image of person or book cover 3625509572573251900.jpg
Image courtesy of publisher's website.
y separately published work icon Big Little Lies single work   novel   crime  
Issue Details: First known date: 2014... 2014 Big Little Lies
The material on this page is available to AustLit subscribers. If you are a subscriber or are from a subscribing organisation, please log in to gain full access. To explore options for subscribing to this unique teaching, research, and publishing resource for Australian culture and storytelling, please contact us or find out more.

AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'I guess it started with the mothers.'

'It was all just a terrible misunderstanding.'

'I'll tell you exactly why it happened.'

'Pirriwee Public's annual school Trivia Night has ended in a shocking riot. A parent is dead. Was it murder, a tragic accident... or something else entirely?

'Big Little Lies is a funny, heartbreaking, challenging story of ex-husbands and second wives, new friendships, old betrayals and and schoolyard politics.

'No. 1 New York Times bestselling author turns her unique gaze on the dangerous little lies we tell ourselves every day and what really goes on behind closed suburban doors.

'Let me be clear. This is not a circus. This is a murder investigation.'

(Publication summary)

Adaptations

form y separately published work icon Big Little Lies David E. Kelley , ( dir. Jean-Marc Vallée ) United States of America (USA) : Blossom Films Pacific Standard HBO , 2017-2019 8571236 2017 series - publisher film/TV

An adaptation of Liane Moriarty's novel of parents whose lives unravel after the annual trivia night at the beachside primary school Pirriwee Public ends in a riot, leaving one parent dead.

The adaptation moves the location to California. Series two moves beyond the events of the novel to new content.

Notes

  • Reading group notes available here.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

Alternative title: Μυστικά Και Ψέμματα
Transliterated title: Mystika Kai Psemata
Language: Greek
    • Athens,
      c
      Greece,
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,
      :
      Psychogios ,
      2015 .
      image of person or book cover 611925360723613022.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 448p.
      Note/s:
      • Published 24 September 2015
      ISBN: 9786180112337

Other Formats

  • Sound recording.
  • Dyslexic edition.
  • Sound recording (French, Spanish)

Works about this Work

Melodramatic Potboilers, Worthy Classics and DIY Escapism : A Brief History of the Beach Read Julian Novitz , 2023 single work column
— Appears in: The Conversation , 3 January 2023;
Genre and Gender : Reading Domestic Noir through the Lens of Feminist Criminology Meg Vann , 2019 single work criticism
— Appears in: TEXT Special Issue Website Series , October no. 57 2019;
'The contemporary crime fiction trend of domestic noir evinces literary themes and features that align with biases and advancements in criminological research, most specifically in feminist understandings of women and violence. Using the methodology of criminologist Drew Humphries as a conceptual framework, I analyse Liane Moriarty’s Big Little Lies (2014) to explore how key concepts in feminist criminology addressing domestic violence, including Critical Feminist Theory and Social Learning Theory, are useful in a textual analysis. I then demonstrate how this understanding of the production and subversion of generic features in domestic noir can be useful to inform creative work, with reference to my thriller novella Girl Crazy (2019).' (Publication abstract)
The Australian Working with Reese Witherspoon to Flip the Script on Women's Stories Anna Kelsey-Sugg , Verica Jokic , 2019 single work column
— Appears in: ABC News [Online] , April 2019;

'Years ago, at age 13, Sarah Harden wrote to Jana Wendt to express respect for the journalist's intelligence, humour and ability to handle Mick Jagger calling her "bossy boots".'

The Alluring World of Liane Moriarty Ceridwen Dovey , 2018 single work essay
— Appears in: The Monthly , October no. 149 2018; (p. 46-55)

'You know you've read a great book when it changes how you move through the world. That's how I felt after reading Big Little Lies, Australian author Liane Moriarty's sixth and best-known novel (thanks in part to its adaptation as an award-winning HBO TV series starring Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman). Moriarty's creative genius in this book, as in all her work, is to scrutinise a group of ordinary people forced to co-exist in an emotionally and morally charged situation. ' (Introduction)
 

Elvis and Jane Austen in Monterey : Big Little Lies Simon Petch , 2017 single work essay
— Appears in: Sydney Review of Books , August 2017;

'Madeline Martha Mackenzie, the central character in Liane Moriarty’s best-selling novel Big Little Lies, thinks of Pirriwee, the fictional suburb on Sydney’s northern beaches where she lives, and where the action of the novel takes place, as a ‘country village.’ This is a signpost to Jane Austen’s oft-quoted statement ‘Three or four families in a country village is the very thing to work on.’ As a definition of the scope and subject matter of a novel written in the mode of domestic realism, Austen’s formulation has established a major tradition within English-language fiction.'  (Introduction)

Big Little Lies Sonja Moore , 2014 single work review
— Appears in: The West Australian , 30-31 August 2014; (p. 21)

— Review of Big Little Lies Liane Moriarty , 2014 single work novel
Well Read Katharine England , 2014 single work review
— Appears in: The Advertiser , 27 September 2014; (p. 32)

— Review of The Rosie Effect Graeme Simsion , 2014 single work novel ; Big Little Lies Liane Moriarty , 2014 single work novel
Schooled in Deceit Touch of Humour Helps Lift Suburban Conflict Karen Hardy , 2014 single work interview
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 3 August 2014; (p. 26) The Sun-Herald , 3 August 2014;
Dreams of Writing No Longer a Footnote Jane Albert , 2014 single work column
— Appears in: The Australian , 7 August 2014; (p. 3)
Tween Favourites Vie for Supremacy Christmas Books Weigh in, and Not a Politico in Sight Linda Morris , 2014 single work column
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 6 December 2014; (p. 18) The Saturday Age , 6-7 December 2014; (p. 19)
Australian Leading Ladies’ Charge Garry Maddox , 2015 single work column
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 27 March 2015; (p. 32)
Literary Hotshot Fiona Purdon , 2015 single work column
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 27-28 June 2015; (p. 18)
Last amended 11 Jul 2024 14:47:22
Settings:
  • Northern Beaches area, Sydney Northeastern Suburbs, Sydney, New South Wales,
Newspapers:
    Powered by Trove
    X