Sophie Honeywell is the successful head of Human Resources for a large firm and lives a happy life but for one thing. She is single and 39-years-old. Her biological clock is nearly up and she’s really concerned that she still has not found that special guy to marry and have children with. She and her last boyfriend, Thomas, have broken up because she knows they will not work. During their time together, she became acquainted with his unusual family many of whom live on Scribbly Gum Island in Australia. This island gained notoriety back in the 1930s when residents, Alice and Jack Munro, simply vanished leaving behind a two-week-old baby girl. The child was found by other island residents, Connie and Rose. They kept the little girl and named her Enigma. Thus, the Munro Baby Mystery has brought many visitors to the island where people tour the Munro house, enjoy treats at Connie’s Cafe, get their face painted by Rose and generally explore the island. It has been a booming business for them resulting in making them quite rich.When Sophie inherits Connie’s home, the family members are shocked that an outsider would get the home and many of them are not at all happy about it. However, Sophie is ready for a change to her life and fits right into the island life.The novel introduces the reader to the individual family members all with some sort of secret. Learning about their lives and how everyone interacts with each other is completely mesmerizing and draws the reader right in. I loved all of the stories of the family members. Some are sad and some are downright hilarious. When the mystery is solved for readers, I bet you will be as surprised as I was. This author has a way of intertwining the lives of different people and the difficult times they are facing without making it depressing. She always has some sort of secret that gets solved in the book which is another thing that really keeps you reading.I love Laine Moriarty’s books and look forward to reading more.
I actually feel jealous of all the people who still have all of Liane Moriarty's books to read, when I'm going to have to wait for her next one to come out. While this isn't my favorite of her books I did really like it and feel she is an incredibly talented author. Maybe her books won't win Pulitzers or whatever, but her characters have so much detail and depth that it is sheer pleasure to know them through the books.Sophie broke up with Thomas a few years ago, right before he was about to propose. She broke his heart. She wonders if she has made a mistake, as she is still single and childless and is approaching 40 like a steam engine - full speed ahead. Thomas' family are considered somewhat of a celebrity family in Australia, as Thomas' grandmother? great aunt? can't remember - found and adopted the Munro baby, daughter of Alice and Jack Munro who mysteriously disappeared one day, leaving a cooling marble cake and a half-finished crossword puzzle, along with a newborn baby. Connie passes away, and shockingly leaves her house to Sophie. Along the way, Sophie will discover the truth about the Munro baby, fall in love, meet old friends and make new, and will still hate the fact that she has a blushing disorder.Sophie is the main character but one of my favorite characters in this book is Margie, Thomas' Mom. Margie is a overweight, motherly type, whose husband Ron is always making fun of her and treating her as if she's a lesser person. Margie starts going to Weight Watchers and begins losing weight, beginning a new adventure with surprising discoveries about herself and Ron along the way. We get narration from nearly all of the characters - Ron, Enigma, Rose, Sophie, Callum, Grace - I thought all the characters worked well together and I loved the tight-knit family vibe while still having issues as all families do. Sophie fits right in and is loved by all. Now to wait until Moriarty's next book comes out :)
What do You think about The Last Anniversary (2014)?
I have just finished this book, and I think, not sure, that I liked it better than Three Wishes, but less than What Alice Forgot and The Husband's Secret. That seems to indicate that Liane Moriarty's books are getting better and better. This one has some weaknesses. A bit of suspension of disbelief is necessary for everything surrounding the big mystery and people's reactions to it. Sophie was a bit of an ambiguous character for me. The author wanted us to relate to her, and at times it did not quite work, I felt, like moments in Three Wishes. I loved the quirky old ladies, Rose, Enigma and of course Connie, whom we would have liked to see even more. Some of their discussions made me laugh out loud. I like the element of mosaic, with all the stories intertwining, which seems to be typical of Ms Moriarty's stories. This book made me laugh and cry, which is always a good sign for me...
—Pirouette
This was nowhere as good for me as The Husband's Secret which I thought was terrific. I think this one was an earlier story by this author so I'm reading in the wrong order. I'll still stick with her on the back of THS but wouldn't have if I'd read this one first.I found it very laboured for me in places and it took me a while to read it as I wasn't really enjoying it that much. Some mistakes in it irritated me as well.At one point she used the word wouldn't when I think wooden was what was meant (?), there were some dropped apostrophes and irritatingly a lot of missed hyphens quite strangely-headover-heels or motherin-law for example.I thought Australia had dollars but pounds and shillings were mentioned so perhaps I'm mistaken there.The worst error for me was suddenly calling Veronika (as she'd been all the way through) Veronica all of a sudden. I'd have expected somebody to have spotted this !!There were some funny lines in it and the story itself was a good mystery but just not a patch on her other story for me.
—Lynda Kelly
I do like this author! This is a great story, with some lovely, likable characters. (FYI, there were a few prurient bits, the type of things that I appreciated NOT being in "What Alice Forgot".) The book is about a woman who ends up having a house left to her, a house on an island where a family has made a cottage industry out of a mysterious disappearance, turning the mystery into a tourist trap. The main character is a funny, sweet young woman who has to find her way around this new family, some of whom love her and some of whom don't. Interesting characters and side plots made this a fun read. Also, the industrial-strength clear plastic adhesive covering that the library had applied had attracted sand along the edge, charming me with thoughts of vacation reads of my past. :)
—Sally
