Big Little Lies: Book vs. Series
David E. Kelley’s Big Little Lies began on HBO in 2017, adapting Liane Moriarty’s 2014 novel. Three mothers become involved in a school community’s conflicts as private troubles build toward a fatal gathering.
From Books Adapted
Which books each season covers
The first season finishes the first book
| Season | Book |
|---|---|
| 1 | Big Little Lies, 2014, moved from Australia to Monterey, California |
| 2 | No book: a new story by David E. Kelley and Moriarty |
| 3* | Big Little Truths, 2026 |
| A guide, not an exact match: shows move scenes and storylines between books and seasons. | |
* Not ordered. Moriarty has said the book lays the groundwork for a third season; HBO has not ordered one.
Big Little Truths takes place ten years after the first book, when the children are in high school. It brings in Mary-Louise, a character created for the series.
What changed from the book
Contains spoilersTap to show
Madeline's affair was added for television
Madeline's affair is not in the book. Bonnie's past changes in another way: the book explains near the end that she grew up with an abusive father. The first season leaves that part of her childhood untold.
How it was adapted
Moriarty handed the scripts to David E. Kelley
Moriarty declined an offer to write the first season's scripts. She read them and visited the set, but Kelley wrote the adaptation. Before it aired, she confirmed that it included new characters and subplots as well as scenes from her book.
About the book and the series
- Author
- Liane Moriarty
- Year
- 2014
- Pages
- 512Buy book
- Audiobook length
- 15 hr 55 minGet audiobook
- Narrator
- Caroline Lee
A school trivia night ends in a death, and the story returns to the months when three mothers first become entangled in the same school community. Jane is starting over with her son, Madeline is fighting battles on several fronts, and Celeste is concealing abuse, while disputes among the parents push their private troubles toward a public crisis.
- Creator
- David E. Kelley
- Writer
- David E. Kelley, Liane Moriarty
- Year
- 2017–2019
- Episode
- 1 hrWatch on Amazon
- Seasons
- 2
- Episodes
- 14
- Network
- HBO
- Cast
- Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, Shailene Woodley, Laura Dern, Zoë Kravitz
- Genre
- comedy drama, Mystery
- IMDb
- View on IMDb
Madeline takes newcomer Jane under her wing in Monterey, where a first-day accusation against Jane’s son sets the school’s parents against one another. Behind the arguments over children and appearances, Celeste struggles to hide an abusive marriage, and a police inquiry reveals that the community’s hostilities are heading toward something far more serious than gossip.
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