This is a slow burn story, but it consumes you and you keep kindling the flame because you are now part of the Kratts and part of Bound.

Compiling an inventory of a house, like Miss Judith Kratt intends to do, takes time - and so does telling the story of a family through the objects. You need to be in a certain mind frame, so to say, to read this novel. Yes, there is racism, but keep in mind it's the years 1929 and 1989. Yes, there are few, if any, likeable characters, but this makes them all the more intriguing. Yes, it may seem to drag, but bit by bit the tapestry of a whole family and town is revealed through the power of objects. It's the typical Southern family story: the father acting like the leader who instills fear in all, the meek mother who mostly keeps to herself, but still has a confidante, and the children who seem to grow without any of the parents' attention.

I enjoyed this novel very much. Actually, I find it hard to come up with something I didn't like about it. Maybe I could say that it did seem to have a slow pace, and the "mystery" surrounding some characters was too thin, therefore Rosemarie's shock, Miss Judith's youngest sister, is hardly believable. By the half point, through all the flashbacks and the shared memories, the reader can easily see where the story is going and figure out the secret.

The novel has 14 chapters that tell the story of the Kratt family, the richest and most important family in Bound, a small town in South Carolina. The narative line alternates between 1929 and 1989. The memories, the stories, and the history of the objects that come into focus reveal the underlying parts of each family member. I have realised this is a favourite way for me to discover the story of a person, family or town. It's like an onion: you find more and more stories. At times, apparently without realising it, the narrator gives pieces of information and gradually you piece them all together so that in the end you have the whole Kratt puzzle figured out. It's helpful that although the story alternates past-present day, it keeps an approximate chronological timeline in revealing the family history.

As far as the characters go, there isn't anyone I liked. They just are, but this makes them human and you accept them for who they are. Miss Judith, who we learn has never left her house in the last sixty years, has all the traits to make her irritating, but you can hardly keep anything against her. Rosemarie tried to cope with what she thought she understood as she saw fit. Olva was caught between two worlds and two families, not fully knowing on whose side she ought to stand.

As for the writing, it's poetic at times, simplistic other times. There were some sentences lacking a verb, and although I think I understand the aesthetic purpose, it's bothersome when reading. In this sense, it would have flowed better if there were some semicolons or an alternative writing structure or style.

All in all, I had a good time reading this novel. It's for those who like stories set in the South, especially since it reminds so well of the American Southern classics and the time period usually tackeled in those novels. Not to mention, it's perfect for a slow afternoon when the heat is almost unbearable and you lay in the shadow drinking iced tea.

Judith Kratt lives in her family's home full of treasures with her friend, Olma. Now in her seventies, she's decided to make a list of all the wonderful things her father collected many years ago just as her sister Rosemarie decides to come home after sixty years away. Rosemarie left home the night their brother was murdered and she blames Judith. Told from her perspective during her childhood and her seventies in the 1980's, Judith explores family secrets as she inventories her family home.

This novel is beautifully written. The lyrical prose was fantastic. The characters fell extremely flat for me for the first half of the book. I didn't actually like any of the characters for much of the book. Judith said inappropriate things and had horrid social skills during the parts of the books that took place in her 70's. I was wondering if the author was attempting to show that she was autistic or had some other special need, but she did not have the same issues during her teen years. There seems to possibly be an explanation toward the end of the book, but it wasn't made clear. The story had twists enough to keep me interested. I ended up really enjoying the book.

"The Last List of Miss Judith Kratt" was so captivating and incredibly beautifully written by Andrea Bobotis. My attention was immediately claimed in the first few chapters of this multi-layered and nostalgic novel. Connections between the past and present were cleverly woven together revealing an intricate tale of murder, racism and sibling rivalries. The wonderful descriptions of the surroundings and the superbly drawn, complex and strong characters by the author made me feel as though I was there, reliving Judith's emotional story of her life, alongside her. I thoroughly enjoyed each and every page of this fascinating story. Highly recommended and well worth five stars!

I received a complimentary digital copy of this novel, at my own request, from Sourcebooks - Landmark via NetGalley. This review is my own unbiased opinion.

