Big Little Lies

I'd finished Only Child and needed something else to read while I was in New York for Christmas. Spotted this on Overdrive, remembered I'd liked Liane Moriarty, figured I'd want something lighter and fluffier than Only Child. When asked by my daughter what I was reading, I said, "Some chick lit by Liane Moriarty." She knew that Big Little Lies was an HBO mini-series. What did I know?

Seriously? What did I know!

Big Little Lies was not the fluffy chick lit that I was expecting. It was funny. It was easy to read. There was lots of sweetness. But it was also chockfull of big issues. I mean big issues. Bullying - on both the child and adult level. Domestic violence. Sexual violence. And how all this impacts families around us.

If you've been following my reviews for any time, you know that I seem to enjoy books more when I can make personal connections. It seems almost wild to me all the connections I was able to make to this book and the characters in it. Crazy, I tell you!

I could relate to Madeline. She's married with 3 children. But her current husband is her second husband and her oldest child is from her first husband. And her teenage daughter decides that life will be better living with the father who had abandoned her. Oh, yes, I could relate on so many levels.

I could relate to how Madeline felt after learning more about Celeste's marriage. Madeline feels like she's not been the greatest friend. When I was faced with something similar, I felt that my support after the fact was more important than my awareness earlier on.

I could relate to Celeste on a tiny level. I was married to a wealthy man and had so much more financial freedom when I was married to him. My former husband wasn't charming nor did he care about appearances, so that's where that small connection ends.

I could relate to Jane, the single mother. Jane's youth stands out and is what keeps her apart. I wasn't a young single mother. But I was a single mother in a very married community.

I could also totally relate to Miss Barnes, the kindergarten teacher. I remember being faced with bullying in the classroom that it was impossible to be on top of. That always gave me a sick feeling. Sometimes I was aware of what was going on, but was unable to figure out who the bully was. I wanted to work with the parents, I felt I was doing my best to try to get some control over the situation, but more times than not, that was so stinking difficult!

Not only was their bullying on the kids' level, there were a bunch of parent bullies as well. Although there was no desire by the adult bullies to cover up their bullying. They did it in the open for all to see. How or why mothers (and yes, it was mostly mothers in the novel) think it's okay to act that way towards other parents is astounding!

The story is set in a beachside town in the suburbs of Sydney, Australia. I can't tell you how many times I wanted to just hop on a flight and visit Madeline, Celeste and Jane. I'm in a daily photo group on Facebook that was originated in Australia. Many of the participants are in Australia. As I'd read, I'd picture Pirriwee to look like some of the photos I've seen posted online. I wanted to be there!

And oh, did I want a coffee shop like Blue Blues and a barista like Tom.

I've read that if I watch the miniseries, my wanderlust will be over the chart! I wonder where I can watch it without having HBO. Does anyone know?

Would I recommend this book? Totally! I also think it would be a great book club book fora book club with a younger dynamic than my community book club and with more of a popular lit bend than Books & Beer.