Review: Liane Moriarty's 'Big Little Truths' aims for high drama but falls short of its predecessor

Liane Moriarty has returned to the fictional Pirriwee Peninsula, the setting of her bestselling 2014 novel Big Little Lies, with a sequel titled Big Little Truths. The book comes twelve years after the original's publication and follows the same community as its children, once kindergarteners, are now teenagers.

Big Little Lies was a major commercial success, topping the New York Times bestseller list and later adapted into an HBO miniseries starring Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman and Zoe Kravitz. In the new novel, Moriarty opens with a note to readers explaining how the book both responds to elements of the television adaptation and returns to the original setting on Sydney's northern beaches.

A shattered idyll

According to a review of the book, the story again disrupts the outwardly peaceful setting, this time when a severed human finger is sent to the local high school, setting off a new mystery. The review notes that several plotlines, including menopause among the now-older mothers and a teenage vaping subplot, are introduced alongside a stalker storyline.

However, the review is critical of the book's length and pacing, describing it as running over 400 pages while offering comparatively modest narrative payoff. It suggests that despite the return of familiar characters and setting, the sequel does not reach the level of tension and intrigue that characterised the original novel.

Big Little Truths marks Moriarty's first sequel to any of her novels, reflecting the scale of the original book's cultural impact. The review's assessment suggests that longtime fans of the franchise may find the follow-up a mixed experience, valuable for its return to familiar characters but less successful as a standalone thriller.