Big Little Lies
by Liane Moriarty
Contents
Chapter 63
Overview
Jane takes Ziggy to a local salon for lice treatment, and Lucy turns the practical errand into an unexpected makeover for Jane. The chapter briefly shifts toward trivia night through Samantha’s later recollection, revealing that Jane’s new appearance makes her seem transformed and happy at the start of the evening.
This small change matters because it gives Jane a moment of confidence and renewal just before the story’s looming public catastrophe.
Summary
After discovering that Ziggy has head lice, Jane goes to Mrs. Ponder for help. Mrs. Ponder first suggests a drugstore treatment, but after seeing Jane’s dismay, she arranges for her daughter Lucy to handle it at Hairway to Heaven.
At the salon, Lucy quietly warns Jane not to publicize the service, joking that otherwise other wealthy Pirriwee mothers will expect her to delouse their children. Lucy prepares Ziggy for treatment and offers to trim his hair while she works.
Lucy also suggests checking Jane’s hair for lice and relays Mrs. Ponder’s wish that Jane get a pixie cut. Jane resists, saying she does not pay much attention to her hair, but Lucy studies her and invokes the transformative haircut in Sliding Doors, implying that Jane could look dramatically different.
Lucy tells Ziggy that he will not recognize his mother once she is finished. In a later trivia-night comment, Samantha confirms that Jane arrives that night with a striking new haircut and outfit, looking unusually happy before the disaster unfolds.
Who Appears
- Jane ChapmanTakes Ziggy for lice treatment and receives an unexpected, confidence-boosting makeover.
- Ziggy ChapmanGets treated for lice and a haircut at Lucy’s salon.
- LucyMrs. Ponder’s daughter; salon owner who treats Ziggy and transforms Jane’s hair.
- Mrs. PonderArranges for Lucy to help Jane with Ziggy’s lice problem.
- SamanthaLater recalls Jane’s transformed appearance and happiness at trivia night.