“An amazing novel, one which interrogates, with such controlled and beautiful writing, what it means to be Southern. Utilizing a unique form and a carefully crafted mystery, Bobotis is a writer capable of deep truths, and this novel announces her as a major voice.” —Kevin Wilson, author The Family Fang, Perfect Little World, and Baby, You’re Gonna Be MineJudith inherited all the Kratt family had … Mine
Judith inherited all the Kratt family had to offer — the pie safe, the copper clock, the murder that no one talked about. She’s presided over the house quite well, thank you very much, admittedly with some help from her companion, Olva.
But her wayward younger sister suddenly returns home after decades, sparking an inventory of all that belongs to them. Set in the hard-luck cotton town of Bound, South Carolina — which the Kratts used to rule but which now struggles to contain its worst instincts — the new household overflows with memories.
Interweaving the present with chilling flashbacks from one fateful evening in 1929, Judith pieces together a list of what matters. Untangling the legacy of the family misfortunes will require help from every one of them, no matter how tight their bond, how long they’ve called Bound home, or what they own.
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I read this beautifully written debut novel very slowly so that I didn’t miss any of the lyrical writing and character development. This novel is Southern fiction at its best.
The year is 1989 and Judith Kratt is 75 years old and living in the large family home in Bound, SC with Olva, a black servant who is also her only friend. Judith has decided that she needs to make an inventory of all of the wonderful items in her home which is the original home of the Kratt family. She has no heirs but feels that she is the keeper of the Kratt family valuables and, just as important the family stories. “Our memories orient us just like the furniture in the sunroom.” As she begins to make a list of items, she ties them to stories in her family history and at the end of every one of the chapters, there is an ongoing list of items that she’s mentioned in her stories. Her memories take her back to the early 1930s when many people are suffering due to the depression. Her father is the big man in town and owns most of the mills as well as a new department store. Judith is 15 the year that the store opens and lives with her parents, sister and brother. A tragic event during this time changes her life and the life of her family forever. As Judith makes her lists in 1989, her past is gradually revealed and she is able to see her life and the effect that her attitudes as a child had on her life and the lives of the people around her. Will the knowledge that she gleans from her past help her make changes or will her focus stay only on the physical items in her house?
This is a multi-layered story about loyalty, loss and family – not just the family that they are born into but the family created by people who love them. So sit down on that porch swing with a large glass of sweetened ice tea and prepare to walk down memory lane with Miss Judith.
These southern ladies, do not sit on the porch sipping mint Juleps. They’re too busy hiding skeletons that are banging on the closet door to be released. Well written with great characters, makes for a wild read as Miss Judith gradually reveals her family history.
BLURB:
In the hard-luck cotton town of Bound, South Carolina, some bury their secrets close to home. Others scatter them to the wind and hope they land somewhere far away.
Judith Kratt inherited everything her family had to offer—the pie safe, the copper clock, the murder no one talks about. She’s presided over the Carolina house quite well, thank you very much, with a little help from her companion, Olva.
When her wayward sister suddenly returns, Judith must make an inventory of all that belongs to them—and her sister is determined to include the skeletons the Kratt family had hoped to take to their graves.
Interweaving the present with chilling flashbacks from one fateful evening in 1929, Judith pieces together the devastating influence of the Kratt family on their small South Carolina cotton town, learning that the effects of dark family secrets can last a lifetime and beyond.
http://www.darlenejonesauthor.com
Southern fiction at its finest. A very warm story about love, loss, family, loyalty, secrets, and possessions that have stories of their own. Great endearing main characters and some not so endearing secondary ones. I loved how uniquely the story is told. Awesome read.
What beautiful description. This story will enfold you and grasp you in its use of language and hold you tightly. I think this is what good writing should do, touch your soul, inspire you and move you to a deeper place. This novel delivers and the writer is so very noteworthy. I highly recommend!
I really enjoyed this book, it was not only well written but well crafted! You will be totally absorbed by the multigenerational developed characters. A very good read!
The Last List of Miss Judith Kratt is a remarkable debut historical novel, one I am very pleased to refer to friends and family. In places, the prose is poetry. We already know and love Judith and Olva by other names, a different story.
With this well-written story, it is very easy to see and grudgingly understand the painfully obvious but very human necessity of each new generation to realign their world and shift their values and expectations to fit their own personal needs and the world they have to live in. But it is also not so hard to understand the difficulty this older generation has, accepting that the things we have valued all our lives are now simply viewed as burdens in the new world order. This 21st-century fact creates a mental rift very difficult for us to face, those of us who have treasured our personal totems, those memory markers that make the past come alive, those precious ‘things’ we consider irreplaceable.
