In this luminous narrative inspired by the fascinating real case of “the Blue People of Kentucky,” Isla Morley probes questions of identity, love, and family in her breathtaking new novel. In 1937, there are recesses in Appalachia no outsiders have ever explored. Two government-sponsored documentarians from Cincinnati, Ohio–a writer and photographer–are dispatched to penetrate this wilderness … wilderness and record what they find for President Roosevelt’s Works Progress Administration. For photographer Clay Havens, the assignment is his last chance to reboot his flagging career. So when he and his journalist partner are warned away from the remote Spooklight Holler outside of town, they set off eagerly in search of a headline story. What they see will haunt Clay into his old age: Jubilee Buford, a woman whose skin is a shocking and unmistakable shade of blue. From this happenstance meeting between a woman isolated from society and persecuted her whole life, and a man accustomed to keeping himself at lens distance from others, comes a mesmerizing story in which the dark shades of betrayal, prejudice, fear, and guilt, are refracted along with the incandescent hues of passion and courage. Panning across the rich rural aesthetic of eastern Kentucky, The Last Blue is a captivating love story and an intimate portrait of what it is like to be truly one of a kind.
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I was simply awed by this absorbing, beautiful story. The author, Isla Morley, did incredible research, giving readers a lesson in unfamiliar history. Her novel, “The Last Blue” was phenomenal! Isla transported me to the remote hills of the Kentucky Appalachians, during two different time periods; 1937 and 1972. I was struck with so many emotions throughout this book…happiness, hope, love, and anger.
I really loved all the characters! Each one made the story complete. I think my favorite is the main character, Jubilee. She is a strong, brave young lady with a genetic condition that results in her having blue skin. She is bullied and in isolation with her family. The prejudice against her makes me angry, as it parallels events today. Jubilee is determined to have a happy life, though. Will she be find happiness, even with her blue skin? What will life be like for Jubilee?
Isla Morley is a brilliant storyteller. This is my first book of hers, and it will not be my last. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a fascinating historical fiction novel that will touch your emotions deeply. I know this story will stay with me for a very long time. Thank you,
Isla, for sharing and writing this incredible story!
~This book was given to me in a giveaway in exchange for a fair and honest review.~
THE LAST BLUE by Isla Morley is a beautifully-written and touching book inspired by a true story of the Blue People of rural Kentucky. The story primarily focuses on one family, the Bufords, who have long faced social isolation, bullying and deep-rooted prejudice because of the shocking blue color of two of the children’s skin. Driven out of town and forced to live alone in a holler, daughter Jubilee and her family keep to themselves and try to avoid trouble with the townspeople. In 1937, a journalist and a photographer working on Roosevelt’s WPA project are sent to the recesses of Appalachia to document the way of life of this remote and rural area. A happenstance meeting between the photographer, Clay Havens and Jubilee Buford sparks a captivating and poignant love story that touched my heart. The story alternates seamlessly between 1937 and 1972. I was absolutely entranced with the vivid descriptions of the setting and the heartfelt portrayal of the characters. With so many timely themes in this book, it would make a perfect read for book clubs. I loved this emotional story of the power of love and know that it will stay on my mind for a long time to come. I highly recommend this book.
Have a tissue ready for the ending.
I won’t spoil it for you – just warning you. Emotional, endearing, heartbreaking, heart-mending. When I finished the last line, I wanted to start reading The Last Blue over again. It’s that good. The writing is evocative with the strong images and feelings that were so descriptive, so genuine I felt that I was part of the story. There were moments I recoiled at the scene, another that shocked me to shout “No”, and the ending that brought tears of joy and relief. The Last Blue defies genre. Mainly American historical fiction, it is a tender love story, and a mystery with clues dropped from the first pages but not understood until the last page. It is a story for today’s world asking the reader to understand the fear that deep prejudice comes from and the fear it creates. Truly a story to read to see beyond the color of one’s skin. Brava Isla Morley!
@isla9 The Last Blue
From the first page, you know you’re reading the words of a masterful storyteller. Isla Morley’s The Last Blue is written from a unique perspective on the Blue’s of Kentucky: a small, secluded culture of people only recently come to light in wider awareness. What is different about this compelling book is that it is a profoundly riveting love story told from many angels, addressing family loyalty, love of one’s homeland, and the triumph of romantic love against all odds. The characters in this story are fully realized to the point where the reader intuits their plausible hubris. The main character’s drive towards the pursuit of happiness chafes against small-minded culture, social mores, and multiple signs of the times. In The Last Blue, we are given a beautiful, unique soul in young Jubilee, who has a genetic skin aberration that’s misunderstood and subjects her to being a community outcast in a small, mountainous region. Superstition, racism, and the worst in human nature confront her, yet through it all, nothing affects the spirit of this child of nature, who has a gift for healing birds. When photographer Havens discovers Jubilee by a creek in the sylvan woods, he is awestruck and captivated, and the high-stakes drama becomes something deeply personal along an unpredictable path where love conquers all. Engrossing, great world-building, compassionate, and poignant, The Last Blue is a memorable, ageless story with a timely message and a satisfying ending.
