The Last List of Miss Judith Kratt by Andrea Bobotis follows this extraordinary idea wherein the protagonist tries to make a list of family heirlooms, and in the process, reveals a story connecting those things and the lives of the characters in general. The story ends up touching a few delicate topics, including family relationships, racism, survival of the fittest, et al.

The book is a crisp read. Although detailed, the author reveals just enough chapter-after-chapter so as to maintain the suspense till the end.

There are easter eggs in the book for the readers. The protagonist mentions a lot of books throughout the story, which can then be added to the TBR as per liking.

Recommended.

Thanks to the author and the publisher for the ARC.

‘Aren’t memories a little like furniture of the mind?’

The fictional town of Bound, South Carolina is the setting for this thoughtful novel. Miss Judith Kratt, now aged in her seventies, lives in in her family home. Olva, her companion, hovers on the border between family and servant. The Kratts were once the most powerful family in town, but now there’s only Judith. Her parents and brother are long dead, and her younger sister Rosemarie left years ago. Judith decides to prepare an inventory of the family heirlooms, the items which have surrounded her. Judith becomes more determined to compile this inventory when she learns that her sister Rosemarie is returning. But Judith quickly finds that this is no simple task. Items have history. Some of those connections are to aspects of a past to which Judith would prefer to forget.

‘Memory and history are bound up with one another. Where does one end and the other begin?’

As Judith catalogues each item, its provenance and place in her family history, she also recalls other aspects of living in the segregated South. As Judith catalogues, her thoughts move between the past and the present. The presence of Rosemarie and that of Judith’s ‘paperboy’ Marcus and his daughter Amaryllis complicate the present, while a tragedy in June 1929 needs to be revisited.

‘Sometimes, all the things must be taken from their boxes before they can be put back again.’

In between each chapter is Judith Kratt’s slowly growing inventory. Each piece identified has a part in the story, each piece has significance. There’s a family history being told through ownership, possession and use. But there are secrets and tragedy as well. Each character has a past, a story.

‘Everything turns into something else.’

I found much to admire in this novel. Miss Judith crept up on me and, in her quiet usually understated way, took me into an unfamiliar world. Ms Bobotis has crafted a novel that which held my attention from beginning to end.

Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

Judith lives in the Kratt family home in the small town of Bound where her father's department store used to be the jewel in the high street. Times and the family fortunes have changed and Judith now lives quietly with an old family servant called Ola. However, she receives a postcard form her long lost sister who decides to pay the family homestead a visit sending Judith into a tizzy about what her sister is after and that prompts Judith to start to make an inventory of the family's belongings, which leads to a slow, long revelation of dark family secrets, told in flashback as the items spark memories.

I wasn't that keen on this book.. I got thoroughly fed of what "Daddy Kratt" said or did and the over egged retelling of the minutiae of life in Daddy Kratt's store in the good 'ole, bad 'ole days. It was the reading equivalent of eating an over sweetened piece of pecan pie. I didn't really like the characters. It didn't speak to me. By the time some of the dark family secrets were starting to be revealed I couldn't have cared less.

"It is an illusion to think siblinghood is immutable; it has cycles just like everything else."

Lovely book, finely crafted. The author, Andrea Bobotis deftly uses Judith's list of family heirlooms to demonstrate the cycles of memory, family relations and complications, the experiences of the era, and the experience of life itself.

Definitely recommend.
Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I did not see this book being as good as it is really. I heard nothing about it, and went in it without any expectations. I love it when you find a gem like this out of nowhere.
It's a very good mystery about a family. It is told from Judith's perspective, who's 75 years old. She goes through the inventory of her house that she lived all her life. And each piece has a story of its own.

It was so well written and I enjoyed the mystery so much. I recommend this book to everyone.
Thanks so much Netgalley and the publisher for this copy.

This book was fantastic. I will read anything else written by the author, Andrea Bobotis. This book is not one you can rush through it needs to be soaked into your bones.

OH BOY OH BOY! This is such a good mystery and a story of family. The good the bad and the ugliness of being part of a family.

The story is told by 75 year old Judith who is taking inventory of the items located in the house that she has lived in all her life. Each piece of furniture has a story to tell.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I recommend this to anyone who wants to read a good ole southern mystery!

Many thanks to Netgalley and Sourcebooks for this advanced readers copy!

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for an ARC of this title in exchange for my honest review. This book just got better and better the more I read. As Judith nears the end of her life, full of her "things," she decides to start an inventory. As the novel unfolds, you find there is so much more background and family history than you'd have guessed. Judith comes across as materialistic, but there's more to it. Each piece has a history and a part of the story. This was just a lovely, nice book, and I can't recommend it enough.

Miss Judith Kratt,age 75 is making an inventory of the significant items in her house; the house she has lived in since childhood in a small South Carolina town.The act of studying the furniture releases long ago memories of her family: imperious father, invisible mother, calculating brother and runaway sister and the tragic events of 1929 that set the family's destiny. A book full of atmosphere and secrets--a captivating story

The setting is in Bound, South Carolina during the harsh time period in the 1920’s. This was a disturbing book to read, but an important probe of family secrets, bigotry, and callous feelings and opinions. I love the way the author used the list of items in Judith's inventory to tell a heartrending story that influenced people's lives many years later. The characters are likable, interesting and kind, except for the father who is hateful and mean. Written with clarity and insight, this remarkable story has all the ingredients of great literature. I really enjoyed this book. I would be interested in reading more from this author. I highly recommend it. I was fortunate to receive this novel from Netgalley as an Advance Reader Copy, in exchange for an objective review.

This book was fantastic. I will read anything else written by the author, Andrea Bobotis. This book is not one you can rush through it needs to be soaked into your bones. Racially charged times of the 1920's in the South are the setting for the book and the Miss Judith in the title is the narrator of the story. She tells us about how her brother came to be shot over 50 years earlier. The other characters of Olva and Rosemarie and Quincy and the father, are not as fleshed out as Judith's but you still feel like you know them. And in the case of Quincy and the father I would not want to know them. I highly recommend to any intelligent reader who enjoys historical non fiction set in the gothic South.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for the chance to read and review.

The Last List of Judith Kratt by author Andrea Bobotis is a great book! It is tightly woven and slowly lets loose! The characters are great (and not so great) and the conclusion is satisfying!
Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for an arc copy of The Last List of Judith Kratt in exchange for an honest review.

This was a discomforting book to read, but an important exploration of family secrets, racism, and insensitive feelings and opinions. The characters, for the most part are unlikeable, and the father downright mean and hateful. That being said, there are some interesting, kind and thoughtful characters as well. The author evokes a time and place that is part of our history. She also portrays how material things have history, stories and meaning---but perhaps not so important after all.