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'Big Little Lies' Season 3 Officially in the Works: Everything to Know
It’s no big little lie to say that Liane Moriarty had some heavy hitters as part of the test audience for her latest novel.
More than a decade after the Australian writer introduced readers to the kindergarten moms who would be transformed into the Monterey Five for HBO, Moriarty is back with Big Little Truths.
And as the long-gestating season three of Big Little Lies will follow Moriarty’s new release—catching up with Madeline Mackenzie, Celeste Wright, Jane Chapman, Bonnie Carlson, Renata Klein and their now-teens a decade later—some members of the production have already gotten a sneak preview.
“The producers have read it,” Moriarty revealed to E! News in an exclusive interview, meaning Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman and creator David E. Kelley have voiced their approval. “They said nice things.” Though she acknowledged of the book-to-screen process, "I am absolutely sure there will be huge changes.”
As such, season three is “definitely in active, enthusiastic development.” However, Moriarty is well aware a cast that includes Witherspoon (Madeline), Kidman (Celeste), Shailene Woodley (Jane), Laura Dern (Renata) and Zoë Kravitz (Bonnie)—not to mention Meryl Streep as Mary-Lousie Wright—means scheduling is a whole other factor.
So, she continued, "Hopefully, hopefully they will start filming sooner rather than later.”
Until then, however, the story continues on the page with Moriarty’s first ever sequel—a fact she is still marveling about.
“I must have had the vague idea at some point I could write about teenagers, but I do remember when Reese Witherspoon said to me right at the very beginning, ‘People are asking, is there any chance of a sequel?’ And I said, ‘No, absolutely not,’” she explained. “Because I've never written a sequel before, and because you create this whole drama for your characters, and then I don't want to think, ‘Well, now I've got to give them a whole new set of dramas,’ so I said no.”
Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic
Ultimately, as she recalled, that hesitation spiraled into Big Little Truths becoming “‘the sequel Liane said she'd never write.’”
So, with the yearslong back and forth on Big Little Lies season three Moriarty decided to return to the world of parents and their now-teens in a new novel based on an unspecified “high-profile news story”—the idea that ultimately set the stage for Big Little Truths.
“I started writing a book set in a high school with a whole set of characters, and then it all sort of came up again, this desire for season three, and suddenly I thought, ‘You know what, I could actually give that story to the teenagers of Big Little Lies.’”
But beyond Big Little Truths sending Moriarty on her first-ever foray into the world of sequels, it also added a new challenge: She was returning to a world that had taken on a life of its own with a hit HBO series.
Crown
Luckily, she had some experience with this, writing an internal novella for the Big Little Lies creative team to serve as a blueprint for season two (it was here where Streep’s Mary-Louise came to life). For her, the result served as a continuation of Big Little Lies—including reinserting characters who didn’t make the HBO cut like Madeline’s son Fred Mackenzie —while also setting the stage for the adaptation by carving out space for those who really came to life onscreen.
Case in point: Renata Klein, who thanks to Dern’s scene-stealing portrayal in the show, returned from the odyssey abroad the Big Little Lies novel’s ending sent her on.
“Renata in the book was a very minor character, but then Laura Dern obviously took on that role in such a magnificent way and was so iconic that there was absolutely no way that I could write the next book without her,” Moriarty noted, later adding, “I suspect I probably wouldn't have had Renata at all.”
A gift, but also a curse for the writer as “readers sometimes get annoyed with me for having too many characters,” she explained. “But I knew they would never forgive me if I didn't have Renata, and I had such fun with her.”
And though Moriarty—whose books Apples Never Fall and Nine Perfect strangers have also become hit TV shows—stressed that she doesn’t write thinking about potential adaptations, “with this one, because there already had been an adaptation,” she noted, “there's no way I could say that wasn't on my mind.”
Big Little Truths: A Novel
Madeline Mackenzie, Celeste Wright, Jane Chapman, Bonnie Carlson, Renata Klein and their now-teens are back in Moriarty's highly-anticipated sequel novel.
HBO/Kobal/Shutterstock
“I still was having internal monologues and things like that, so I didn't change that way of writing—it was still me,” she reasoned. “And there are lots of things that I know they wouldn't be able to use. It was just there.”
