Books & Needles March 10, 2018: Big Little Lies and Knots

Big Little Lies and Knots
by Lubna Maaliki

Yarnoholics. March 10, 2018. Café Younes

On Saturday March 10, six yarnoholics gathered over a cup of tea and some cakes to discuss Liane Moriarty’s “Big Little Lies”. The yarnoholics crocheted and knitted their way through the strings of Moriarty’s intriguing web of events, characters, emotions, and of course, lies.

“All conflict can be traced back to someone’s feelings getting hurt, don’t you think?”

― Liane Moriarty, Big Little Lies

The story takes place in an Australian town that overlooks the sea where Jane, a new-to-town, single mother of a five years old boy gets into a dispute with a mother at Pirriwee Public School. At that point, two mothers Madeline and Celeste decide to take Jane under their wing, not knowing how Jane will change the course of their lives.

The book begins with an elderly neighbor telling us what happened on Trivia night in the school next to her house. For all we [readers] know, is that police sirens were heard at the school along with screams and shouts of frantic parents followed by a police investigation.  After that, the chapters start with what happened almost three months prior to Trivia night, building up the suspense until we reach Trivia night once more followed by heavy confessions from several involved parents.

The Yarnoholics found the book relatable and agreed that it hits close to home in that the events of the book, mainly bullying, womanhood and perception of what is a woman, dysfunctional family dynamics, are present in our lives on daily basis.

“ I wasn't reading to know who committed the murder, I was following the characters’ development through the chapters, and the gossips”, said Wafaa while crocheting a baby pink quilt.

The members related strongly to the themes presented in the book and provided several quotes that reflect this matter.

“She'd swallowed it whole and pretended it meant nothing, and therefore it had come to mean everything.”

― Liane Moriarty, Big Little Lies

“It’s because a woman’s entire self-worth rests on her looks,” said Jane. “That’s why. It’s because we live in a beauty-obsessed society where the most important thing a woman can do is make herself attractive to men.”  

― Liane Moriarty, Big Little Lies

Big Little Lies was published in 2014 by Penguin Publishing and had made it to the New York Times Best Seller List. It is a vivid and at times a humorous intake on failed marriages, struggling mothers, family dynamics, and the lies that must be told for survival.