Moriarty’s light touch and sparkling writing somewhat redeems this overstuffed tale that doesn’t really succeed as either mystery, romance or family drama.
I’d never say I actively disliked the book, but it’s definitely not top tier Liane Moriarty. If I had to sum up its main issues, it would be an overall lack of focus, a weak mystery plot that lost me well before the end, and far too many redundant characters clogging up the story. I’m well used to large ensembles and multiple perspectives in Moriarty’s books, the problem is that less than half of the characters here were in any way compelling.
Our first introduced character and what I presumed to be the main protagonist is Sophie Honeywell, a woman on the verge of forties wondering if she made a catastrophic mistake breaking up with her last boyfriend Thomas. Three years later, Thomas is married with a kid, while Sophie has remained mortifyingly single. Now Thomas is back in Sophie’s life with some startling news: before his great-aunt Connie passed away, she left Sophie her house on Scribbly Gum Island, home to one of Australia’s greatest unsolved mysteries.
Over seventy years ago, Alice and Jack Munro disappeared from their home on the island, leaving behind a freshly baked marble cake, a kettle about to boil, and a tiny baby. With no one to take care of her, teenage sisters Connie and Rose raised the baby as their own, while the Munro Baby Mystery put the Scribbly Gum Island on the tourist map and became a highly profitable family business. But what really happened to Alice and Jack on that fateful day?
It reads like a classic setup for a mystery about a likeable heroine who moves into an idyllic spot only to discover that nearly everyone around her has a secret. As an additional hook, it looks like Connie had a perfect match in mind for romantically challenged Sophie, leaving Sophie and the reader guessing just who Mr Right might be. However, very soon the cast of main characters expands to include Connie’s entire extended surviving family, all with their own perspectives, stories and personal issues, which brings the momentum to a screeching halt. It takes nearly half of the book for Sophie to finally move into her new island home!
By far the most compelling storyline in the novel belongs to Thomas’ cousin Grace, who also lives on the island with her husband Callum and their newborn son. Grace’s secret is a severe post-natal depression, which leaves her numb and unable to bond with her baby, so much so that she plans a shocking exit from her life, with Sophie as a perfect candidate to take her place as a wife and mother. It’s a reminder of Moriarty’s formidable skill as a writer to tackle a dark and challenging topic in an unflinching, raw and sympathetic way.
Unfortunately few other characters get the same depth of treatment and their underdeveloped stories could have been easily pruned. In fact the book might have been better if it could just settle on a focus: is it ultimately Sophie’s story, or a multi-generational tale about a quirky, troubled family with a big secret? The Last Anniversary also repeats the same mistake that drove me bonkers about Truly Madly Guilty, teasing the mystery for way too long to the point where the reveal feels anti-climactic. In the end, the truth about the Baby Munro Mystery leaves so little impact on the characters and their lives that it ends up feeling like a cheap ploy to keep the reader hooked and turning pages.
Still, a so-so Liane Moriarty book is like a so-so pizza: yes it might be a tad average but it’s still pizza. I suppose I simply have a basic love for her writing style and it was just enough to compensate for the novel’s significant flaws in other areas.
P.S. The book was first published in 2005 and I had a chuckle at a paragraph in which Sophie is reassured that online dating is not just for weirdos and losers. If only they knew that online dating would be the norm in just a few years’ time.
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