Miss Judith Kratt is 75 and has decided the time has come to take an inventory of her family's possessions. She lives alone with Olva, an old family maid, rattling around in the grand mansion built by her father Daddy Kratt and his money made from cotton in the South Carolina of the 1920s. In a time of segregation, lynchings, greed and corruption, Daddy Kratt ruled with an iron fist over most of the small town through his cotton empire and grand department store. Miss Judith once kept the inventory for her father's store and now with her parents and brother dead, her sister not seen since she fled her home some 60 years ago, she reflects on past events and family secrets as she lists the various items in her home.

The novel has a very authentic Southern feel and the characters feel just right. Daddy Kratt almost leaps out of the page, striding through his department store, striking fear into the hearts of all as he passes, including his children. Although Miss Judith is difficult to like at first, remote and somewhat selfish, it's easier to feel some understanding of her as she retells events from the past, particularly her friendship with Charlie, the colored mechanic at the store and as her newspaper deliveryman Marcus and his little daughter enter her current life. This is an excellent debut novel and I loved the structure of the chapters with Miss Judith's list reflecting her past life. It takes a little while to hook you in but once it does it's an engrossing tale.

Miss Judith Kratt lives in a house full of heirlooms. As she undertakes a final inventory, she tells us her story and adds to her list. Her companion is Olva, a black woman who has been with the family since birth. From the beginning, the reader is aware of a pivotal event in the Kratt family -- the shooting death of brother Quincy. This book is full of symbolism and metaphors. It will be a popular choice for books groups who enjoy southern fiction and books that explore sibling relationships, race relations, poverty and justice. The prose is beautiful, but Judith's story is bittersweet at best and downright depressing at times.

A big thank you to Sourcebooks for a paperback ARC and to NetGalley for also partnering with them to provide a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I received a free e-copy of The Last of Miss Judith Kratt by Andrea Bobotis from NetGalley for my honest review.

Miss Judith Kratt, the narrator, is an elderly woman who knows her life is coming to an end. She decides she needs to inventory the many heirlooms in her home. As she does, each item triggers a memory of her past.

The story's timeline is from the late 1920's to the late 1980's. Her family controlled the town of Bound, South Carolina. Many of the heirlooms are memories of the business her father had owned (the cotton gins, several plantations, the department store, and 500 acres of land around town). Judith speaks of her father, Daddy Kratt as a domineering man. Each item also has clues and secrets as to the past and the truth of her father's death.

Judith is the oldest of three children. Her brother, Quincy, is the town snoop. He makes sure he knows everyone's business and their secrets. Rosemary, sister, is flighty and never never let anything in their family life concern her.

One night, there is a shooting and everything changes for the Kratt family after that night. A wonderful and engaging read that will keep you reading through the night.

Many thanks to the author and NetGalley for providing an e-book ARC in exchange for my review. All opinions are my own.

"Everything turns into something else" is a repeating line from this interesting take on southern fiction. Told through the reminiscing of 75 year old Miss Judith Kratt as she inventories her family heirlooms, each piece evokes a memory of her life growing up in the fictional Bound, SC in the late 1920's. The Last List begins with the obituary of Judith's brother at age 14, that implies he was murdered by a "negro called Charlie Watson who is employed by the Kratt Mercantile Company and whose whereabouts are as yet unknown."
Miss Judith, a prim, proper, proud of her family's heritage, Southern lady, sees herself as the keeper of the Kratt's family's valuables and its stories, but when her sister suddenly appears after being gone for 60 years, family secrets creep out through the stories and the mystery of her brother's murderer. Woven between the inventory list and memories includes glimpses of how towns grew from cotton mills and gins, race and its affect on generations. Miss Judith is proud of her family name and her father's role in making Bound a "real town" but his dark side is revealed through her stories as well. Characters include, Miss Judith, Olva, African- American Marcus and his daughter Amaryllis that comes to live with Miss Judith and Olva, which sparks some racial tension RoseMarie, Miss Judith's long lost sister, the Bramlett sisters
Olva's lineage is easy to determine, while Quincy's murderer is a bit of a surprise. The Last List of Miss Judith Kratt starts of strong, becomes a bit slow in the middle and picks up again for a nicely wrapped up ending. The story isn't so much as to determine who killed Quincy, but more of a slice of life in the south memoir. I'm not naive to think race problems don't exist, especially in SC, but one incident with Marcus and Amaryllis felt more like a "this is typically what happens in the south when white people try to help black people" rather than part of the story.
As a South Carolinian, this was an enjoyable read as I recognized a few nods to certain businesses and local towns. I especially enjoyed the author's style of the memory, then a list of the item that evoked the memory she used to tell Miss Judith's story. If the author were to write a sequel, I would be interested in following the characters.
Overall, a solid 3 stars for this first novel.

