From the acclaimed PEN-Faulkner Award-winning author of The Great Man comes a riveting high-seas adventure that combines Christensen’s signature wit, irony, and humanity to create a striking and unforgettable vision of our times.The 1950s vintage ocean liner Queen Isabella is making her final voyage before heading to the scrapyard. For the guests on board, among them Christine Thorne, a former … Thorne, a former journalist turned Maine farmer, it’s a chance to experience the bygone mid-20th century era of decadent luxury cruising, complete with fine dining, classic highballs, string quartets, and sophisticated jazz. Smoking is allowed but not cell phones–or children, for that matter. The Isabella sets sail from Long Beach, CA into calm seas on a two-week retro cruise to Hawaii and back.
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From the first page of The Last Cruise, it’s clear that you’re in the hands of a masterful storyteller. With wit and precision, Kate Christensen wrangles a large cast of characters on a cruise in Hawaii that undergoes a disastrous series of calamites, deftly turning what appears to be a comedy of manners into an intimate and moving story about how human beings relate to each other in times of stress and upheaval — with plenty of sensuous details about food, sex, and drink along the way. This novel is a delight.
In The Last Cruise Kate Christensen has given us a smart literary thriller whose ambitions extend well beyond its genre. It’s terrifying in ways you don’t expect.
A smart, fast-paced adventure story, two poignant love stories, and a shrewd and chilling warning to us all. What is not to love about The Last Cruise?
This doesn’t quite go where I expected, and is really more a character study than a big plot driven book. But I liked the characters and found the study of what happens to them in crisis interesting and dynamic. I really liked it.
Christensen presents a quietly compelling portrait of what happens when two worlds clash, sidestepping easy assumptions and stereotypes about class and privilege. The wrong way to approach this book is to wait for something big to happen, as the danger that is frequently alluded to in the opening pages is a long time coming. However, readers who have the patience to just go along for the ride, like the passengers on the once-splendid Queen Isabella, will be rewarded with a sharp, insightful story about flawed humans in crisis.
Good character development, plot that kept getting deeper and deeper, ending that stays with you long after the book is over.
Loved the book. Hated the ending.
I liked it until the last chapter. It illuminated the working side of cruise ships. The last chapter ended the book very abruptly. I wouldn’t recommend it.
I liked the story though the ending was abrupt and surprising
Really enjoyed reading this story. Unique slant; interesting character build-up.
It built up the reader to a big let down. I felt it was a waste of time.
Unbelievable, unsympathetic characters. Unbelievable situations; the author appears not to have done ANY RESEARCH at all about cruising. Candles on ships? Are you kidding? There is nothing to like in this book except knowing you are at the last page.
While I enjoyed much of the book, the ending was the worst, most unsatisfying, and laziest ending to any book I have ever read. Don’t waste your time reading this book only to reach an abysmal ending.
Bad. Way too much description of characters who I wasn’t interested in. No action for much of the book. A soapbox for the plight of workers on cruise ships I guess, but not compelling nor engaging.
The description for this book is totally misleading. I’m thinking Love Boat. Not.
Just so you know, I’ve read the Father Tim Series three times. I’m OK with negativity in the characters, but I also expect growth.
I’m not going to ruin this book for anybody by discussing the story line. But if you’re looking for uplifting, don’t buy this one.
Besides having an engrossing story involving interesting characters, this book also explores social, environmental, generational and cultural issues. I could see pieces of myself in many of the characters. As the title suggests, this is a last cruise for an aging cruise ship and one wonders why people chose this cruise–its quirkiness??? Interwoven in the story are friendships, romance, and enough realistic thriller to keep one turning the pages, and wondering, how would I react? The ending will stop you cold………
This story was okay until I got to the ending. It just stopped abruptly with no real conclusion ! I was reading this on an e reader and I thought that some pages were missing! Makes me feel as though I wasted my time on this novel.
The characters are less than perfect but yet you can feel their souls as they all embark on the final voyage of the Queen Isabelle. From the well-to-do owners of the ship Rivka and Larry Weiss to the ship workers how each handles this last voyage round trip from Long Beach to Hawaii will stay with you until the last page. Aligned with Rivka from years ago, the musical quartet is booked to play one last time before they may retire. The members, each living with their own desires and remembrances are hoping for closure on this cruise. Christine accepting an invitation from her journalist friend Valerie to join her on this cruise, leaves her husband on their farm hoping to return with answers about her future with him. Mick struggling to let go of his girlfriend sails as a lastminute request for a chef for this cruise only. Some will find answers but all will face the unknown on the Queen Isabelle.
Kate Christensen has written a tale that is not just a gleefully nightmarish cruise, but a keenly observed microcosm of our disintegrating society and planet. You the reader are SO glad not to be on the Queen Isabella, but you find yourself there — and you hang on with grim delight. Wincingly real and blackly funny all at once.
Christensen weaves a diverse cast of characters, each from a detailed and highly sensual world, into a grip-your-seat plot in this important, enlightening, utterly contemporary book about a world that hangs on the edge of something bigger than all of us. A must-read for our times.