Big Little Lies is an absolute powerhouse of a book, marrying plot, structure, setting and character into a perfectly riveting read that nails the book to your hands. A new term in a kindergarten in a Sidney suburb us riven with conflict as one child, a newcomer, is accused of bullying another. Battle-lines are drawn between mothers but the conflict encompasses some dark secrets and ugly truths. It's often very funny, but also deeply empathic and brilliantly presents the lives and personalities of its three central characters and their families. As cunning and twisty and occasionally shocking a thriller as any Gillian Flynn book, but a lot less misanthropic.