My Review of The Last Blue by Isla Morley; published by Pegasus Books
One of the reasons as to why I love to read historical fiction is being able to learn something and/or gain a better understanding of a moment of time, all the while enjoying the story that’s been created. The Last Blue encompasses compassion, strength, loss, and enduring love. It’s also an important read in regards to the deep-rooted hatefulness and bigotry within our society. Isla Morley has an incredible talent eloquently describing God’s given beauty, utilizing Mother Nature to create metaphors throughout her story, especially in the expression of undying love. The Last Blue by Isla Morley is a beautiful, yet heart wrenching story I highly recommend. It’s one of those stories that’ll stay with you for a long time.
Isla Morley
Enjoyed this story, is it a historical, A love story or something more? I really liked this story and think the issues brought up in story were handled well. If you enjoy these themes I highly recommended this story.
Book Review: The Last Blue by author, Isla Morley
The Last Blue is a phenomenal journey that will sing to the hearts and minds of its readers! A most meaningful and intriguing story, beautifully written, and one in which will set deep into the soul in the most unexpected of ways. The lushness of its descriptions have been masterfully created which has made it to be, in my opinion, an absolute must-read.
Appalachia 1937, begins the journey into the small, unsuspecting backwoods world where prejudice rules, and the beauty of love and land is threatened at every turn. A land forbidden to, and protected against from the outsiders who knowingly. or unknowingly, seek to destroy it.
In a world of fear, disappointment, and heartbreak~ the battle against the wicked and despicable is about to unleash itself as Jubilee, along with her family, are set on a course into a fight for mere survival against the angry hook of evil that has threatened their world for generations. Spurred by the arrival of two strangers who are unaware of the depth into their heritage, their culture~ their existence, the world of ‘Blue’ will once again be exposed.
Through the hills and hollers, The Last Blue is a breathtaking look into what is relevant to the times, and what once was. With its exquisite one-of-a-kind narrative, it gives to the reader an experience that only a novel of this caliber can deliver. With its compelling, stand-out story line, Ms. Morley has created a haunting, yet romantic journey, which weaves history and fiction into a unmistakable, unforgettable, five-star read!
5 Stars
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Wild Sage Book Blog
“The Last Blue” by Isla Morley
The story “The Last Blue” is a compelling and beautifully written story in which true love sees No Boundaries. The story hooks you as you feel the love and pain that the character feels. This moving story will bring tears to your eyes as if you were the character. I was eager to turn the next page wanting to continue reading “The Last Blue” because I was hooked on the story. I would highly recommend “The Last Blue” to anyone who likes a story that is sad yet beautiful.
Love, prejudice, overcoming fear, grief, joy, hate, revenge, forgiveness all tied up in one book. The book started out a bit slow for me, but I was drawn in and ended up enjoying how it wound around and brought closure to questions and frustrations. Jubilee and Haven’s story was sweet and sad and shows how you don’t choose who you love. There is so much hardship and transformation of these characters and the underlying issue of prejudice is shown for what it is, fear and hate. Great book.
A Love Story for Our Times
The Last Blue is the most touching, deeply satisfying love story that I have read in a very long time. Be sure to read it slowly and savor the lovely writing, the lush descriptions of nature, the special moments of connection to wildlife. Each and every character is thoroughly rounded and well-developed. If I’m using too many adverbs, it’s because this novel is suffused throughout with love and beauty and tenderness. Though it mostly takes place in 1937, it is a novel for our times, for it is about skin color, prejudice and bigotry, identity, even isolation. Mostly it is about love, family love, as well as the true love that everyone longs to find. Again, take your time reading, so you can be ready for the stunning ending.
In her tour de force historical novel, The Last Blue, author Isla Morley has created a haunting story of love, sacrifice, and the strength of family bonds. Skillfully alternating between 1937 and 1972, Morley deftly explores one Kentucky town’s prejudice towards a blue-skinned family isolated from the rest of the community, and the divisiveness of the town’s hate. Populated by beautifully drawn, unforgettable characters and filled with stunning descriptions of nature and the Appalachians, The Last Blue is never predictable. At turns uplifting and heart wrenching, it will stay with you long after you’ve read the last page. A must read.
