Big Little Lies

by Liane Moriarty

‘He’s very anxious about his father,’ said the psychologist. ‘He thinks he might be a storm trooper, or possibly Jabba the Hutt, or, worst case scenario,’ the psychologist couldn’t hold back a broad smile. ‘Darth Vader.’ ‘You’re not serious,’ said Jane. She was somewhat mortified. It was Madeline’s Fred who had got Ziggy into Star Wars. ‘He’s not serious.’ ‘Children often get caught halfway between reality and fantasy,’ said the psychologist. ‘He’s only five. Anything is possible in a five-year-old’s world. He still believes in Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy. Why shouldn’t Darth Vader be his father? But I think it’s more that he had somehow picked up the idea that his father is someone … frightening and mysterious.’ ‘I thought I’d done a better job than this,’ said Jane. ‘I asked if he’d talked to you much about his father and he said, yes, but he knows it upsets you. He was very firm with me. He didn’t want me upsetting you.’ She looked down at her notes and up again. ‘He said, “Be careful if you’re talking to Mummy about my daddy, because she gets a funny look on her face.” ’

Ziggy is such a perceptive, sensitive and intelligent child.