REVIEW: The Fifth Letter by Nicola Moriarty

In The Fifth Letter by Nicola Moriarty, When longtime best friends Joni, Deb, Eden and Trina set off on their annual holiday, they had no idea that their lives would change dramatically after a silly party game goes wrong. At first, the women have good intentions, writing anonymous letters to admit something no one else knows, hoping it will help them deal with whatever issue they revealed. But soon enough, not only are they too focused on who wrote what letter, but they also find out that some of them have been harboring bad feelings about each other–thanks to a mysterious, threatening fifth letter found by one of them.

‘It’s a funny truth that you can never fully know everything there is to know about a person, regardless of how close you think you are. Because people will always have certain secrets that they will keep to themselves, for as long as they can.’

The tension filled week on the Australian coast is just the beginning of the problems the women will have with fixing their relationship. When it carries forward into their daily lives, each of them will be forced to face their issues head on if they hope to make things right. But the reality check they had on holiday might just be enough to permanently damage their decades-long friendship and test their willingness to forgive and forget.

‘How could I not know that one of them had those horrible thoughts that I read in that extra letter? How could everything have gone so wrong between us?’

Secrets, lies and drama–along with some laughs and romance–kept me glued to the pages of this intriguing novel as the longtime friendship between four women began to slowly unravel piece by piece.

Author Nicola Moriarty had a pretty cool concept for this book and the way it was formatted made things even more interesting. First off, we got several POVs but Joni’s was the main voice we heard as the story progressed and the secrets came out. She spent a lot of time wondering who wrote which letter and even though I didn’t agree with some choices she made, I could see why she thought what she did about her friends and even her marital issues. Secondly, as to the formatting, the story bounces back and forth from past to present and back again, constantly keeping the reader guessing what would happen next and at times whose POV we were reading. I personally loved it and thought it kept an element of surprise going.

As with any book about women’s friendships, there was drama and some back-biting going on but I didn’t find it melodramatic at all. It seemed like the reactions each woman had made sense based on their personality and the situation they were in. And there was also a good mix of fun, almost cathartic moments while the women were on holiday mixed in with the tense, angry moments that followed. But for as bleak as things seemed for Joni, Deb, Eden and Trina at times, I can say that everything ended in a fairly positive manner for them all, with a nice little twist happening in the final pages.

I hope fans of women’s fiction/chick lit will be as captivated by this complex tale as I was. I think the majority of readers will be able to relate to some part of the dilemmas each of our characters faced and will be satisfied with the conclusion.

Book Info:

Expected publication: January 24th 2017 | by William Morrow |

Four friends . . .

Joni, Deb, Eden and Trina have been best friends since high school, sharing a bond that has seen them through their teenage years and into adulthood. But now, time and circumstance is starting to pull them apart as careers, husbands and babies get in the way. As their yearly vacation becomes less of a priority—at least for three of the women—how can Joni find a way to draw the four of them back together?

Four secrets . . .

During a laughter and wine-filled night, the women dare one another to write anonymous letters, spilling their deepest, darkest secrets. But the fun game turns devastating, exposing cracks in their lives and the friendship they share. Each letter is a dark confession revealing shocking information. A troubled marriage? A substance abuse problem? A secret pregnancy? A heartbreaking diagnosis?

Five letters . . .

Late on one of their last nights together, after the other three have gone to bed, Joni notices something in the fireplace—a burnt, crumpled, nearly destroyed, sheet of paper that holds the most shattering revelation of all. It is a fifth letter—a hate-filled rant that exposes a vicious, deeply hidden grudge that has festered for decades. But who wrote it? Which one of them has seethed with resentment all these years? What should Joni do?

Best friends are supposed to keep your darkest secrets. But the revelations Joni, Deb, Eden and Trina have shared will ripple through their lives with unforeseen consequences. One will heal a long festering wound. Another will find strength in her newfound independence. A third will confront her uncertain future. The fourth will finally admit her true feelings . . . and things will never be the same.