The Last List of Miss Judith Kratt defines this problem between the generations and makes more obvious to those youngsters our need for memory totems, for all of our ‘things’. I can now accept that the day I’m gone those treasures with most likely hit the auction block, and that is ok. Judith and I can let go of the partner’s desk and our resentment of the new generation’s warped sense of values as we take our last breath… But someone better take GOOD care of my Cast Iron. Some of those pieces came to New Mexico in covered wagons with my grandmothers, some from Oklahoma, some from Illinois. There is an unforgivable line, kids.
I received a free electronic copy of this deeply Southern novel from Netgalley, Andrea Bobotis, and Sourcebooks Landmark. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me. I have read this book of my own volition, and this review reflects my honest opinion of this work.
This was a very intriguing book. Set in the South spanning from the 1920’s through the 1980’s, told through the eyes of Miss Judith Kratt, this book is multi-layered. We have the race issues in the South, the old vs. the new, the rich vs. the poor, rumor vs. fact, the conflicts go on and on. It shows how our perceptions change over time as we grow and change. It delves into family secrets and relationships while being told by an authentic Southern voice.
A very good story that leaves you thinking about your own family and town.
I received a free copy of this book through Netgalley and the publisher and voluntarily chose to review it.
Andrea Bobotis’s debut novel is a beautifully written story of racism and dark family secrets. Fans of southern fiction and Fannie Flagg will enjoy The Last List of Miss Judith Kratt.
First and foremost, oh… my… goodness! Bobotis is an absolutely amazing writer! The language here is so stunning, that I’m having a hard time describing it to you all. Bobotis’ voice is very unique, which is something that is probably the hardest thing to achieve for any writer. That this is a debut novel makes this all the more impressive (but I believe she’s been honing her craft with short stories and the like, with some very good success). What fascinated me the most is how Bobotis’ prose seems to just flow, so very naturally and smoothly, while at the same time she employs metaphors and assigns attributes to things that we’d never think of under normal circumstances. Emotions get things like colors and textures, while inanimate objects take on anthropomorphic elements, bringing them to life.
However, this isn’t poetry, although some phrases are inarguably poetic, since these come as little sparkles, splashed into the most ordinary of sentences. If this doesn’t make sense, I’m really sorry, but you’ve got to believe me that Bobotis’ talent is something very special indeed, and you’ll just have to read it yourself to get my meaning.
Of course, all this could be just well and good on its own, but Bobotis combines all this with a family saga and the search for the truth in these peoples’ lives that is adroitly plotted and nimbly paced to achieve maximum enticement to read on and on. We get every element needed such as sex (although it is implied more than described, thank you very much), intrigue, conspiracy, deception, cruelty, abuse, and even a bit of extortion and blackmail, not to mention murder and adultery. But there’s also compassion, generosity, and kindness and a group of people who refuse to adhere to the norms of racism that were so prevalent at the time (which unfortunately, continue to some extent even today). As complex as this may sound, Bobotis serves us this menu one course at a time, through Judith’s eyes, while remaining true to her theme of Judith’s inventory by occasionally giving us a list of the items in the Kratt home that Judith notes. What I found even more clever was that the list changes and increases as it includes things that she features in each of the chapters, all of which go towards slowly unveiling all of the Kratt family secrets. Mind you, we can figure out a few of these mysteries before some of the characters, but that doesn’t lessen any of the suspense here.
Finally, Bobotis also knows just how to develop her characters so that we react with just the right amounts of empathy and/or disgust at just the right intervals. Judith’s craggy demeanor and Olva’s overly submissive overtures evolve throughout the story in such subtle and realistic ways that we hardly notice the undertones of a coming of age subplot, but it’s there all the same. Plus, all the quirky, and sometimes unsavory minor characters all play their parts to push the story along, all the way through to the gentle ending, that leaves just enough to the imagination to be satisfying while not wanting to let any of them go. That doesn’t mean I’m expecting a sequel, but I can promise you that I’d be first in line to grab a copy if Bobotis decides to write one.
I think I’ve been effusive enough about this novel, so I’ll stop here. (But just to be certain… I wanted to rush through it, but I also wanted to savor each and every word, it was just that wonderful.) Of course, I’m positive that my readers can already figure out that I’m giving this a resounding full five out of five stars. This is very unusual for me, and it reminds me how I gave equally as much high praise and marks to Fredrik Backman’s “A Man Called Ove,” which I also had the privilege to read prior to its publication. I knew then that he’d become a sensation, and if Bobotis can sustain this level of creativity in her next works, I believe she’s going to be on a very similar path towards success (and I hope to come along for the ride)! Brava, Andrea, BRAVA!