The Last Last Fight

Kirkus Reivew:
"Lehman depicts a family tragedy as narrated by the oldest of four siblings.

Samantha “Sammi” Hollander was 11 years old in 1968 when her father beat her mother so viciously that she was sent to the hospital for almost a week. Afterward, he left his spouse and his four children, ranging in age from 1 to 11. Seven years later, in 1975, he’s still gone, and the rest of them live in a double-wide trailer in the small fictional town of Altera, Oregon. Eighteen-year old Sammi and her 16-year-old sister, Mary, work shifts at the Dairy Queen, helping to support the family. Their brother Randy is 10, and little Davy is 8. Sammi is the family’s de facto mother; she’s Davy’s emotional rock and the only one who can soothe his fears. At one point, narrator Sammi describes their life with their mother, Claire: “I think about the different ‘Moms’ me and the sibs had. Normal Mom, Depressed Mom, Psycho Bitch Mom, Happy Mom, Drunk Mom.” This heart-rending story about troubled people—some broken beyond repair, others surviving with stunning strength—is liberally sprinkled with colloquialisms that bring the culture, place, and time to life. The white Hollander family’s drama also plays out against the story of Altera’s racial bigotry, expressed primarily through the residents’ hateful treatment of Sammi’s best friend, Caitlin Patters, who’s black. The story is also filled with visceral images of violence: “Mom turned her palm up-ways, brought it close to me, to the skin under my chin and above my neck, that place where old folks get all flabby and loose. She grabbed that skin under my chin between her thumb and her index finger, tight….Worst pain she caused me without making me bleed.” Sammi’s recollections of years past are interspersed throughout as the story builds to a catastrophic, shocking conclusion.

A haunting but captivating novel featuring poignant characters."