Liane Moriarty: How sibling rivalry pushed me – and what’s thrilling about my latest TV adaptation

Liane Moriarty is a page to screen hitmaker with a new book, but the Aussie author still has one high to reach for ...

She’s famous for writing great Aussie hits Big Little Lies, Apples Never Fall and Nine Perfect Strangers, all which jumped off the page and on to our screens to great acclaim, including The Last Anniversary airing this month on Binge. Now Liane Moriarty has Here One Moment on the shelves.

LIANE MORIARTY

Age: 58

Suburb: Sydney, NSW

Liane Moriarty was thrilled the television adaptation of The Last Anniversary was “filmed and set exactly where I imagined it”.

What do you have coming up?

I am so thrilled about the television adaptation of my second novel The Last Anniversary. All my novels are set in Australia, so even though I’ve loved my other TV adaptations, it’s really special to see one filmed and set exactly where I imagined it.

How would you describe yourself?

Sneezy, bashful, sleepy, grumpy, happy, dopey … the names of all seven dwarfs work except for Doc. Even Snow White works.

“Extraordinarily ordinary” Liane Moriarty at home in Sydney. Picture Renee Nowytarger/The Australian

How do you think others describe you?

I’ve noticed journalists always describe me as ‘ordinary’. There has never been anyone so extraordinarily ordinary. Friends would describe me as running late, lost or stuck in traffic, somewhat neurotic, especially about her ‘ordinary’ image.

What is most important to you?

Approval. I am the eldest of six, and eldest children are desperate for validation. (Was that a good answer? Was that the very best answer you have ever received for this question?)

What is the last thing you read, watched, ate, listened to?

I read Nesting by Roisin O’Donnell, watched all three seasons of Motherland, ate Greek yoghurt with berries and unnecessary honey, listened to an episode of the podcast Off Air. All were glorious.

Literary sisters Liane, Jacyln and Nicola Moriarty.

As a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I wanted to be an author but I needed to see my sister (the author Jaclyn Moriarty) do it first. It was sibling rivalry that inspired me.

What has been the biggest obstacle you have overcome or hardest hurdle in your life?

Overcoming self-doubt in order to write my first novel.

Liane Moriarty and Teresa Palmer at the world premiere of The Last Anniversary.

If you had one wish, what would it be?

For everyone I love to be OK. (Everyone I love would not be OK if I were ill, so this wish was carefully designed to guarantee me good health as well.)

Tell us a secret. What is one thing people may not know about you?

I asked my teenage son this and he said people would probably be surprised to see the state of my office: crumbs in the keyboard, an embarrassingly out-of-date version of Word (why is that embarrassing? I like that version!) He said it’s surprising because I ‘call myself a writer’.

Don’t talk about the keyboard.

What has been your proudest moment?

I came third in an over-forties ski race at a Club Med resort in Japan and behaved as if I’d won a medal at the Winter Olympics. I then tore my ACL attempting a run that was beyond my abilities and had to spend the rest of the trip in the bar, but I still have my medal and my memories.

What has been your toughest period?

Losing my Dad at the start of the pandemic, and then breast cancer treatment during lockdown.

What do you wish we could do more about? As in an issue or problem facing the world?

I wish we could end the continual back-pedalling of hard-won women’s rights around the world.

Liane Moriarty wants an end the continual back-pedalling of hard-won women’s rights around the world.

If you had a superpower, what would it be?

To fly.

What is the kindest thing anyone has ever said to you?

A reader once said I was ‘Australia’s Anne Tyler’: Anne Tyler is my favourite writer. I cried with happiness.

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

I’d like to be vertically stretched in both directions by approximately 5cm. I just feel it would solve everything.

Liane Moriarty will appear at the Sydney Writers’ Festival on May 19-27; swf.org.au