The Last Anniversary
A Novel
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4.0 • 132 Ratings
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
"Riveting." — Washington Post
From Liane Moriarty, author of the #1 New York Times bestsellers Big Little Lies and Nine Perfect Strangers, comes an unforgettable novel defined by her signature sharp wit, page-turning storyline, and lovable and eccentric characters.
A family secret explodes. A first kiss betrays. A mystery is solved. A marriage is tested. It all happens on one extraordinary night—the Last Anniversary!
Sophie Honeywell always wondered if Thomas Gordon was the one who got away. He was the perfect boyfriend, but on the day he was going to propose, she broke his heart. A year later he married his travel agent, while Sophie has been mortifyingly single ever since. Now Thomas is back in her life because Sophie has unexpectedly inherited his aunt Connie's house on Scribbly Gum Island—home of the famously unsolved Munro Baby mystery.
Sophie moves onto the island and begins a new life as part of an unconventional family, where it seems everyone has a secret. Grace, a beautiful young mother, is feverishly planning a shocking escape from her perfect life. Margie, a frumpy housewife, has made a pact with a stranger, while dreamy Aunt Rose wonders if maybe it's about time she started making her own decisions.
As Sophie's life becomes increasingly complicated, she discovers that sometimes you have to stop waiting around—and come up with your own fairy-tale ending.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
With her second novel, Liane Moriarty really found her trademark brand: a winning blend of suspense, suburban comedy of manners, and dark wit. Three years after Sophie Honeywell broke her boyfriend Thomas’ heart—though apparently not for long, given his new wife and son—she unexpectedly inherits his aunt’s beautiful, decaying home on an eccentric Australian island. A tourist attraction thanks to a decades-old unsolved mystery, the house is at the heart of the extended family’s secrets. Moriarty’s teasing reveals of these skeletons in the closet are artfully deployed, swiftly turning The Last Anniversary from poignant to joyous to chilling.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Moriarty (Three Wishes) presents a stunner several shades darker than typical chick lit, about a family and the outsider who inherits a house on Scribbly Gum, their (fictional) Australian island and a popular tourist destination. Sophie Honeywell hasn't heard from ex-boyfriend Thomas Gordon since she broke his heart three years ago. He's since married and fathered a child, while Sophie remains single, pining for a baby. When Thomas's Aunt Connie leaves her house on Scribbly Gum Island to Sophie, the family is largely nonplussed but then, they're used to mysteries. The famous 1932 discovery of baby Enigma by Connie and her sister, Rose Doughty, led to the successful "Munro Baby Mystery" tour that kept the sisters afloat for years. Among the large, eccentric family, Sophie starts a new life, befriending Thomas's cousin Grace, who is suffering through postpartum depression; finding a dangerous mutual attraction with Grace's husband, Callum; and dealing with bitter, intense Veronika, Thomas's sister, who covets Connie's house. Moriarty expertly handles a large cast and their relationships, keeping everyone guessing as the true story of baby Enigma and its role in Sophie's strange inheritance is slowly revealed. Moriarty's prose turns from funny through poignant to frightening in an artful snap.
