Little Bitty Lies: A Novel

In a suburban Atlanta neighborhood where divorce is as rampant as kudzu, Mary Bliss McGowan doesn't notice that her own marriage is in trouble until the summer night she finds a note from her husband, Parker, telling her he's gone -- and has taken the family fortune with him.

Stunned and humiliated, a desperate Mary Bliss, left behind with her seventeen-year-old daughter, Erin, and a mountain of debt, decides to salvage what's left of her life by telling one little bitty lie ... that starts to snowball until Parker turns up dead. Or does he?

Little Bitty Lies is a comic Southern novel not only about one woman's lifelong quest for home but also about all the important things in life: marriage and divorce, mothers and daughters, friendship and betrayal, small-town secrets -- and the perfect recipe for chicken salad.

Up until now you have led a storybook life, while marriages all around you are splitting up in vast numbers. You are too proud to become just another statistic --- or even worse, another tale in the gossip mill. So what do you do? Well, if you're Mary Bliss McGowan, in LITTLE BITTY LIES by Mary Kay Andrews, you lie, of course! To start, you tell everyone that your husband is away on an extended consulting trip. Then you stage his death (a tragic boating accident in Cozumel). And then the lying escalates; one lie leads to another, and to another, and to another. It's a recipe for disaster.

Come to think of it, LITTLE BITTY LIES is an awful lot like Mary Bliss's specialty: chicken salad.

The main ingredient is chicken, or Parker, her yellow-bellied husband who poached the family nest egg and then cowardly abandoned his wife and daughter, not to be seen again until the end of the novel.

Toss in nuts, plenty of nuts. There are her dearest friends, Katherine and Charlie Weideman, the on-again, off-again middle-aged couple; Eula, the crazy mother-in-law who indulges in Paxil and gin cocktails; Randy, the nearly divorced neighbor who would probably like to live up to his name but doesn't know how; and Nancye, the town hot tamale.

Add water chestnuts, a bit of unexpected "crunch" to the story: Matt Hayslip, the undercover private eye whose keeping Mary Bliss on her toes (even though he'd prefer to keep her on her back).

Throw in mandarin oranges, with the juice, and you've got Dinky Davis, the coppertoned Cozumel stand-in who mixes too much liquid refreshment with his work.

A pinch of salt and pepper, maybe a dash of ginger --- a confused 17-year-old daughter Erin -- to add a bit of spice.

And, finally, the mayonnaise, the glue that holds it all together: Mary Bliss herself. Consummate housekeeper, extraordinary chef, Southern belle and devoted mother, Mary will stop at almost nothing to keep her family, or at least the image of her family, in tact.

Toss, mix, blend, and toss again, and not only do you have a summertime favorite salad, but also one heck of a fun story. LITTLE BITTY LIES is at times riotous, heart-wrenching, romantic, ridiculous, impossible, and touching --- but never boring.

Pour yourself a glass of iced tea (Mary Bliss would recommend sun-brewed) and enjoy.

--- Reviewed by Roberta O'Hara


Little Bitty Lies Equal Great Big Satisfactions   July 21, 2003
5 out of 5 found this review helpful

This is the untimate housewife's revenge. After years of creating the perfect home for her husband, Mary Bliss comes home to find that the rat has drained their accounts, put the house in hock up to its shingles, and taken off for parts unknown. How she survives is a wonderful romp through matrimony and suburbia (with a sidetrip to Mexico thrown in for the hell of it!) But then, this talented author could even make the Atlanta phone book sound funny. Highly recommended.


Better than the Blues   August 12, 2003
7 out of 8 found this review helpful

A terrific read. I thoroughly enjoyed Savannah Blues, but I must admit that Little Bitty Lies is better. I try not to purchase too many hardcover books because of the price, but Mary Kay Andrews is definitely on my hardcover book list. It was worth every penny, a delightful read. I plan to try the Chicken Salad recipe for my next party. I cannot wait for her next book. Whether she's writing as Kathy Hogan Trocheck or Mary Kay Andrews, this lady is one HECK of a talent. Thank you for the hours of enjoyment with Callahan Garrity and your lovely Southern ladies.


Mixture of sex and chicken salad   July 22, 2003
Barbara Heckart (Yellow Springs, OH)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful

I LOVED this book. Mary Kay Andrews is bound to hit to bestseller list and perhaps this is the book that will do it for her. Little Bitty Lies reads very quickly, and that was because I found it difficult to stop reading before I finished it. Mary Bliss and Katherine are wonderful characters, and show friendship at its finest. I wanted to slap Erin, slug Parker and smooch Matt, all great characters. The book has sex, love, friendship, money, humor in addition to a great chicken salad recipe (and yes, I've tried it, and it's super). A fast, fun, frolicky read that is a perfect summer book. Another winner from Mary Kay Andrews. Keep 'em coming, Mary Kay! Eager readers everywhere will be panting waiting for your next one.


A lot of fun   August 6, 2003
Moe811 (New York USA)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful

Mary Bliss is concerned about all of the divorces in her neighborhood, especially that of her best friends Katherine and Charlie. She is completely surprised when her husband Parker takes off will all of their assets, leaving her under a pile of bills in an about to be foreclosed on home. Her daughter is either distant or angry and she is responsible for her semisenile cantankerous mother in law. The obvious solution (to her), is to have Parker declared dead and use his insurance money to keep their heads above water. Unfortunately, a former cop and supposed tennis partner of Parker's is taking a very close interest in Mary Bliss, both personally and professionally.

I really enjoyed this author's first book and was happy to find a second. Her characters find their way out of difficult situations in very unusual and amusing ways. I hope she publishes another one soon.