*A July 2019 Indie Next List Great Read* *One of Parade’s Most Anticipated Books of Summer 2019* *An O Magazine Best Beach Read of 2019**A New York Post Best Beach Read of 2019* “The Last Book Party is a delight. Reading this story of a young woman trying to find herself while surrounded by the bohemian literary scene during a summer on the Cape in the late ’80s, I found myself nodding along in … scene during a summer on the Cape in the late ’80s, I found myself nodding along in so many moments and dreading the last page. Karen Dukess has rendered a wonderful world to spend time in.”
–Taylor Jenkins Reid, New York Times bestselling author of Daisy Jones & The Six
A propulsive tale of ambition and romance, set in the publishing world of 1980’s New York and the timeless beaches of Cape Cod.
In the summer of 1987, 25-year-old Eve Rosen is an aspiring writer languishing in a low-level assistant job, unable to shake the shadow of growing up with her brilliant brother. With her professional ambitions floundering, Eve jumps at the chance to attend an early summer gathering at the Cape Cod home of famed New Yorker writer Henry Grey and his poet wife, Tillie.
Dazzled by the guests and her burgeoning crush on the hosts’ artistic son, Eve lands a new job as Henry Grey’s research assistant and an invitation to Henry and Tillie’s exclusive and famed “Book Party”– where attendees dress as literary characters. But by the night of the party, Eve discovers uncomfortable truths about her summer entanglements and understands that the literary world she so desperately wanted to be a part of is not at all what it seems.
A page-turning, coming-of-age story, written with a lyrical sense of place and a profound appreciation for the sustaining power of books, Karen Dukess’s The Last Book Party shows what happens when youth and experience collide and what it takes to find your own voice.
more
Laced with the light of its Cape Cod setting, The Last Book Party details a 1980s summer among the literary set that has far-flung consequences for all its characters. As much as the book focuses on love affairs between people, readers will leave inspired by the real love affair here: between Karen Dukess and the world of reading and writing that she illuminates.
***SPOILERS INCLUDED***
The Last Book Party leaves me somewhat torn. I liked it well enough, but it didn’t live up to all the hype, in my opinion. I’d say this was a 3.5 star read.
I greatly enjoyed the quirky character of Jeremy and loved the settings of Cape Cod, the “big city” and the publishing world. There was so much here to hold a book lovers attention and pull them in. I wanted to read all about it publishing part and kind of wished the icky-squicky part of Eve having an affair with a married man twice (or more) her age hadn’t been included. I’m not a prude, but I found that took away from the fun of the book and it seemed unnecessary.
There was so much going on that I felt like time was wasted on assignations etc. and then the end was just rather loosely left to flounder. This is my first book by this author and I would read another. It could be that this book just didn’t hit me right. I’m not sure. See what I meant though? Torn.
Thanks to the author, publisher and Netgalley for an ARC of The Last Book Party at my request. All thoughts, as always, are my own and freely given.
As I was reading this book I continually had the feeling that “I’ve read this before, heard this before”. I think this would be a good beach read but there is nothing really fresh or new here. I don’t even think I would call it a coming of age book because the young woman is out of college and has been working for a while, aged 24 or 25.
The novel is about Eve who has been working as an editorial assistant at the New Yorker Magazine. She has aspirations of becoming a published writer but doesn’t have the self confidence to really put her work “out there”. She becomes increasingly bored with the work and when given a chance at being a summer intern working with Henry Grey as his research assistant, (a well known, well regarded author), she decides it would be a good change and a learning experience. She learns things alright, but not necessarily that much about the publishing industry! She lives with her parents who have a home on Cape Cod but spends a lot of her time at the Grey house. She is extremely infatuated first with Grey’s son Fanny and then with Henry.
For book lovers like me there are many, many references to different books and their characters and this was a fun part of the book.
There were some other interesting characters, I particularly liked Jeremy, whose character changes the most over the course of the book, or at least we understand him better and the choices that he has made. However even the new book that he is writing about a leper colony and a man and woman who are in love sounded a lot like a book I have read and loved, “Molokai” but in a different setting.
Since the book is entitled “The Last Book Party” I was willing to keep reading through the quite predictable book to get to that last, hopefully incredible ending! Well there were secrets revealed (most of which were actually pretty obvious) and some flashes of what could have been a better ending, but all in all, it was not really very exciting. I’m not quite sure why it was titled “The Last Book Party” unless it is referring to the couple who host the party????
If you want something light to read this is the book for you. The setting on Cape Cod is wonderfully described and gorgeous and the characters are likable enough.
I received an ARC of this novel from the publisher through NetGalley.
I enjoyed this. It’s whimsical, nostalgic, illicit, peculiar, and worldly. The writing entrances you as it sweeps you to the Cape with a coming-of-age tale of a young woman discovering who she is and what she wants from life. She’s weary and down trodden when the book opens which leads to questionable decisions and mistakes. It’s an interesting dichotomy with this character because I didn’t particularly like her but I liked her story, which makes not a lot of sense I realize but it’s true. Even though I didn’t relate to her or her choices I found her story interesting, mysterious, and compelling.
I wish the ending was more conclusive however. I was waiting for a big revelation or something, maybe an epilogue. It feels incomplete although it’s not, again I’m being contradictory, and really detracted from my overall rating for this review. However, as stated the plot was intriguing. It was fun to see how the other side lived in the 80’s and what this young woman faced in becoming who she really wanted to be. It’s told completely from her point of view and falls under the category of historical fiction. It’s not solely a romance to me although there is some romance to it. More women’s fiction. A truly engaging, unique read.