Liane Moriarty

Liane Moriarty (born November 15, 1966, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia) is an Australian author known for her contemporary fiction that often explores the complexities of relationships, buried secrets, and the emotional intricacies of everyday life. Her work typically features compelling characters, witty dialogue, and suspenseful storytelling grounded in settings that her (mostly female) readers can relate to. She has written 10 novels, 4 of which have been adapted into television series: Big Little Lies (2014), Nine Perfect Strangers (2018), Apples Never Fall (2021), and The Last Anniversary (2025).

As testament to her success and popularity, 3 of her 10 novels have reached number one on The New York Times bestseller list. In all, her books have sold more than 20 million copies.

Early life and education

Moriarty is the eldest of six children born to Diane and Bernie Moriarty. She was raised in Waitara, a suburb in the North Shore area of Sydney, where she, along with sisters Nicola and Jaclyn, developed a love of writing. When her father discovered the three liked to write stories, he offered each of them a $1 advance to write a novel for him. Liane’s first “commissioned” novel was a three-volume epic called The Mystery of Dead Man’s Island.

Moriarty attended Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic School and credits her sixth grade teacher with being crucial to her development as a writer. During high school, however, she began to question whether writing was a viable career option. Taking the practical approach, Moriarty attended the University of Technology Sydney, where she earned a business degree with a marketing major.

Pre-writing career

Moriarty held corporate positions at a variety of advertising and marketing companies. After leaving her marketing manager position at a legal publishing company, she started a business called The Little Ad Agency that was unsuccessful. She eventually turned to freelance copywriting for television commercials, websites, and product packaging.

During this period she wrote short stories and first chapters of novels in her spare time. When she learned that her sister Jaclyn’s first young adult novel was accepted for publication, she was proud but envious. It was then that she enrolled in the creative writing master’s program at Macquarie University in Sydney. While at Macquarie, she wrote her debut novel, Three Wishes (2003). Of her return to writing, she told Publisher’s Weekly:

The whole time I was writing that book, I remember feeling a sense of relief. It was a relief because I was finally writing again. It’s like the feeling you get with exercise. I’d forgotten how good this feels. It was just like when I was a kid—pure relief and joy.

Novels

Many of Moriarty’s novels can be described as domestic thrillers, with stories set in suburbia featuring recognizable characters who speak dialogue that can make readers wonder if they have been eavesdropping on conversations at the school pickup line. The New York Times has described her writing as being done “in an easy, girlfriendly style that…thrums throughout the narrative, becoming one of its indispensable pleasures.” Her work has been compared to that of American authors Gillian Flynn and Mary Kubica, as well as British author Paula Hawkins.

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Moriarty’s first novel,Three Wishes, was published in 2003 and follows the lives of triplet sisters as they navigate sibling rivalry, love, betrayal, and family secrets. It was praised for its wise and witty dialogue, as well as its sharp observations about relationships. In her second novel, The Last Anniversary (2006), a woman inherits a house on a mysterious island famous for the unsolved disappearance of a couple who left their newborn daughter home alone. There she uncovers long-hidden secrets about the island’s eccentric residents and their intertwined lives while reevaluating her own path to happiness.

In 2009 Moriarty’s third novel was published. What Alice Forgot tells the story of a woman who wakes up after an accident with no memory of the past 10 years. Forced to put her life back together, which includes a family, a crumbling marriage, and strained relationships, she makes peace with her past and discovers what truly matters.

The Hypnotist’s Love Story (2011) is about a professional hypnotherapist whose burgeoning relationship with a new boyfriend becomes complicated when he reveals that his ex-girlfriend is stalking him. Intrigued by the woman’s motives, the hypnotherapist is interested in meeting her but doesn’t realize she already has. The novel was praised for its wicked humor and presentation of a stalker’s view.

Moriarty reached The New York Times bestseller list for the first time in 2013 with the publication of The Husband’s Secret, which centers on a woman who discovers a hidden letter from her husband that unravels secrets and intertwines her with two other women in unexpected, life-altering ways.

But it was in 2014 that Moriarty moved from the realm of successful author to multimedia darling, with Big Little Lies. Its publication made her the first Australian author to have a novel debut at number one on The Times bestseller list. Big Little Lies is set against the backdrop of an elementary school where the parents’ rivalries and slights over cupcakes and field trips lead to calamity, backstabbing, petitions, and ultimately murder. Truly Madly Guilty (2016) tells the story of three couples whose lives are forever changed after a backyard barbecue ends in a tragic event that exposes hidden tensions and secrets. The novel was Moriarty’s third to become a New York Times number-one bestseller. Published in 2018, Nine Perfect Strangers follows nine people who gather at a health retreat where they end up bonding as they question the unorthodox and manipulative methods of the director.

In Apples Never Fall (2021), the disappearance of a family’s matriarch throws the lives of her four adult children into chaos as they reexamine their family history and confront what was under the surface of their parents’ seemingly perfect marriage. The novel showcases Moriarty’s at times biting and laugh-out-loud dialogue: “We have temporarily mislaid our mother,” one of the characters explains.

Here One Moment (2024) features numerous passengers on a delayed flight listening to a woman predict when and how they will die. After the flight many of her predictions come true, leaving other passengers to grapple with fate as their lives unravel. Moriarty said she got the idea for the novel while stuck on a plane waiting to take off. “This cheerful thought came into my head that every passenger on this plane would one day die.…As that flight finally took off that day, I knew I had the opening scene for my new novel.”

Children’s books

In addition to her novels, Moriarty has written three children’s books. Collectively known as the Space Brigade or Nicola Berry series, they are titled The Petrifying Problem with Princess Petronella (2007), The Shocking Trouble on the Planet of Shobble (2009), and The Wicked War on the Planet of Whimsy (2009).