The Last Love Note
A Novel
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- £8.99
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- £8.99
Publisher Description
A December Indie Next Pick
A Book of the Month Selection and Book of the Year Nominee
A Washington Post Noteworthy Book
You may never stop loving the one you lost. But you can still find love again.
Kate is a bit of a mess. Two years after losing her young husband Cameron, she’s grieving, solo parenting, working like mad at her university fundraising job, always dropping the ball—and yet clinging to her sense of humor.
Lurching from one comedic crisis to the next, she also navigates an overbearing mom and a Tinder-obsessed best friend who's determined to matchmake Kate with her hot new neighbor.
When an in-flight problem leaves Kate and her boss, Hugh, stranded for a weekend on the east coast of Australia, she finally has a chance, away from her son, to really process her grief and see what’s right in front of her. Can she let go of the love of her life and risk her heart a second time? When it becomes clear that Hugh is hiding a secret, Kate turns to the trail of scribbled notes she once used to hold her life together.
The first note captured her heart. Will the last note set it free?
The Last Love Note will make readers laugh, cry, and renew their faith in the resilience of the human heart—and in love itself.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Australian writer Grey makes her U.S. debut with a clever if underwhelming story about a young widow who considers a new love. Aspiring novelist Kate Whittaker, 40, juggles her responsibilities as a single mother with her fund-raising job at a university. She attempts to handle her burdens with humor (her phone's ringtone for her intrusive mother is the "Imperial March" from Star Wars), and receives support from her bachelor boss, Hugh, a family friend (Kate's young son calls him "Uncle Hugh") who has accommodated her rocky performance since her husband, Cam, died two years earlier from early-onset Alzheimer's. She begins to develop romantic feelings for Hugh, but wonders if she can have a future with him after discovering he kept a secret from her about Cam's wishes for Kate after his death. Grey, who writes in an author's note about losing her husband to a heart attack at a similar age, convincingly portrays a sense of loss. After a while, however, Kate's grief begins to feel disharmonious with the otherwise fast-paced rom-com plot, and it's obvious from the get-go where her relationship with Hugh is headed. The writing is crisp, though, and there's a smart metafictional element involving Kate deciding to give up her lofty literary ambitions and write what matters most to her. This has its charms.