Sept. 2023 - Mystery Book Club - Past Titles - LibGuides at Westwood Public Library

"Big Little Lies" by Liane Moriarty

Big Little Lies (Movie Tie-In) by Liane Moriarty
Call Number: FICTION Moriarty
A murder...A tragic accident...Or just parents behaving badly? What's indisputable is that someone is dead. Madeline is a force to be reckoned with. She's funny, biting, and passionate; she remembers everything and forgives no one. Celeste is the kind of beautiful woman who makes the world stop and stare but she is paying a price for the illusion of perfection. New to town, single mom Jane is so young that another mother mistakes her for a nanny. She comes with a mysterious past and a sadness beyond her years. These three women are at different crossroads, but they will all wind up in the same shocking place. Big Little Lies is a brilliant take on ex-husbands and second wives, mothers and daughters, schoolyard scandal, and the little lies that can turn lethal.

Themes and Motifs:

What themes did you notice throughout the book? How do issues like domestic violence, friendship, and parenting play a role in the story?

How does the author use the motif of secrets and lies to drive the narrative? How do these elements impact the characters' lives?

Characters:

Who did you find to be the most relatable character? Why?

Discuss the complexities of the main characters' relationships: Madeline, Celeste, and Jane. How do their backgrounds and personalities influence their interactions with each other?

Which character's perspective did you find most compelling, and why?

Parenting and Social Pressures:

The book highlights the challenges of parenting and the societal pressures that come with it. How do various characters approach the concept of parenting, and how do these approaches differ?

How do the kindergarten orientation and school events mirror the larger dynamics of the parents' lives and relationships?

Narrative Structure:

The story is structured around interviews with witnesses and snippets of public opinion. How does this narrative style affect your reading experience? How does it build suspense and intrigue?

Domestic Violence and Abuse:

How does the novel handle the topic of domestic violence and abuse? How does it shed light on the complexity of abusive relationships?

Discuss the portrayal of Celeste's struggle with her abusive marriage. How does the story handle this delicate and often sensitive subject matter?

Friendships and Loyalties:

Examine the friendships among the main characters. How do their friendships evolve throughout the story?

How do the characters' loyalties to each other intersect with the theme of secrets? How do friendships help the characters cope with their personal challenges?

Plot Twists and Suspense:

Were you surprised by the various plot twists and revelations? Which moments stood out to you the most?

How does the author use the device of the impending Trivia Night incident to build tension and suspense?

Empowerment and Redemption:

Discuss the moments of empowerment and redemption for the characters. How do they find strength and reclaim their lives?

How does the ending of the novel reflect growth and change in the characters' lives?

Adaptation to Television:

If you've watched the television adaptation of "Big Little Lies," how does the book compare to the series? How did the adaptation handle the characters and themes?

Personal Connection:

Did any particular aspect of the story resonate with your own experiences or observations?

How did reading this book make you reflect on your own relationships, secrets, and personal challenges?

Liane Moriarty was born on November 15, 1966, in Sydney, Australia. She grew up in a family of readers and writers, which likely influenced her passion for storytelling. She attended Macquarie University in Sydney, where she studied English and Law. Moriarty began her career in advertising and marketing before deciding to pursue writing full-time. Her early attempts at writing were not successful, but her breakthrough came with the release of her debut novel, "Three Wishes," in 2003. However, she gained widespread recognition and popularity with her later novels. One of Moriarty's most famous works is "Big Little Lies," published in 2014. This novel was adapted into a highly successful television series of the same name, starring Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, and Shailene Woodley. The story revolves around a group of women in a coastal town and delves into themes of domestic violence, friendship, and secrets. Many of Moriarty's novels explore the intricacies of relationships, family dynamics, and personal secrets in a relatable and engaging manner. Her writing style often combines humor with deeper emotional themes, making her books resonate with a wide audience.

Non Series:
- Three Wishes (2003)
- The Last Anniversary (2006)
- What Alice Forgot (2009)
- The Hypnotist's Love Story (2011)
- The Husband's Secret (2013)
- Big Little Lies (2014)
- Truly Madly Guilty (2016)
- Nine Perfect Strangers (2018)
- Apples Never Fall (2021)
The Space Brigade (Nicola Berry) Series:
- The Petrifying Problem with Princess Petronella (2007)
- The Shocking Trouble on the Planet of Shobble (2009)
- The Wicked War on the Planet of Whimsy (2009)

Big Little Lies

Based on Liane Moriarty's bestselling book, this subversive, darkly comedic drama series tells the tale of three mothers of first-graders whose seemingly perfect lives unravel to the point of murder. The stellar cast includes Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, Shailene Woodley, Alexander Skarsgard, Laura Dern, Adam Scott, Zoe Kravitz, James Tupper and Jeffrey Nordling.

