Mystery set in REYKJAVIK
Novel set in fictional Pirriwee, Northern Beaches, SYDNEY
12th August 2026
Big Little Truths by Liane Moriarty, novel set in fictional Pirriwee, Northern Beaches, SYDNEY.
This is the sequel to Big Little Lies, and a fitting one, too! In the Author’s Note at the beginning, Moriarty talks about the HBO series of Big Little Lies, and how location was moved from Sydney to Monterey, California. She stresses that Big Little Truths is a sequel to the book and not the series (an important distinction). And yet, she acknowledges, the TV adaptation did have an effect on her storytelling – for example, the character of Renata, played so well by Laura Dern, now has more prominence, and Celeste’s mother-in-law, Mary-Louise, is accorded more of a storyline given the terrific performance by Meryl Streep.
In an article in the Sunday Times Style Section 9 August 2026, there is an interview with Liane Moriarty and the interviewer states: “Big Little Truths will be everywhere this Summer”. Indeed it will. I read this novel for Grazia Book Club (August 2026) and one of the questions we had was, why is it being published at the end of August, when the Summer is coming to an end? Why has it not been published earlier in the year to catch the Summer market? We could only assume that the publisher has a plan, given how high profile this author is.
The first novel explored all kinds of fissures in that seemingly lovely suburb of Pirriwee, yet there was a murder at Pirriwee Public School’s trivia night. This time a severed finger is sent via the post to the school, a mystery that rumbles on throughout the story.
The novel opens 10 years down the line, with Madeline’s 50th birthday party, and she is still hanging out with with her cohort of Celeste, Jane, Bonnie and Renata, who came together in the first novel. Now they face that period of life when life can prove to be such a squeeze, from the demands and needs of the preceding generation to managing and nurturing the children into adulthood, the women caught in between the two. (This period of life, by the way, has been beautifully captured by Catherine Newman in Sandwich, set on Cape Cod).
Anyway, as you might expect, this is a cracking read, with excellent observation and tremendous characters – Liane Moriarty is on top form. AND you don’t need to have read Big Little Lies, but you’ll get so much more out of this novel if you do.!
Tina for the TripFiction Team
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