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    The Fifth Letter
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    The Fifth Letter
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    The Fifth Letter
    Audiobook8 hours

    The Fifth Letter

    Written by Nicola Moriarty

    Narrated by Candice Moll

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

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    About this audiobook

    A fun vacation game turns destructive, exposing dark secrets, deeply buried grudges, and a shocking betrayal in Nicola Moriarity’s intriguing debut.

    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 . . . and things will never be the same.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateJan 24, 2017
    ISBN9780062660930
    Author

    Nicola Moriarty

    Nicola Moriarty lives in Sydney's northwest with her husband and two bright, kind (and remarkably strong-willed) teenagers. She is the younger sister of bestselling authors Liane Moriarty and Jaclyn Moriarty. In between various career changes, becoming a mum and studying at Macquarie University, she began to write. Now, she can't seem to stop. nicolamoriarty.com.au facebook.com/NicolaMoriartyAuthor @NikkiM3 (Twitter) @nicmoriarty (Instagram)

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    Reviews for The Fifth Letter

    3.5/5

    63 ratings7 reviews

    What did you think?

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      Joni, Deb, Trina & Eden have all been friends since the first day of high school. Joni brought the group together when the teacher made a comment about them all being born under the same sign. Joni actively sought each girl out and their group began. While growing up they were pretty much inseparable and shared everything as well as helping each other deal with things. In the book which is narrated by Joni, they are 30 and she is worried about them drifting apart. She has planned a girl's weekend in a beach house. Because they have not shared their lives as much, with marriage and children happening, Joni suggests they each write a letter, not signed, sharing a secret. They will read the letters and offer solutions to the anonymous writer. This, Joni hopes, will rekindle the closeness they once felt. The letter sharing doesn't go according to plan and when Joni finds a fifth letter that one of them wrote and tried to destroy, she embarks on a journey to determine who wrote the letter and would the person who wrote it follow through on what they put in it.

