6.1.15

BOOK REVIEW: The Last Anniversary by Liane Moriarty

One abandoned baby. Two sisters with a secret. One chance to rewrite the past.
Over seventy years have passed since sisters Rose and Connie Doughty found an abandoned baby near their home on the island of Scribbly Gum. With no one to take care of it, Rose and Connie took the baby in as their own.
Since then the 'Munro Baby Mystery' has brought fame and fortune, putting Scribbly Gum on the tourist map, especially for the Island's annual celebration.
But now, with Connie dead and outsider Sophie Honeywell about to move into her home, Rose beings to wonder if they made the right decision all those years ago. How much longer can they cover up the lie that has sustained their community for generations? And what other secrets are about to be revealed?
Publisher: Penguin
Pages: 416

Liane Moriarty is fast becoming the Queen of secrets and lies! All of her books revolve around characters keeping information from each other or bending the truth in some way and The Last Anniversary is no exception.
Sister's Connie and Rose are at the centre of 'The Munro Baby Mystery' the sister's found Alice and Jack Munro's house abandoned and their tiny baby sleeping in the crib. Nobody came forward to claim her so they brought Baby Enigma up as their own.
The sisters and Enigma's children and grandchildren all live in Scribbly Gum Island which has become a very lucrative tourist spot due to the Munro mystery.
It is all thrown into disarray when Connie dies; she leaves her house to Sophie Honeywell, a complete outsider but one who is fascinated by the Island's secrets. Rose, the sister left behind is no longer constrained by Connie to keep the secrets that have been fuelling the island for over seventy years. Rose is tired of the lies but how will the family react to her revelations?
Liane Moriarty is fabulous at drawing the reader into the story from the very beginning. The Last Anniversary is very clever in the way it has a very subtle  but sinister undertone running through it. You know that this twee little island run by two twee little old ladies is not all it seems and then you are intrigued to find out the truth. Moriarty throws in several twists at the end, making this a very memorable book.
The Last Anniversary has been a great start to my reading in the New Year. I very much enjoyed the mystery element of the book and I felt that Liane Moriarty looked at some particularly interesting and serious ideas. I hope that this author has a new book out soon and she just gets better and better.

Many thanks to Katie at Penguin for sending me a copy of the book to review, The Last Anniversary is out now. 

3 comments:

Nadia said...

Dot, this sounds so good! Just from your post, I'm itching to find out what those secrets are that Rose has been keeping. I definitely need to get my hands on a copy. Thanks :)

Kim said...

Sounds very interesting! Definitely want to read this book. Thank you for your review.

Anonymous said...

I only read my first Liane Moriarty in 2014 looks like I mighth need to read more of her work.

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