Miss Judith Kratt is 75 years old and living in the grand house that her Daddy built in the early 1900’s in Bound, South Carolina. Daddy Kratt owned the cotton gins, several plantations, the department store where all the locals shopped, and 500 acres of land around town. Daddy Kratt was described as one of the captains of the cotton industry. And he ruled the family just as he ruled the town, all powerful and ruthless.

Flashbacks take us to 1929. Miss Judith is 15, the oldest of the three children. She works in the Kratt Mercantile keeping inventory for her father. Her brother Quincy, 14, is the town snoop, Daddy Kratt’s ears. His information helps Daddy Kratt leverage control over the people of Bound. Sister Rosemarie is the youngest, 13, flighty, and “never bound by any sense of responsibility to our family.” Rosemarie had “always lived a nymph’s life, far from the concerns of the everyday world, climbing trees while the rest of us toiled on the ground.”
Living with the family is Olva, a young negro woman one year older than Miss Judith. The maids regard Olva with disdain since she is so close to the family.

Then one summer night there is a shooting: Quincy is dead, and things change for the Kratts. Some leave Bound, some leave only spiritually. Judith and Daddy Kratt are left to bury the dead and to soldier on. We see that Judith, the unreliable narrator of this tale, takes over Quincy’s role as snoop—she has learned well from her father.

Back to 1989, the 76-year-old Olva is still living in the house with Miss Judith, filling the role of family member, friend, and housemaid. The town, the house and the furnishings have all diminished. Miss Judith decides that she needs to take an inventory of the valuables in the house, and so begins her last list. As she inventories the Windsor chair, the wooden spinning wheel, the mahogany secretary, she also recalls the events that lead to the undoing of Bound and the Kratts. As her list grows, so does our understanding of the family dynamics. Secrets that Miss Judith had planned to take to her grave come bubbling up.

Andrea Bobotis has written a beautiful debut novel, full of rich language, slow reveals and a classic Southern noir story. Her character development is one of the most satisfying aspects of this book. Each is tenderly crafted with all their foibles and strengths. Racial themes are carried throughout the book, as they were and still are throughout the South. And each of the characters are bound to the town, which gives a particular poignancy to the town’s name.


My thanks to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for an advanced reader’s copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Great book with a bunch of twists and turns. It started out all over the place but eventually it all started coming together. The Kratt family definitely has their secrets and it is interesting how that all comes out.

I received this from Netgalley.com for a review.

Judith Kratt inherited all the Kratt family had to offer and she knows it's time to make an inventory of her household and its valuables. Moving back and forth from 1929 to 1989, Judith pieces together the influence of her family on their small South Carolina cotton town.

A slow burning tale, almost familiar, told in a traditional kind of southern style. Good story, well written.

3☆

Judith Kratt has been living in her family home in the small town of Bound South Carolina all her life, and she’s taken care of all that it contains – every piece of furniture, both valuable and worthless. Now, a full 60 years since Judith’s brother Quincy was killed in 1929, two things happen. First, Judith decides to write down an inventory of all the house contains. Then, Judith’s younger sister Rosemarie sends word that she is coming home. Rosemarie left right after Quincy’s death, and the only communication she’s had with her sister has been the occasional postcard, addressed but with no messages on them. These postcards were actually addressed to Olva, the girl who was adopted by Judith’s Aunt Dee (her mother’s maiden sister) when left as a baby on the Kratt’s doorstep, before Judith was born. Rosemarie’s return disrupts the old dust from the lies and the secrets Judith and Olva have been ignoring all this time.

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!

Dark southern fiction. Our protagonist, Miss Judith, is a 75 year old proper southern lady who has begun inventory of her families possessions. Set is South Carolina. Memories take us back to a fateful night in 1929. At the end of each chapter there is an inventory list, which grows as the story unfolds and the memories and flashbacks make their way to the surface. Uniquely written using the inventory list to forward the story of complicated family relationships, trials of the social era, secrets reveals, tradegy.

