The Last Anniversary is the second novel by Australian author Liane Moriarty. The story starts with 39-year-old Sophie Honeywell finding out that she has inherited a house on Scribbly Gum Island on the Hawkesbury River. The house has been left to her by Connie Thrum, the Great Aunt of her ex-boyfriend, Thomas Gordon, and causes some commotion within the extended family on the island. Scribbly Gum Island is famous for the Munro Baby Mystery, a seventy-year-old unsolved crime involving a cake, a kettle, some bloodstains and a newborn baby. Sophie takes up residence on the Island and becomes involved in the lives of its eccentric inhabitants. Sophie views her life as a romantic comedy, but soon enough she feels it turning into a sitcom, what with her attraction to a married man, icy river swims with an octogenarian, the (rather loud) ticking of her biological clock and making fairy floss for the annual Anniversary celebrations. Moriartys characters have hidden depths and the plot has more than enough intrigue and twists to make this novel hard to put down. The wry inner monologues of some characters give the reader plenty of laughter, but there are also some thought-provoking and lump-in-the-throat moments. Moriarty manages to touch on a myriad of topical subjects: lesbianism, post-natal depression, nut allergy, parental cruelty, mothering instinct, suicide, support groups, childrens fiction and bonding with newborn babies. I especially loved Sophies thought: It doesnt seem good etiquette to help prove someone a murderer after theyve left you a house. And Graces comment on support group philosophy Every day is a gift, Jake. Of course sometimes its a really horrible gift that you dont want. I was sorry to reach the end of this novel: I loved the characters and really enjoyed this read.