I loved The Women in the Castle by this same author so I was really looking forward to reading this new novel. I read it late at night and in short sittings over a couple of weeks. The story tells about a family across a couple of generations. I found it difficult to follow the threads of each generation, not quite sure who was narrating and what time period we were in. I didn’t know very much about the history of the oil industry and politics related to it in Iran. When I completed this novel, ironically, the next two books I read were also stories about oil and politics in Iran. Between all three, I have been given an education. Now I want to reread this novel giving it more time. I love the way Shattuck writes and feel my misunderstandings are my fault and not hers. I would recommend this novel to lovers of historical fiction and family sagas.

I don't read (actually read, as opposed to listen to) many books, but this was a rare exception. This was so, so good. It's hard for me to articulate why, except that the character development was excellent, the engagement with social issues worked, and the plot made sense.

Review copy provided by publisher.

“Last House” is a multi-generational historical novel. Jessica Shattuck with Nick and Bet Taylor - a generally lovely couple who are doing their best - and slowly folds in their children, Katherine and Harry. They each have their own struggles. Nick’s oil industry career takes him to the Middle East, where he tangled with government leaders who make choices he isn’t sure are the right ones. Bet is both bored and worried. Katherine protests oil and the Vietnam War but isn’t totally sure why. Harry is floundering. It’s all very high stakes, and Shattuck weaves their narratives together masterfully.

What I liked: I’m not always sold on family sagas or sweeping historical epics, but Last House really does it well. I was deeply invested in all of the major and most of the minor characters. Also, Shattuck centers environmentalism, foreign affairs, and generational clashes, which makes for a thought-provoking medley. Plus, the writing is exquisite.

What I didn’t love: the retrospective nature of some of the writing feels harsher on the characters (particularly Katherine) than necessary and I found the judgemental tone distracting.

I highly recommend “Last House” for anyone interested in a contemplative family drama and fans of well-written literary fiction. This is an excellent book.

Thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for the e-ARC!

This was good, but the pacing is pretty slow and it is more character driven than plot driven. Just as you're getting to know the characters, it switches to a different pov, so I didn't feel much of a connection to the characters. The writing was pretty and I enjoyed the novel overall, but its just not one that will stick with me.

Thank you to @netgalley and @WilliamMorrow for this ARC. 1953, Nick Taylor just back from WW2 is practicing law is drawn into the Iran oil crisis to help with negotiations and put someone else in charge. Nick is then able to purchase "Last House" from a colleague. "Last House" is in a valley, far from everything and fully sustainable in case of a crisis in the US. Flash forward to 1968, Nick's son and daughter have their own issues with the oil barons and trying to figure out what they can do about it. Last House becomes not on a refuge but also a place for ideas. This book was pretty good. The story line was easy to follow and beautifully written but I am not much for politics. #LastHouse #JessicaShattuck #WilliamMorrow #May2024

This is a very complicated, layered novel. Framed within the context of one family, it portrays a country divided by its values and how significant an old Vermont house set away from all the tumult can symbolize a place of healing.

In this instance, we are witness to the difficult transition from the Greatest Generation who were shaped by World War II to the Boomers of the sixties to the fallout experienced by the generations that follow. Told from multiple perspective and points of view the reader is caught in the middle of the generational divide.

Bet and Nicholas came of age in the 1940s. Bet was the daughter of Irish immigrants who successfully realized the American dream; Nick was raised in poverty by a stern midwestern preacher. Nick fought in the Pacific during WWll, an experience that transformed him. He and Bet met in college. She was briefly a code breaker before they married and lived the traditional life of the times—breadwinner and housewife and mother.

Nick’s profession as an international lawyer for an oil company brought him to the middle east—Iran, Iraq, etc, —as our government interfered in global politics to keepithe Shah in power. These scene for me were the most interesting in the book.

Oil and what it represented broke the family down. Katherine, their daughter, and true child of the sixties, worked as a leftist journalist to shine light on what the government was involved in. She could not abide her father’s work or beliefs. Their son, Harry, drifted until her didn’t and surprised everyone with an action.

Over the course of the book, the reader is taken on a trip through the past. We see first hand American action in the Mideast for the sake of procuring oil. We are thrust into the sixties with the sit-ins and demonstrations, the Black Panthers, the underground, the confrontation between police and demonstrators.

And in the middle of all this, there is a house. Last House of the book’s title which Bet and Nick purchase as an oasis away from the world, a place to go if they needed a place at the end of the world, one that takes on different meanings for the children and grandchildren.

My favorite parts of the story were those centered around Nick and Bet. To me, they were the most fleshed out, flawed, yet well intentioned. Katharine’s storyline got a bit old for me. She was more one dimensional. Mostly anger, more anger and questionable judgment. I felt the same way about Harry. Wanted more of understanding of him. You be the judge of how he evolved!

Bravo to Jessica Shattuck. Long after I think about the characters, I will remember the history she gave us. Included in the book is a long list of all the things oil is used for. It doesn’t justify any of what happened but is something to think about.

