Big Little Lies 

by Liane Moriarty 

Synopsis:

 

Sometimes it’s the little lies that turn out to be the most lethal. . . . A murder. . . a tragic accident… . . . or just parents behaving badly?  What’s indisputable is that someone is dead.   But who did what?


Big Little Lies follows three women, each at a crossroads:   Madeline is a force to be reckoned with. She’s funny and biting, passionate, she remembers everything and forgives no one. Her ex-husband and his yogi new wife have moved into her beloved beachside community, and their daughter is in the same kindergarten class as Madeline’s youngest (how is this possible?). And to top it all off, Madeline’s teenage daughter seems to be choosing Madeline’s ex-husband over her. (How. Is. This. Possible?). 

Celeste is the kind of beautiful woman who makes the world stop and stare. While she may seem a bit flustered at times, who wouldn’t be, with those rambunctious twin boys? Now that the boys are starting school, Celeste and her husband look set to become the king and queen of the school parent body. But royalty often comes at a price, and Celeste is grappling with how much more she is willing to pay.   New to town, single mom Jane is so young that another mother mistakes her for the nanny. Jane is sad beyond her years and harbors secret doubts about her son. But why? While Madeline and Celeste soon take Jane under their wing, none of them realizes how the arrival of Jane and her inscrutable little boy will affect them all. 

Big Little Lies is a brilliant take on ex-husbands and second wives, mothers and daughters, schoolyard scandal, and the dangerous little lies we tell ourselves just to survive

 

My Review:

This book was AMAZING. I've always avoided books about domestic violence because they are depressing and make me feel frustrated and helpless. But this book was so funny without downplaying the importance of awareness and impact. It was poignant. The title of the book is so perfect because of the irony. These little lies that people tell to avoid the reality of life. Or, maybe not "avoid" but "deal with". And most of the little lies are everything but little. The lies have a ripple effect that impact everything and everyone around them. Perception being the reason for each and every lie.

The story takes place in a small beachside town of Perriwee in the Perriwee peninsula of Australia. An ideal place for raising a perfect family. The adults all know each other and they are very involved in every aspect of their children's lives. The PTA is a way of life and they are the lifeblood of the school around which the story takes place. On orientation day, there is an incident of bullying and assault on one of the kids Amabella - the daughter of the most obnoxiously self-important parent - Renata. As a result of the incident sides and alligences are made clear. As a result of this grade school incident many "little" lies surface and everyone involved is forced to face the big consequences - a death, serious and on-going incidents of well-hidden domestic violence, bullying, sexual assault, verbal abuse, identity issues, lack of self-respect and absentee parents. The entire book revolves around uncovering these lies, determining whose death results from all of it and who is the guilty murderer.

The author is brilliant making you care about the victims and seeing that sometimes we have to look beyond the seemingly perfect exterior to find the truth people go out of their way to hide. You find yourself reacting kind of indignant and thinking "this would never happen to me" and then you (at least I did) realize that you are not immune. All of us are capable of being the aggressor and/or the victim. It's all about the "little" lies we tell to manipulate perceptions.

This, in my opinion, is a must-read. It will make you re-evaluate your notions about violence and accountability.  

Madame Picasso 

by Anne Girard

Synopsis:

 

When Eva Gouel moves to Paris from the countryside, she is full of ambition and dreams of stardom. Though young and inexperienced, she manages to find work as a costumer at the famous Moulin Rouge, and it is here that she first catches the attention of Pablo Picasso, a rising star in the art world.

A brilliant but eccentric artist, Picasso sets his sights on Eva, and Eva can't help but be drawn into his web. But what starts as a torrid affair soon evolves into what will become the first great love of Picasso's life.

With sparkling insight and passion, Madame Picasso introduces us to a dazzling heroine, taking us from the salon of Gertrude Stein to the glamorous Moulin Rouge and inside the studio and heart of one of the most enigmatic and iconic artists of the twentieth century.

My Review:

Excellent book. Wonderful writing. Beautiful story. Fantastic depiction of a love story that made a man into a legend. Pablo Picasso took many lovers in his life but as I now know, only had one true love - Eva Gouel.  Anne Girard's book Madame Picasso takes us through the 4 year love affair that according to many close to Picasso, changed his life and defined him as a genius amongst his peers and even rivals of the time.