One of the ways it most viscerally factored in was how she saw the characters.
“With the characters of Renata and Mary-Louise, I could completely see Laura Dern and Meryl Streep,” Moriarty said to E!. “But with the other characters, I could see sort of hybrids of my Madeline and Reese's Madeline.”
As such, she was careful to avoid too many descriptions that would point to the stark differences—even as innocuous as hair color. “My Madeline had dark hair,” she shared, “and I didn't, therefore, in the book describe anything about her hair because if I'm seeing this sort of hybrid, readers would be confused if I suddenly described her as having dark hair.”
George Pimentel/WireImage
But ultimately, it’s been a joy for Moriarty to see her books hand-in-hand with the Emmy-winning series. Although, this time around, she’s keeping an open mind as to what kind of third act she could foresee for Madeline, Celeste, Jane and the gang.
“Some of my friends are grandparents now, and so watching that next, is it sons and daughters-in-law?” she mused about a third book. “That's really interesting too. So now I will not put out there that I will never write another sequel. Now I will say, ‘Maybe I will!’”
Big Little Truths is out now. For more new books hitting shelves this summer, keep reading…
Avon
The Ballad of Falling Dragons by Sarah A. Parker
Release: May 19
Raeve and Kaan’s story continues in the second installment of Sarah J. Parker’s Moonfall series.
While everyone’s favorite bristly, assassin-with-a-cause has more memories at her disposal in the sequel to When The Moon Hatched, whether she utilizes them is up to Raeve and Raeve alone. But as ghosts—remembered and new—from her and Kaan’s pasts begin to threaten their future, she’ll need to embrace her most painful moments in order to secure the life she’s always deserved.
Plus, there’s the threat of a moonfall—the biggest and most devastating Raeve’s world has ever seen—looming on the horizon.
Crown
Phoebe Berman's Gonna Lose It by Brooke Averick
Release: May 26
After captivating TikTok with her candid pop culture takes and love of romance, Averick is officially shifting into BookTok with this heartfelt love story. On the cusp of her 30th birthday, Phoebe Berman has just one objective: Lose her virginity. The obsessively organized teacher must confront the debilitating anxiety that has prevented her from dating—and untangle her dynamics with three men in her life.
Berkley
The Open Era by Edward Schmit
Release: June 2
Is it too on the nose to say Schmit has aced this debut? Still, the sentiment stands. Austin Hardy is under enough pressure making his US Open debut. Being the first openly gay man to play in a Grand Slam only ups the stakes. Further complicating the dynamic is his new friendship—or something more—with no. 2 in the world Diego Cruz. This sweet queer love story set in the world of tennis is the perfect addition to the sports romance genre.
Harper
Whistler by Ann Patchett
Release: June 2
Patchett’s reputation precedes her enough that just seeing her name on the cover means you’re in for a moving, captivating work of literature. And The Whistler is no different. When Daphne and her husband visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art, she has a chance encounter with Eddie, her former stepdad whose presence loomed large on her life. After reconnecting, they look back at their time together, the catalyst for his divorce from her mom and how it shaped the years that followed.
Berkley
The Summer Girlfriend by Kristina Forest
Release: June 9
Get ready to fall in love in a sweet a New Jersey beach town. Noelle Lewis is ready to take her love for books to the next level and become a librarian. That is, once she earns enough money to go back to college and then get her Master’s. Until then, she’s hustling in every way she can, including as a bridesmaid for hire. Jeremiah Smith, however, needs a girlfriend to bring to his family beach home for his first visit since his grandfather’s death. So, they strike a deal: She’ll pretend to be his girlfriend for a weekend, and he’ll make a massive contribution to her tuition fund. What could go wrong?
Grand Central Publishing
The Missed Connection by Tia Williams
Release: June 9
Williams’ is ready to have you dreaming of first-class and that coveted airplane meet-cute. After meeting the perfect man on the flight to Paris but forgetting to exchange names before casting director Sasha Cruz sets out on a journey to track him down. And beyond inadvertently enlisting the company she’s leading a new campaign for, she hires Wes, a private detective from her past help her find her probable soul mate. That is, until sparks begin to fly between her and Wes.