Whisper Network by Chandler Baker
Call Number: FICTION Baker
Sloane, Ardie, Grace, and Rosalita have worked at Truviv, Inc. for years. The sudden death of Truviv's CEO means their boss, Ames, will likely take over the entire company. Each of the women has a different relationship with Ames, who has always been surrounded by whispers about how he treats women. Those whispers have been ignored, swept under the rug, hidden away by those in charge. But the world has changed, and the women are watching this promotion differently. This time, when they find out Ames is making an inappropriate move on a colleague, they aren't willing to let it go. This time, they've decided enough is enough. Sloane and her colleagues' decision to take a stand sets in motion a catastrophic shift in the office. Lies will be uncovered. Secrets will be exposed. And not everyone will survive. All of their lives--as women, colleagues, mothers, wives, friends, even adversaries--will change dramatically as a result.
The Party by Robyn Harding
Call Number: FICTION Harding
One invitation. A lifetime of regrets. Sweet sixteen. It's an exciting coming-of-age, a milestone, and a rite of passage. Jeff and Kim Sanders plan on throwing a party for their daughter, Hannah--a sweet girl with good grades and nice friends. Rather than an extravagant, indulgent affair, they invite four girls over for pizza, cake, movies, and a sleepover. What could possibly go wrong? But things do go wrong, horrifically so, and Jeff and Kim's flawless life in a wealthy San Francisco suburb suddenly begins to come apart. In the ugly aftermath, friends become enemies, dark secrets are revealed in the Sanders' marriage, and the truth about their perfect daughter is exposed.
The Mere Wife by Maria Dahvana Headley
Call Number: FICTION Headly
From the perspective of those who live in Herot Hall, the suburb is a paradise. Picket fences divide buildings--high and gabled--and the community is entirely self-sustaining. Each house has its own fireplace, each fireplace is fitted with a container of lighter fluid, and outside--in lawns and on playgrounds--wildflowers seed themselves in neat rows. But for those who live surreptitiously along Herot Hall's periphery, the subdivision is a fortress guarded by an intense network of gates, surveillance cameras, and motion-activated lights. For Willa, the wife of Roger Herot (heir of Herot Hall), life moves at a charmingly slow pace. She flits between mommy groups, playdates, cocktail hour, and dinner parties, always with her son, Dylan, in tow. Meanwhile, in a cave in the mountains just beyond the limits of Herot Hall lives Gren, short for Grendel, as well as his mother, Dana, a former soldier who gave birth as if by chance. Dana didn't want Gren, didn't plan Gren, and doesn't know how she got Gren, but when she returned from war, there he was. When Gren, unaware of the borders erected to keep him at bay, ventures into Herot Hall and runs off with Dylan, Dana's and Willa's worlds collide.
The Family Next Door by Sally Hepworth
Call Number: FICTION Hepworth
From the outside, Essie's life looks idyllic: a loving husband, a beautiful house, and a nearby mother who dotes on her granddaughter. But few of Essie's friends know her secret shame: that in a moment of maternal despair, she once walked away from her newborn, who was asleep in her stroller in a park. Disaster was avoided and Essie got better. But she still is anxious about what could have happened, even as her daughter gets older and she has a second baby. When a woman named Isabelle moves in next door to Essie, she is an immediate object of curiosity in the neighborhood. Why single, when everyone else is married with children? Why renting, when everyone else owns? What mysterious job does she have? And why is she so fascinated with Essie? As the two women grow closer and Essie's friends voice their disapproval, it starts to become clear that Isabelle's choice of address was no accident--and that her presence threatens to bring shocking secrets to light.
The Gifted School by Bruce Holsinger
Call Number: FICTION Holsinger
Smart and juicy, a compulsively readable novel about a previously happy group of friends and parents that is nearly destroyed by their own competitiveness when an exclusive school for gifted children opens in the community This deliciously sharp novel captures the relentless ambitions and fears that animate parents and their children in modern America, exploring the conflicts between achievement and potential, talent and privilege. Set in the fictional town of Crystal, Colorado, The Gifted School is a keenly entertaining novel that observes the drama within a community of friends and parents as good intentions and high ambitions collide in a pile-up with long-held secrets and lies. Seen through the lens of four families who've been a part of one another's lives since their kids were born over a decade ago, the story reveals not only the lengths that some adults are willing to go to get ahead, but the effect on the group's children, sibling relationships, marriages, and careers, as simmering resentments come to a boil and long-buried, explosive secrets surface and detonate. It's a humorous, keenly observed, timely take on ambitious parents, willful kids, and the pursuit of prestige, no matter the cost.