Oh my heart! I feel like I’ve just fallen in love! This book captured my heart like no other! How breathtaking! I can only compare The Last Blue to an opera, where the composition of every note and lyric is written in perfect harmony. The prose was like the ballad of a beautiful song. This is one story I will truly never forget and is most definitely my favorite book of 2020!
Isla Morley takes her readers on an emotional journey (at least for me it was so) to the Appalachia mountains of Kentucky in two time periods, the present period of 1972 and the past in 1937. Describing the events that surround two main characters, Clay Havens, a photographer looking for a headline story and Jubilee Buford, a young woman whose skin is blue. Ms. Morley weaves an exquisite, heart wrenching tale of the people of Spooklight Holler whose lives are constantly filled with fear, discrimination, and prejudice. This mesmerizing, captivating and also beautiful, compelling love story took my breath away!
At the books conclusion I wanted to be Jubilee, The Last Blue! I highly recommend this book to everyone! It’s a must read!
Wow! Amazing! I didn’t just read this book, I experienced this book! I’m in a huge book hangover after finishing the last emotional page. I closed the cover of this book a couple of days ago and I needed to soak and bask in the journey back in time that I just spent with Jubilee and Havens as their love story unfolded. It was like going into the pages and becoming a part of their story. It was a complete bonding with the characters, the remote location of Spooklight Holler, and the level of prejudice the Buford family suffered just because they were born “blue”. I love historical fiction and this book is a top reason that makes it so for me. It was an unbelievable and unforgettable encounter with an epic read. The love story of two people who were destined to be together through so many challenges just because one of them was different. It’s a story of how the power of love can overcome even the most difficult of times, situations and heartache.
For me this book is so worthy of high praises. There are so many emotions I felt that were as real as if I were experiencing them myself. This is the first book I’ve read by Isla Morley and I’m in awe of her talent to pull so much out of me with her extraordinary prose. Each page in this magnificent novel drew me deeper into the lives of the characters. I’m just mind boggled at the intimate and minute details that created a living journey for me to travel in the pages of this book. Ms. Morley’s writing is profound and filled with word portraits that filled my mind with detailed pictures. Not only of the settings but also the emotions of the characters. The horrors of what it was like being discriminated against and treated as inferior. The level of prejudice and hatred was stark and blatant. Raw and achingly painful. But then she took me into the inner depths of the love between Jubilee and Havens. The beautiful connection and true passion for one another. Ms. Morley tenderly and intimately crafted their relationship and had my heart yearning for their lives to come together and be with one another. The pacing was precise and perfect in creating their story. “There are but three things over which a poor soul has no control: his birth, his death, and who he’ll love, and anyone who tells you an orderly tale about love has surely never encountered the real thing.” The passages of Haven’s depth of feelings for Jubilee had my heart beating. “He has the urge to unbutton his shirt, unhook his ribs, show her his heart.” “Such an unspoiled goodness will make a man want to pull rainbows from the sky and tie them around her neck.” How romantic is that!? Such beautiful words. I have so many passages highlighted that touched me in so many ways. Words that blended the book together so perfectly.
This book is magnificently written. The characters are unforgettable. I will carry a part of them with me for a very long time. I will go back to what I said earlier about needing a couple of days to absorb all that is between the covers of this book. I didn’t want the book to end but I did, too. It is an emotional read and I had tears as I read the last few pages. It touched me heart and soul.
I want to especially thank Ms. Morley for a copy of this book I am so, so honored to have read. There are totally not enough stars or words I can give this book for how wonderful it is. One of my top five books this year. All opinions and thoughts in this review are my heartfelt own.
If you enjoyed “The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek” then you need to check out this book. Based on a true story, “The Last Blue” is about the “blue people” of rural Kentucky, in particular a lady by the name of Jubilee Buford.
Jubilee faced discrimination, bullying, and social isolation, just because she was different. Her quest for love was rocky but successful. Morley writes the love story of Jubliee and writer/photographer Clay Havens with sensitivity and compassion. Jubilee’s story evoked strong emotions in me. What made people so cruel? Was it just ignorance? How could people witness the cruel acts against the blue people and say or do nothing to intervene? Why weren’t there more people with the conscience of Clay Havens?
This is a story of passion, connection, doing what is right, and courage.