension gradually starts to build as tantalising glimpses of what is to come start to be revealed. The book’s central theme of motherhood, friendship and some of the more disturbing aspects of family life is expertly controlled by an author at the top end of her game. There is no doubt that Liane Moriarty is a master at the minutiae of daily life, she creates a world that is utterly recognisable, and adds in problems and scenarios which could all too easily take place in your own community. I love how she develops her characters, so that they become entirely believable, and before too long you start to miss them when you have to put the story down, and believe me, it becomes really difficult to put this one down.

This is now the third book by this talented author that I have been lucky enough to read and review and in my opinion Liane Moriarty's storytelling just gets better and better. To give any more clues about what takes place would be a complete disservice, both to the author and to the story, so on that note, I’ll just end with the immortal words...read it for yourself.

My thanks to Real Readers and Penguin UK for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book.

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About the Author

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