Miracle Creek by Angie Kim
Call Number: FICTION Kim
How far will you go to protect your family? Will you keep their secrets? Ignore their lies? In a small town in Virginia, a group of people know each other because they're part of a special treatment center, a hyperbaric chamber that may cure a range of conditions from infertility to autism. But then the chamber explodes, two people die, and it's clear the explosion wasn't an accident. A powerful showdown unfolds as the story moves across characters who are all maybe keeping secrets, hiding betrayals. Chapter by chapter, we shift alliances and gather evidence: Was it the careless mother of a patient? Was it the owners, hoping to cash in on a big insurance payment and send their daughter to college? Could it have been a protester, trying to prove the treatment isn't safe?
A Good Marriage by Kimberly McCreight
Call Number: FICTION McCreight
Lizzie Kitsakis is working late when she gets the call. Grueling hours are standard at elite law firms like Young & Crane, but they'd be easier to swallow if Lizzie was there voluntarily. Until recently, she'd been a happily underpaid federal prosecutor. That job and her brilliant, devoted husband Sam--she had everything she'd ever wanted. And then, suddenly, it all fell apart. No. That's a lie. It wasn't sudden, was it? Long ago the cracks in Lizzie's marriage had started to show. She was just good at averting her eyes. The last thing Lizzie needs right now is a call from an inmate at Rikers asking for help--even if Zach Grayson is an old friend. But Zach is desperate: his wife, Amanda, has been found dead at the bottom of the stairs in their Brooklyn brownstone. And Zach's the primary suspect. As Lizzie is drawn into the dark heart of idyllic Park Slope, she learns that Zach and Amanda weren't what they seemed--and that their friends, a close-knit group of fellow parents at the exclusive Brooklyn Country Day school, might be protecting troubling secrets of their own. In the end, she's left wondering not only whether her own marriage can be saved, but what it means to have a good marriage in the first place.
Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
Call Number: FICTION Ng
In Shaker Heights, a placid, progressive suburb of Cleveland, everything is planned--from the layout of the winding roads, to the colors of the houses, to the successful lives its residents will go on to lead. And no one embodies this spirit more than Elena Richardson, whose guiding principle is playing by the rules. Enter Mia Warren--an enigmatic artist and single mother--who arrives in this idyllic bubble with her teenaged daughter Pearl, and rents a house from the Richardsons. Soon Mia and Pearl become more than tenants: all four Richardson children are drawn to the mother-daughter pair. But Mia carries with her a mysterious past and a disregard for the status quo that threatens to upend this carefully ordered community. When old family friends of the Richardsons attempt to adopt a Chinese-American baby, a custody battle erupts that dramatically divides the town--and puts Mia and Elena on opposing sides. Suspicious of Mia and her motives, Elena is determined to uncover the secrets in Mia's past. But her obsession will come at unexpected and devastating costs. Little Fires Everywhere explores the weight of secrets, the nature of art and identity, and the ferocious pull of motherhood--and the danger of believing that following the rules can avert disaster.
Not That I Could Tell by Jessica Strawser
Call Number: FICTION Stawser
When a group of neighborhood women gathers, wine in hand, around a fire pit where their backyards meet one Saturday night, most of them are just ecstatic to have discovered that their baby monitors reach that far. It's a rare kid-free night, and they're giddy with it. They drink too much, and the conversation turns personal. By Monday morning, one of them is gone. Everyone knows something about everyone else in the quirky small Ohio town of Yellow Springs, but no one can make sense of the disappearance. Kristin was a sociable twin mom, college administrator, and doctor's wife who didn't seem all that bothered by her impending divorce--and the investigation turns up more questions than answers, with her husband, Paul, at the center. For her closest neighbor, Clara, the incident triggers memories she thought she'd put behind her--and when she's unable to extract herself from the widening circle of scrutiny, her own suspicions quickly grow. But the neighborhood's newest addition, Izzy, is determined not to jump to any conclusions--especially since she's dealing with a crisis of her own. As the police investigation goes from a media circus to a cold case, the neighbors are forced to reexamine what's going on behind their own closed doors--and to ask how well anyone really knows anyone else.

Mystery Book Club - Past Titles: Sept. 2023

"Big Little Lies" by Liane Moriarty

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