And they are an illustrious bunch: Jodi Picoult covered spouse abuse in Picture Perfect Cara Hoffman wrote about sexual violence in the military in Be Safe I Love You Chris Bohjalian’s Secrets of Eden tells the tale of a wife who keeps things too quiet. Moriarty may or may not be playing a deliberate hand in writing tough material, but doing so definitely places her in the company of her contemporaries who do. While Moriarty’s signature humor does bubble up occasionally (what elementary-school parent will not recognize the “blonde bobs,” those well-coiffed types who dominate PTA meetings?) she doesn’t shy away from describing a husband’s cold-blooded beating of his wife, a callous hotel date rape, or casual, vicious sniping that excludes a lonely young mother from a community. It’s a multiple-perspective novel about schoolyard bullying, malicious gossip, and domestic violence. That gentleman may be even more cross with Big Little Lies. “He seemed quite cross with me for trying something different.” “I had one gentleman ask me when I was going to go back to writing my funny books,” she says. Not all of her readers were pleased with the author’s more serious tone. I felt there were several repetitive areas within the book that accounted towards its slower pace, and I think this was done to really drill in Annie’s state of mind throughout.But with The Husband’s Secret, Moriarty explores more serious issues, including hit-and-run deaths, marital miscommunication, and a parent’s grief. I mentioned previously that this was quite a slow-paced thriller, and I think this was down to its character focus over plot focus. As the novel progresses we begin to get glimpses into her past, and it’s here that we start to learn why she is the way that she is.⁠ We really get a deep dive into Annie’s thoughts and feelings. However, this is a much slower paced thriller, focusing more on the mindset of our protagonist and unravelling the story of her past.⁠ĭefinitely more of a character focused novel. I went into this thinking it would be more of a fun fast-paced thriller with an unreliable narrator trying to recall what she did on the night a young girl went missing, slowly uncovering the memories of that night.

This one ended up being slightly different to how I expected it to be, but still an enjoyable thriller.⁠

Happy publication day to All Your Little Lies! This is her chance to prove to everybody that she’s worth something.

That all changes the night Chloe Hills disappears. But no one sees that side of Annie and she can’t understand why. Then she could tick “Full Happy Life” off her list. If only more people could see how friendly she is - how eager to help and please. Annie lives a quiet, contained, content life.

Little lies book