I am very drawn to stories that feature lesser known people in life who have made a significant impact in the life of other, greater known personalities. Many times, we learn that these muses in the lives of such grand eccentrics and brilliant artists are truly the ones with substance and whose lives are most fascinating. Probably the reason why they are so drawn to them. Their lives often end in tragedy and in spite of their impact to the artist their memories become a lesser known sub-plot to the grand life of he/she whom they have inspired.  I think of people like Zelda Sayre and now, Eva Gouel who were so much more than just lovers and spouses and confidants.

I did not know much about Picasso prior to reading this book. I have seen Guernica at the Louvre in more than one occasion and I'm familiar with his cubist works but other than that and the commonly known Spanish, superstitious, hot-head personality he was well-known to being, I feel like this book offered me a perspective about his life and what motivated him and brought him such great fame.  However, this great book is not about Picasso alone, but rather a snippet of time (4 years) of his life that defined his future beyond 1915.

I absolutely LOVED, LOVED, LOVED Ms. Girard's writing style. How can you lose with so many references to the beautiful streets of Paris and the amazing landmarks - The Moulin Rouge, Montparnasse and Montmatre. As well as the fascinating characters of the time - Gertrude Stein, and Guillaume Apollinaire to name a few. This book was so engrossing and enjoyable. It was evident that she wanted to do the memory of Eva Gouel due justice. 

Five Days Left

by Julie Lawson Timmer

Synopsis:

 
A heart-wrenching debut about two people who must decide how much they’re willing to sacrifice for love.
 
Mara Nichols, a successful lawyer, and devoted wife and adoptive mother, has recently been diagnosed with a terminal disease. Scott Coffman, a middle school teacher, has been fostering an eight-year-old boy while the boy’s mother serves a jail sentence. Scott and Mara both have five days left until they must say good-bye to the ones they love the most. Through their stories, Julie Lawson Timmer explores the individual limits of human endurance, the power of relationships, and that sometimes loving someone means holding on, and sometimes it means letting go.

My Review:

I am in awe of writers who can so eloquently yet simply convey every emotion in one book without focusing and dwelling on one emotion. How many times have I read books that are happy or sad or both but overall are just concentrated on these two emotions. This book by an amazingly talented new writer every emotion is felt by the reader through the experiences the characters go through in 5 days.

Mara is a high-powered lawyer whose life has always been about challenging herself, taking risks and being successful at just about everything she undertakes. She is in control of everything in her life. Until she is handed a death-sentence and is diagnosed with Huntington's Disease. A slow but aggressive neurological disease that causes the body and brain to shut down over time rendering the person incapable of any muscle control until they reach a vegetative state and die. There is no cure. Mara is devastated at the thought of losing any and all control of herself and her life. Not so much for her but for the burden she will be to everyone she loves. So, her only way to take back control of her life, she decides to control her death and not wait until HD determines her premature death for her. We are introduced to Mara 5 days before her 43rd birthday and we are a witness to her emotional resolve: anger, desperation, sadness, love, happiness, frustration, humiliation, self-loathing, injustice, etc.

The secondary story is that of Scott. A thirty-something married man living in Michigan and teaching in the inner city of Detroit. He has agreed to assume guardianship of 7 year old Curtis. His mother is sent to prison on a drug charge and he has no family to care for him. In the year's time Scott grows to love Curtis as his own. Through difficult and challenging times he earns the boy's respect. His wife is now expecting their first child and does not want to permanently assume responsibility for Curtis. When Curtis' mother is released and takes Curtis back Scott is devastated and torn between the right and wrong and his selfish and selfless reasons for not giving Curtis up. Like with Mara, we are introduced to Scott five days before he is to relinquish custody of Curtis to his mother.

What I loved most about this book is that there were no good and/or bad characters just good and bad circumstances that were indifferent to what is fair in the world. However, what I took from their stories is that life does not come in a neatly wrapped package. There is no such thing as happily ever after. There is just a life - here and now. And, fairness neither plays a part nor determines the outcomes. One would think (and I was reluctant to read this book at first because I don't understand suicide) that a book about a person planning their own death would be sad and depressing; but it wasn't. Not at all. Mara's character is brave and selfless and yes of course unfairly cut short but she was real. Reading her letters to Tom and Laks really made me smile and for me took a normally selfish act and turned it into a happy and just ending.

I would love to meet this author in person and tell her just what a beautiful and emotionally charged book this was for me. This why I love reading so much and I can't wait to read more.