I was really looking forward to reading this book as I had read so many positive reviews about it. I was however, slightly disappointed without really being able to pinpoint why. I did not connect with Judith, finding her remote, although as a Southern Belle this may have been intentional. I also found the pace rather slow.
Having said this, the premise was interesting and I feel that I may reread this in the future.

Recently I have been lucky to read debut novels that turn out to be intriguing. The Last List of Miss Judith Kratt is definitely the novel that surprised me and kept me interested not merely for the mystery unravelled by Miss Kratt as she approaches the end of her long life.
For one thing, I liked the narration which is classic-like, with reminiscences, and I liked Judith being an unreliable narrator. Besides, she knows a lot but keeps cards close to chest until the very end of the novel.
Moreover, the place itself, a small cotton town of Bound in the Deep South is a location where everybody knows each other, where everybody knows each other's secrets but doesn't reveal them until the right time comes. Bound is described wonderfully and I could actually visualize the place and learn what life what like in such places in the second decade of the 20th century and earlier. And the characters. Some of them are more likeable than others, they are well-portrayed and believable in their actions.
*Many thanks to Andrea Bobotis, Sourcebooks and Netgalley for providing me with arc in exchange for my honest review.*

Told from the perspective of Miss Judith, this book has the stilted tone of a proper southern lady from the first half of the 20th century. Miss Judith, age 75 years, begins an inventory of her family possessions, which brings on a flight of memories, especially back to a fateful time in 1929. The return of her sister Rosemary after 60 years also threatens to expose a number of family secrets.

It’s a beautifully written book. “She became a long, solitary coil of smoke escaping a snuffed candle.”

While I struggled to connect with Judith, I was entranced by her comments on sibling relations. The book tackles loyalty, prejudice, the struggle to survive and how what we hold dear defines us.

The book moves as slowly as the air on a languid summer day. The author does a good job of capturing the time and place. I could see what the big reveals were going to be from soon after the beginning. But that didn’t make me upset. This book wasn’t so much about the conclusion as about the journey. I truly enjoyed it. I will say it took me a while to get drawn into the book. But once it drew me in, it truly gripped me. So, if you’re waffling at the beginning, stick with it.

I recommend this to anyone who likes dark southern fiction. I was pleased to see the book is meant to include a list of discussion questions as I think this would make an excellent choice for book clubs.

My thanks to netgalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for an advance copy of this book.

I will remember this book for a long time. The characters are vivid. They are the kind who stick with you. I loved the idea of Judith and her attachment to family heirlooms. It reminded me of my grandmother and her pride in her antiques, whether they were heirlooms or acquisitions. The big surprise of the story is not really very surprising, but that does not affect the compelling nature of the book. I really enjoyed it.

I really enjoyed the premise of this book, and the ending left me feeling satisfied. Although I believe this was the author's intention, I found Miss Judith extremely unlikeable and it was hard for me not to skip over the majority of the first half of the book because I was so put off by her. I do, however, respect the author's attempt to show her character development throughout the story arc...I just wanted her to develop at a quicker pace. I found it unnerving that, after all she went through and saw as a young person, she was still so unmoved and unchanged as an adult.

Judith Kratt has lived quietly with her companion, Olva, for many years when her quiet life is disrupted by the return of her sister, Rosemarie. Discombobulated by Rosemarie's return, Judith begins to prepare an inventory of her family’s prized possessions. As she makes her list, she recalls the events that led to her brother’s death 60 years earlier. Her inventory of the Kratt family itself includes considerations of family, as well as betrayal and racism.

I thought that this book was well-written and might be enjoyed by keen fans of Southern historical dramas. I found it was lacking a certain something. It’s a story that has been told before but this story doesn’t offer something new. I would have preferred to hear more of Olva’s story instead.

Thanks to the author, NetGalley, and Sourcebooks Landmark for an opportunity to read an advance copy.

Full review is included in the link below to the Literary Hoarders site. Loved this debut. Absolutely gave it 5-stars. And excellent book to read for your summer reading plans!
http://www.literaryhoarders.com/5-star-rating/the-last-list-of-miss-judith-kratt-by-andrea-bobotis/

I really enjoyed this book. Those interested in biographies/Memoirs will be interested in reading this book. I rate this book 5 out of 5. Generously provided by NetGalley.