      I enjoyed this book. The story flowed well and I rushed through it once I got about half way. It did start a bit slow, but got better as it went on. The story is told though flash backs and stories from their youth as well as what is going on in the present. The flashbacks help the reader to understand the friendship and personalities of the women. Of course, does anyone really know everyone's secrets? I really wanted these women to work everything out as their friendship seemed so important to who they were, but as Joni says in the book, "Maybe you're not suppose to stay friends with people from high school for so long after school. Maybe it just doesn't work." There were times that I really liked each character, and times where I didn't. Joni seemed to be rather bullying and bossy at times, then you could see that this was a role foisted upon her by the others. Parts of this book were humorous, parts serious, and parts sad, which is exactly how life works. Throughout the story, I was constantly trying to figure out, who wrote that fifth letter. I recommend this book to anyone who likes women's fiction, human drama with a bit of mystery to it.
    • 3/5
      The Fifth Letter by Nicola Moriarty is a recommended story set in Australia of four long-time friends and secrets.Joni Camilleri, Deb Camden, Trina Chan, and Eden Chester have all been friends since they attended high school together in 1993. Joni initially brought the four together because they are all Scorpios with surnames ending in C. Now it is 2016, they are all married and everyone but Joni is a mother. Joni has planned their annual girls' getaway at a rented beach house. Feeling that they are losing their connection to each other, Joni comes up with the idea that they will each write a letter sharing a secret with the group. These letters are read, one at a time, over the following days. As each letter is read, the friends discuss the secret as if none of them wrote it. But there is a fifth letter that was written. The writer tried to burn it in the fireplace, but it survived. Apparently one of the four friends is seething with anger and hates another one.The Fifth Letter is told in chapters that alternate between the present day get-together and flashbacks to their high school days. Interspersed are scenes of Joni meeting with a priest to give a long confession where she is essentially telling the story of the friends and their secrets, and little excerpts from the fifth letter.It is an enjoyable, well written book, as far as a light read for escapism goes, but it's not that mysterious, psychologically complex, surprising, or dark. While the characters are different, they are not especially well-developed or complicated. I guess I didn't find the secrets all that shocking or any surprising plot twists either. This is a novel you kick back to read for fun, not heart-pounding suspense or shocking plot reveals. It succeeds on that level.While the desire to read the four secrets and find out who wrote the fifth makes for a irresistible hook, The Fifth Letter was a bit of a letdown. Of course you don't know what other people, even close friends, are thinking or doing. Of course they have secrets or private parts of their lives. And, given the way life really is, the most serious secrets aren't even in the letters. Additionally, maybe it's just me, but I found it very difficult to take seriously four women friends who still refer to themselves as "girls." They are supposed to be in their late thirties, 38, so they should be beyond that now even if they became friends when they were girls.Disclosure: My advanced reading copy was courtesy of HarperCollins.
    • 4/5
      How well do you know your best friends? Do you think you know everything about them?Deb, Trina, Joni, and Eden have been friends since they were in middle school. Every year Joni sets up a girls bonding vacation where all four get together. All four have different busy lives, but all make time for their escape. One night, after copious amounts of alcohol, it is suggested that they all write a letter anonymously revealing a secret that they hadn't told the others and then gradually through their time together, they'd be read and discussed. That's all fine and dandy, but then Joni, who is the narrator of this story, finds a fifth letter, a letter that doesn't sound friendly at all. And this group of four friends, who have always been close, suddenly has a more sinister tone to their group. There are more than just a few secrets going on. I loved the plot of this book; the whole priest part I could have done without though, it didn't fit in for me. The ending also didn't work for me. I don't think it's the least bit realistic in terms of what had transpired. Do we remain friends with people out of habit even though there isn't much relationship left? At what point do you give up on friendships? What is a deal breaker? This was a quick read, good for a beach read, it's light and fast. It'd be a 3 1/2 for me.
    • 3/5
      A three and a half star rating.Four best friends from high school in Australia are having some time away together, leaving their partners at home. All of them have a secret or two and one drunken evening they decided it might be fun to each write an anonymous letter revealing something about themselves, but one of them writes an extra one, a bit darker and meaner. One of the group won't rest until she has discovered who the secret letter writer is. Of course like most secrets, the truth will eventually out! Some serious bits, and some lighthearted parts too. None of the women were very likeable and all had a nasty streak. I loved the idea of this novel - could four school friends keep up their very intense relationship into their 30's? On the whole I enjoyed this book, not so much a "whodunnit" but a "who wrote it"!
    • 5/5
      Totally enjoyable debut novel! One of the best Chick Lit books out. Friendship, relationships, mystery, jealousy...this book covers it all.

      4 girls meet in 7th grade and become "friends for life" because their last name all start with the same letter and they all have the same zodiac sign. These friends keep in touch and make sure, as they get older, they get together for a girls weekend. This weekend one comes up with the idea of each of them writing a confessional letter, but not signing it. Confusion and hurt is all around, and much more when a fifth letter is found.

      Could not put this book down. All 4 women are relatable in different ways, and you can see yourself and your friends in this book.
    • 3/5
      The twists and turns of friendship...especially those from high school are unpredictable and often times slippery. It will leave you wondering how well you really know the best friends that you have known seemingly forever. The story is built on dark secrets...lies...and how those said lies can set off a chain of events that can change a life in an instant. Overall a fairly good read..not spectacular but acceptable and worthy of 3 stars.
    • 3/5
      This is a story of lifelong friends and their secrets and betrayals, Joni, Deb, Trina, and Eden became friends in high school. Well actually Joni decided they were all going to be friends and made it happen. They promised to always be friends, but husbands, children, jobs, life just keeps getting in the way. But Joni feels they are drifting apart. So being the only one without children, Joni makes the arrangements each year for a vacation they take together each year.This year, over drinks, Eden suggests they each anonymously type a secret confession that they want to make. Time to spill their deepest, darkest secrets. Then they pull one each night and read together. Four friends, five letters – what? Five? Yes, the remains of one letter filled with hate for one of the friends is found in the fireplace.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?The synopsis made it sound really good. However, it did not pan out so well when I read it. While I enjoyed the dynamics of the friendship, I also thought the book was pretty lightweight, “fluff”. I found it all corny and contrived, and all too quickly wrapped up at the end. The story starts with Joni spilling the story in a confessional to a priest. I thought that was really silly. If you like romance, you will probably like the book. A good beach read.