The Fifth Letter
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3.7 • 18 Ratings
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
Nicola Moriarty makes her US debut with this stunning page-turner for fans of Jojo Moyes, Emily Griffin, Kate Morton, and Jessica Knoll, about four best friends on a relaxing vacation that turns devastating when old secrets are revealed, long-held grudges surface, and a shattering betrayal is discovered that shakes the foundation of their lives.
Best friends from high school, Joni, Deb, Eden, and Trina had always looked forward to the vacations they spent together. But the demands of careers, husbands, and babies gradually pulled them apart, and now their annual getaways may be a thing of the past. Joni doesn’t want to lose her friends, and this year she’s coaxed them all back together for some fun at a beach house.
Late on a laughter and wine-filled night, the women dare one another to write anonymous letters, spilling her most intimate thoughts like they did as teenagers. But the fun game meant to bring them closer together turns painfully serious, exposing cracks in their lives and their relationships. Each letter is a confession revealing disturbing information. A rocky marriage. A harrowing addiction. A hidden pregnancy. A heartbreaking diagnosis.
Days later, Joni notices something in the fireplace—a crumpled and partially burned fifth letter that holds the most shattering admission of all.
Best friends are supposed to keep your darkest secrets. But the revelations Joni, Deb, Eden and Trina have shared will have unforeseen consequences . . . and none of them will ever be the same.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Joni Camilleri, Deb Camden, Trina Chan, and Eden Chester are all Scorpios and have all been friends since high school in 1990s Australia. They've shared secrets and crushes, moves and heartaches. Now, in 2016, even though they're in their 30s and married, and all (but one) are mothers, they still somewhat reluctantly get together for an annual girls' getaway. This year Joni suggests they each write an anonymous letter telling the group a secret. As they read the letters, they learn that one of them is contemplating divorce, one hates being a parent, one confesses to having placed a baby for adoption, and one admits to lying to her friends. But as all the letters are shared, it turns out there are five, and whomever wrote the last letter hates one of the others. The meandering stories of these women are held together with the powerful question of who wrote the last letter, which reveals just how precarious childhood friendships are. The interspersed first-person confessions between Joni and her priest don't add much, but the majority of the book, told in alternating chapters of current scenes and flashbacks to 1993, adeptly exposes the striking differences among the four friends and the five letters.
Customer Reviews
Good book for the beach
This book kept me guessing the whole time.