On the surface this was about a group of parents whose children were starting kindergarten. I was thoroughly captivated, found this to be brilliant in plot, structure and tone. This book is a fine template for how to write a massive bestseller, if you want to do that sort of thing. Everything resolves very tidily and satisfyingly. There is lots of relatable mommy content but I am not a mother so I rolled my eyes at all the gilded mother suffering (not the abuse/sexual violence obviously, just the harried mom stuff). You can absolutely see the structure and how the plot was assembled and what each character is supposed to do. Also, this book is brutally well written. I wish I could just turn it off and enjoy froth for froth’s sake. Again, every book doesn’t need to be everything buuuuut, I guess only white people go to the elementary school at the center of this narrative which, given Sydney’s reasonably diverse population speaks to how segregated the world is. Also, it just needs to be said, this is a very white book. But at the same time, some of what this book deals with is serious and so it makes the frothiness aggravating at times. Not every book needs to carry the weight of the world. Yes, it deals with domestic violence and sexual assault and the pressures and pettiness of white middle class and upper class womanhood when it comes to their social lives and their children and so on, but everything here is easy, frothy.

It’s certainly readable and hard to put down.

Big little lies book