Books Like Big Little Truths
by Liane Moriarty
Big Little Truths returns to the domestic pressure cooker that made Liane Moriarty's earlier work a cultural touchstone: a tight-knit set of women whose private histories and half-told stories collide with the messy realities of raising teenagers. The premise is specific and procedural — ten years after the events of Big Little Lies, the children of Madeline, Celeste, Jane, Renata and Bonnie are adolescents confronting sex, drugs and alcohol, and a stranger prowling their school forces the mothers to reckon with what they told their kids and what they kept hidden. Moriarty stages much of the novel as a series of revelations: overheard conversations, parental decisions unearthed, and the slow unspooling of consequences.
Readers come to this book for different reasons, and the right next read depends on which strand you loved. If you want the same blend of humor, moral ambiguity and suburban entanglement, Moriarty’s own backlist delivers similar tonal pleasures. If it was the teenage-angle, the creeping-danger mystery, or the generational fallout that gripped you, the selections below point to books that emphasize one of those elements while noting where they diverge from Moriarty’s particular mix of voice and social observation.
Recommended for fans of Big Little Truths
Big Little Lies
Liane Moriarty
Original novel with the same tone and themes of female friendship, secrets, and suburban scandal.
Pick this if you want to revisit the same women and their earlier secrets; reading Big Little Lies will give you the backstory that Big Little Truths builds on.
Little Fires Everywhere
Celeste Ng
Interwoven family secrets, town gossip, and moral complexity about motherhood and consequences.
Pick this if you want moral complexity about motherhood and a tight web of town gossip that complicates every character’s choices. This is a very close tonal match.
The Husband's Secret
Liane Moriarty
Same author’s blend of humor and morally fraught secrets that ripple through families.
Pick this if you want more of Moriarty’s exact blend of dark humor, suburban observation and secrets that ripple through families — this is the most similar Moriarty title on the list.
Everything I Never Told You
Celeste Ng
Heartfelt unraveling of a family's hidden pressures after a traumatic revelation.
Pick this if the way adults’ unspoken demands warp children’s lives is what interested you. This provides a quieter, more intimate unraveling of family pressures than Moriarty’s social satire.
The Family Upstairs
Lisa Jewell
A twisty domestic mystery about inheritance, past sins, and dangerous secrets resurfacing.
Pick this if you want a twist-driven, suspenseful household mystery where past sins and inheritance-like secrets resurface. It ramps up dread and plot twists more than Moriarty typically does.
The Dry
Jane Harper
Small-town tensions and a mystery that forces community reckonings and buried truths.
Pick this if you liked the community-pressure aspect and a mystery that forces collective reckonings. It’s starker and more procedural in tone than Moriarty, so expect less of the comic edge.
The Mothers
Brit Bennett
Generational consequences of choices, community judgement, and intimate friendships.
Pick this if you were moved by how choices echo across generations and by intimate friendships under scrutiny. It’s lyrically written and more meditative in tone than Big Little Truths.
The Nest
Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney
Sharp, character-led domestic drama about family expectations, resentments, and financial secrets.
Pick this if you were drawn to character-driven domestic drama about failed expectations and sibling/parental tensions. It’s more focused on financial and emotional resentments than on an external threat.
The Last Time I Lied
Riley Sager
Teenhood secrets and a resurfacing threat that forces adult characters to confront the past.
Pick this if the combination of teenage secrets and a resurfacing threat is the draw. This one leans toward thriller mechanics and may feel more overtly suspenseful than Moriarty’s moral-comedy approach.
At a glance
These matches were selected for how they echo Big Little Truths’ core dynamics: interlocking family secrets, the moral complexities of motherhood, and a present-tense threat that forces community reckonings. Some picks map closely on tone and authorial voice (including Moriarty’s own titles), while others align on theme or structure rather than exact temperament.
| Book | First published | Pages | Closest match on | Match |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Big Little Lies Liane Moriarty | 2014 | 512 | Original character backstory | 98% |
Little Fires Everywhere Celeste Ng | 2014 | 384 | Interwoven family secrets | 95% |
The Husband's Secret Liane Moriarty | 2013 | 438 | Moriarty’s voice & secrets | 92% |
Everything I Never Told You Celeste Ng | 2014 | 297 | Hidden pressures & aftermath | 85% |
The Family Upstairs Lisa Jewell | 2019 | 464 | Twisty domestic mystery | 82% |
The Dry Jane Harper | 2016 | 352 | Small-town reckonings | 80% |
The Mothers Brit Bennett | 2016 | 296 | Generational consequences | 79% |
The Nest Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney | 2016 | 387 | Family resentments & expectations | 78% |
The Last Time I Lied Riley Sager | 2018 | 384 | Teenhood secrets resurging | 74% |
About Big Little Truths
Big Little Truths is the sequel to Big Little Lies and was an immediate bestseller and Reese’s Book Club pick. Set ten years after the original, it follows the children of the central women as adolescents and focuses on the consequences of the mothers’ truths and omissions when a suspicious man begins asking questions near their school. Moriarty has said the book functions as a standalone novel.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to read Big Little Lies before Big Little Truths?+
No. Liane Moriarty has said Big Little Truths works as a standalone; it references characters and past events from Big Little Lies, but you won’t need the original to follow the plot. If you enjoyed both books, reading Big Little Lies first will add backstory depth.
Which recommendations are by Moriarty herself?+
On this list, The Husband's Secret and Big Little Lies are by Liane Moriarty. Both share her characteristic blend of humor, social observation and morally fraught secrets.
Which reads focus most on the teen perspective and consequences?+
Some picks emphasize the adolescent fallout and how adult choices reshape childhood: Everything I Never Told You centers on how parental pressure and secrets impact children, while The Last Time I Lied foregrounds teenhood secrets that resurface to haunt adults.
I liked the creeping, suspicious stranger plot — what else delivers that tension?+
If the prowler aspect and the sense of an imminent threat are what gripped you, The Family Upstairs and The Last Time I Lied foreground dangerous secrets resurfacing and a mounting, twisty sense of menace.
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