\n\t \n<\/p>\n
\n\tThe Last Anniversary by Liane Moriarty <\/strong><\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n\tThe Doughty Family lives on the oddly named Scribbly Gum Island, a short ferry ride from Sydney Australia, and so called after the Scribbly Gum Eucalyptus trees that grow there.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n\tThe Island and the family becomes famous because 70 years previously, teenage sisters Connie and Rose Doughty had found an abandoned baby girl whose parents Alice and Jack Munro had mysteriously vanished. It created a media sensation which captivated Australians, and turned sleepy Scribbly Gum Island into a tourist attraction offering guided tours, cream teas, souvenirs and a carnival atmosphere. In time both Rose and the baby, who had been named Enigma, get married and have children and eventually grandchildren. The dynasty which becomes very wealthy but rather inward looking is held on a tight reign by matriarch Connie. The scene changes when Connie dies and bequeaths her beautiful home to Sophie Honeywell, an outsider, who she had met just twice. Family infighting starts and traditions begin to unravel.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n\tThe book was given a high score and enjoyed by one member. Another thought it readable and interesting as alongside the saga of the unconventional Doughty Clan, Moriarty allows us a peep into their thoughts, fantasies and secrets, giving us a somewhat surreal understanding of their characters.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n\tHowever, this was not the opinion of the majority of the group who variously claimed it to be boring, written for teenagers, compared to an Enid Blyton children’s adventure story, naïve, rubbish, lightweight, predictable, with characters floating around disconnectedly. The average score was a miserable of 3 out of 10.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n\tThe evening was sweetened with a lovely fresh raspberry tart.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Last Anniversary by Liane Moriarty The Doughty Family lives on the oddly named Scribbly Gum Island, a short ferry ride from Sydney Australia, and so called after the Scribbly Gum Eucalyptus trees that grow there. The Island and the family becomes famous because 70 years previously, teenage sisters Connie and Rose Doughty had found an abandoned baby girl […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[41],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6cWjO-PE","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2776,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=2776","url_meta":{"origin":3202,"position":0},"title":"Lichens are fungi","author":"Alan Williams","date":"2nd March 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 They are all around you as soon as you step out of the house - on your roof, on the pavement, on the trees, the walls and the fences. Yet most of us do not notice them. They grow where little else can, slowly but steadily. They come in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Nature Notes"","block_context":{"text":"Nature Notes","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=49"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":14492,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=14492","url_meta":{"origin":3202,"position":1},"title":"Sully Island","author":"Alan Williams","date":"31st July 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"SULLY ISLAND \u00a0 Most people in Wenvoe will know of Sully Island and many will have visited it, but for those who do not know it, here are some facts about it. It is a small tidal island of 14.5 acres by the hamlet of Swanbridge. It is located 400m\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Readers Articles of Interest"","block_context":{"text":"Readers Articles of Interest","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=228"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4846,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=4846","url_meta":{"origin":3202,"position":2},"title":"The Legacy of Elizabeth Pringle by Kirsty Wark","author":"Alan Williams","date":"28th July 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 The Legacy of Elizabeth Pringle by Kirsty Wark Kirsty Wark is the respected BBC television presenter. This, her first novel, was mostly a disappointing read for the Page Turners. We are introduced to Elizabeth as a nonagenarian who harps back on her single life and some love but little\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Wenvoe Page Turners"","block_context":{"text":"Wenvoe Page Turners","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=41"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9023,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=9023","url_meta":{"origin":3202,"position":3},"title":"Literature’s Most Dastardly Villains","author":"Alan Williams","date":"31st January 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cTHE PAGE TURNERS\u201d Literature's Most Dastardly Villains Another year, another lockdown, another postponed Page Turners meeting, but another opportunity for Book Club members to reflect on characters in books they have read.....and disliked! There are many villains in literature: Flashman in Tom Brown\u2019s Schooldays was considered a scoundrel; whereas Professor\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Wenvoe Page Turners"","block_context":{"text":"Wenvoe Page Turners","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=41"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/JaneEyre.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":14563,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=14563","url_meta":{"origin":3202,"position":4},"title":"“The Guest List ” by Lucy Foley","author":"Alan Williams","date":"3rd August 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"\"The Guest List \" by Lucy Foley Old Friends. Past grudges. Happy families. Hidden jealousies. Thirteen guests. One body. The wedding cake has barely been cut when one of the guests is found dead. And as a storm unleashes its fury on the island, everyone is trapped. All have a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Wenvoe Page Turners"","block_context":{"text":"Wenvoe Page Turners","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=41"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11402,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=11402","url_meta":{"origin":3202,"position":5},"title":"March 2022 Book Choice","author":"Alan Williams","date":"12th April 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"About Grace by Anthony Doerr \u00a0 This is the author\u2019s first novel. David Winkler is 59 and is going home for the first time after 25 years. He has been a lover, a husband, a father and a hydrologist. Since he was a child he has been plagued by premonitions.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Wenvoe Page Turners"","block_context":{"text":"Wenvoe Page Turners","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=41"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3202"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3202"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3202\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3203,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3202\/revisions\/3203"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}