Berkley
The Someday Garden by Ashley Poston
Release: June 16
Sophie moves to coastal Maine to take on the role of head gardener of the eccentric, once-storied Lilymoor House. However, she soon discovers an odd, intriguing and new feature of the house in the form of a door leading to a secret garden. The catch: The door never appears in the same place twice and there is a man stuck there. With the future of Lilymoor in the balance, she must team up with the trapped man, not to mention the Lilymoor owner’s newly arrived nephew to help it thrive once more.
Tiny Reparations Books
Names Have Been Changed by Yu-Mei Balasingamchow
Release: June 23
Keeping her real identity hidden, international thief Ophir launches a podcast, where she details her life of crime. But beyond regaling listeners with tales of crisscrossing the world, snatching up one priceless item at a time, she also details the more vulnerable side effects to living a life on the run.
St. Martin's Press
Crash Into Me by Robinne Lee
Release: July 7
Lee’s novel The Idea of You has been a must-read for romance writers—not to mention a movie starring Anne Hathaway and Nicholas Galitzine. And now, the author is back with a different kind of story. In the novel, Cecelia Chen is at a crossroads in her life as a wife and mom when she reunites with a woman from her past. As they revisit their time together, Cecelia must reckon with all that has been weighing on her—her career, family, experience as a middle-aged Jamaican Chinese woman in America.
Random House
Country People by Daniel Mason
Release: July 7
North Woods firmly put Mason on the map—even landing him on the Pulitzer Prize short-list. Now, he’s back, with Country People which follows Miles and his wife Kate as they relocate to Vermont for her visiting lecturer role at a prestigious college. Looking to find a place for himself, he soon becomes enmeshed with a group of odd locals who seem straight out of his beloved folktales. And after learning about some local lore, it becomes clear that maybe his reality is stranger than fiction.
Scribner
Helpless by Jessica Knoll
Release: July 7
After her beloved film teacher dies, actress-turned -producer Faye Heron returns to her college town for the funeral, where she reunites with her ex-boyfriend Henry Spalding, who broke her heart and inspired her star-making episode of TV. So, it’s no surprise when a seemingly cordial encounter ends with her being drugged and kidnapped to his remote family cabin, giving them a chance to relitigate their past—and get to the bottom of the secrets that have been lurking under the surface for more than a decade.
Del Rey
The Intrigue by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Release: July 14
In the latest from the mastermind behind Mexican Gothic, a con artist with a penchant for robbing lonely women out of their fortunes in 1940s Mexico hits a roadblock with his latest mark when he meets her niece. Desperate to flee the confines of her aunt’s home, she proposes they join forces. However, as feelings get in the way, their plan goes increasingly more complex—until it threatens to spiral out of control.
Dutton
The Unknown by Riley Sager
Release: August 4
It’s not a summer reading list without a little scare. Actress Marin Keene has landed her breakout role. Except there is a caveat: The role requires her to spend a week on a remote island where a group of women vanished a century ago.
And, it just so happens that she is starring in a movie based on those events told through the diary of one of the women. Unnerved yet? Well, so Marin is, and it only takes a turn when just like before, people start going missing.
Avon
The Magic We Made by Meg Cabot
Release: August 11
Cabot’s latest Witches of West Harbor love story will put a spell on you—quite literally. Frankie and Ash couldn’t be more opposite. She’s a therapist who is annoyed with her town’s increasing popularity as a witchy destination. Ash has magical abilities that sometimes go awry. After witches flocking to their town begin disappearing, the pair team up to find them, and, well, some magic may just happen.
Crown
Big Little Truths by Liane Moriarty
Release: August 25
Not only is Liane Moriarty back with her first ever sequel, but she’s serving up another dose of the most chaotic mom group in fiction. Set a decade after Big Little Lies, the book catches readers up with Madeline, Celeste, Jane, Renata, and Bonnie as they face their latest challenge: parenting teenagers. However, old secrets are threatened when someone begins asking about the past, and they must contend with whether the truth can really stay hidden. If that isn’t thrilling enough, Big Little Truths is the source material for season three of Big Little Lies, so time to start preparing those cold little hearts.
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