It's Big Little Lies, and don't try to translate
A murder took place during a parents' evening at the village elementary school. Only a few women know what happened. And all of them are lying. The investigation unfolds with a few lines at the end of each chapter, after the characters' lives, full of small and big lies, are told with drama and humor.
My father-in-law did not appreciate my review of What Became of the White Savage, his gift. When I found out, I defended myself by explaining my point of view once again: a book is not good because it is old and unknown. It can be just as good if it is recent and popular, and it says more about society. I didn't convince him.
But there is one truth that even my father-in-law can understand: at the end of a semester, the brain is in a mess. The only thing you want to do is nothing, but that's when you need to work the most. The book you open before going to bed is not the classic literature: it's the recent bestseller. Big Little Lies is a good example.
Liane Moriarty is an Australian, and Big Little Lies was published in 2016. According to my mother, all of her novels are equally good. She devoured them, she who almost never finishes a book and rarely reads a novel. Since I was in a reading slump, I went to the library to borrow it. In French.
That was a mistake. In English, the short sentences are punchy, funny, they give rhythm to the reading. In French, it gives a childish tone, as if the author didn't know how to write. So the first half of the book was half wasted for me.
But along the way, I got my awesome Kobo e-reader (it continues to change my life) and my mom had put the book in English. That changed everything. I could finally appreciate the author's style, I understood the suspense, the characters were deeper and more alive. It's amazing how a language can change a novel.
I don't think I'll devour all of Liane Moriarty's other books like my mother, I didn't feel any particular excitement, but it's a read I'd recommend to anyone who wants to relax. A good beachside book, or end of semester book.
Be on the lookout for the upcoming HBO TV series based on this novel. It is scheduled for release in February 2017.
Update: I have seen the HBO series, which unfortunately is not on Netflix in Canada. A delight: wonderful actresses, gripping drama, beautiful images. The series had a much greater impact on me than the book.
Buy the book on leslibraires.ca:
