Title: The Fifth Letter
Author: Nicola Moriarty
Genre: Contemporary/Mystery
Publisher: Penguin
Publication Date: February 23rd 2017
Joni, Trina, Deb and Eden.
Best friends since the first day of school. Best friends, they liked to say, forever.
But now they are in their thirties and real life – husbands, children, work – has got in the way. So, resurrecting their annual trip away, Joni has an idea, something to help them reconnect.
Each woman will write an anonymous letter, sharing with their friends the things that are really going on in their lives.
But as the confessions come tumbling out, Joni starts to feel the certainty of their decades-long friendships slip from her fingers.
Anger. Accusations. Desires. Deceit.
And then she finds another letter. One that was never supposed to be read. A fifth letter. Containing a secret so big that its writer had tried to destroy it. And now Joni is starting to wonder, did she ever really know her friends at all?
I actually only read this as I was on holiday, and it was one of the few books in English that someone had left on the reading table that the hotel had for guests to swap books once they’d read them. I thought I recognised the authors name, but then realised I was thinking of Liane Moriarty (Big Little Lies), but I have found out since then that Nicola is Liane’s younger sister.
It was a very easy read and perfect for on holiday. All of the characters were very likeable and the story unfolds very well. I read it in a day, as I found I was desperate to know who wrote the fifth letter and what would happen to all of the women. It’s not a very complex story, so some may not like it, but I found it was just the thing for lazing by the pool. When I’m on holiday relaxing I don’t want anything too heavy going and this was just the ticket.
