By Margaret S. Hamilton
“Mary-Louise leaned forward and poked Bonnie in the center
of her chest, just beneath her collarbone, the same way she’d poked Celeste in
the shoulder earlier that night. Her tone was like hard candy: sweet and
brittle. ‘Murdered anyone lately, Bonnie?’” (p.73)
Remember Liane Moriarty’s Big Little Lies, published
to popular acclaim in 2014 and followed by the dark comedy HBO series? The five
women characters have returned in a sequel, Big Little Truths. It’s the
best book I’ve read in 2026.
Set in a small town near Sydney, Australia, Moriarty’s two
books combine a traumatizing incident with the often hilarious actions of the
five women. In the sequel set ten years after the first book, Madeline faces a
cancer scare and upcoming marriage of her older daughter. Widowed Celeste works
remotely for a legal publisher and picks up the new guy in town. With her
husband in prison for financial crimes, Renata starts her new life taking
motorcycle lessons. Jane is married and pondering another pregnancy. Bonnie
discovers that yoga will not solve all of life’s problems. An additional
character, Mary-Louise, Celeste’s annoying mother-in-law, continues to meddle
in Celeste’s life.
The kindergarten children in the first book are now fifteen
and enrolled in the local high school. A new, charismatic history teacher,
Melody Montclair, joins the faculty. The new principal receives a dead man’s
severed finger in the mail.
As in Where’d You Go Bernadette? or Up the Down
Staircase, the narrative is enhanced by frequent postings from the
principal and the school parents’ Whatsapp site. The transcript of a group
therapy session for the kids runs through the book, providing perspective on
their joint history project and daily interactions with each other.
Josh and Max are Celeste’s twin surfing sons. Ziggy is
their half-brother. Amabella is Renata’s talented and gifted daughter. Chloe is
Madeleine’s younger daughter and Skye is Bonnie’s daughter and Chloe’s
half-sister.
And we’re off to the races: in addition to all the personal
drama the five women are facing as they turn fifty, a middle-aged man driving a
green Volvo lurks around town, asking questions about the new history teacher. While
researching Ms. Montclair’s past, the kids discover a high school student trafficking
situation, which they reveal in a short documentary video. Almost as an
afterthought, the source of the severed finger is revealed.
As a veteran parent of three teenagers, I found the
transcript of the kid’s comments hilarious, much more interesting than the
petty and more serious problems of their parents. The transcript drives the
plot and the teens solve the mystery. The parents realize they owe their kids
complete explanations about past events, the “big little truths.”
Moriarty’s descriptions are sheer perfection, and she has
the uncanny ability to elevate mundane domestic details—Madeline getting her
hair styled—into an accurate portrayal of the character.
Readers and Writers, do you enjoy a blend of tension and
dark comedy?
Margaret S. Hamilton writes the Jericho Mystery series.
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