I really liked The Women in the Castle, so was excited to read Last House. This is a very ambitious work of historic fiction spanning from WWII to the near future and focusing on several generations of one family. Nick Taylor, son of Mennonites from the mid-west, is a WWII veteran who has become a corporate attorney for the oil industry. Bet is a reluctant 50's housewife, raised in a newly affluent Irish-Catholic family in suburban NJ. They raise two children in Connecticut, who get swept up in the turbulence and change of the 60's. which ends in tragedy. And then there's their children and grandchildren. There's plenty to think about in the book including climate change, America's role in the world, racism, women's rights etc. Through it all, the family keeps a second home Last House in the Northeast kingdom as Vermont, a metaphor for where we've been and where we're going.

A book that is at once thought-provoking and a real page-turner, as we get totally caught up with the relatable characters from a family and spend a few decades with them. Lots of history here, as we follow them post World War Two and into the turbulent 1960s and beyond. I truly look forward to recommending this title, particularly to readers who enjoy historical fiction that is lively and accurate.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an opportunity to listen to read this book in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own.
The story of a family told from the 1953 until 2025. Nick recently returned from WW2 has a plumb job working as a lawyer for an oil company to help ensure Americas supply remains abundant despite the politics of the middle east. His source of comfort is his wife Bet and their two children 5 year old Katherine and 3 year old Harry and their upper middle class lifestyle. Bet a brilliant cryptographer during the war, traded it all for motherhood and suburbia, not because she wanted to, but because it was expected. Last house refers to a rustic cabin in the Vermont woods that the young family buys, and returns to each year.
Like most Boomer children, Harry and Katherine grow into hippies with a full sense of disillusionment of their patents lifestyle and the environmental damage done by it. The book spends a good period of time in this era, where critical events happen that are relevant to the arc of the story. For me, this part of the book dragged a bit.
I especially enjoyed that last section where decisions that were made and lives that were changed play out. We get to meet the decedents of Nick and Bet and see how the family traits are a though-line from generation to generation.
Satisfying Read

Last House is a family drama that will most likely be talked about a lot. The story of Bet, Nick and their children is enjoyable, although too narrative at times. The novel would have been more compelling as an entirely character driven story. as those were the most interesting parts of the book. Thanks to William Morrow for the opportunity to read the ARC.

I could not put this book down! Jessica Shattuck masterfully blends world history with family history in Last House. I can’t wait dive into Shattuck’s backlist!

Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for the ARC!

PS—fantastic cover art. I can’t wait to see this one on shelves this spring.

I received this from Netgalley.com.

Wow, really good read. This book is kind of challenging. It's stuffed full of historical information with relatable characters who lived and survived the ups and downs of what life was like during those eras.

3.75☆

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC for review.

Last House is about a family. The narration alternates between the parents, who meet in the 1950s, and have two children. Later, their daughter narrates her life in the 1960s. I wouldn't say a lot happens in this novel but it's a great character study. Nick, the patriarch, is a lawyer who helps save American oil interests in the Middle East. Later, his daughter Katherine becomes involved in the anti-war, pro-rights movements that are so popular in the volatiles 1960s. The conflicting ideals between her generation and her parents' generation have devasting consequences on her family. I liked the setting of Last House, but felt some of the political parts (like when she wrote for the radical magazine) dragged on a bit.

Last House by Jessica Shattuck is a family story that covers many decades.The novel is rich with motivations and relationships..Nick Taylor is an oil company lawyer and his wife Bet was a cryptographer but is now a homemaker. They are the parents of Katherine and Harry.They spend summers at Last House in Vermont which was a place they all enjoyed.This book tells from different characters viewpoints things about Communism and the Cold War to feminism and racial protests.This book will be enjoyed by anyone who wants an overview of many events from differing perspectives.Thank you to William Morrow and NetGalley for allowing me to read this ARC!

A grand story spanning decades of our country’s history. A family whose decisions and choices have shaped them all in different ways.

When they have money, they buy a house. Lost House. A place where they can escape the craziness that is life moving forward. And their money comes from oil.

Moving on they will need to come to terms with all of their decisions.

NetGalley/ William Morrow May 14, 2024

I loved this book. It followed the story of a family who has been involved in the middle east with oil from the 50s, and the patriarch buys a home in the woods on a plot of land with other friends. The story sounds so simple in retrospect but it encompassed so many different human emotions and storylines throughout the entire thing. I really enjoyed the complex characters, the interweaving of history, but also the nitty gritty of real humans experiences as well. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys good multigenerational sagas. It was similar to, but more complex than the work of Kristin Hannah.

This ebook was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Last House has a historical fiction element to it that ties into oil, Iran, and the counter-culture sixties, but for me, it was really about the Taylor family and their diverging perspectives. Nick and Bet are mostly happily married, but at the same time Bet longs for more while Nick seeks out the solidity of a marriage in the fifties. Bet is in some regards a woman before her time, incredibly curious and intelligent and stuck being a housewife. Nick works with the CIA and as a lawyer in the oil industry to bring the shah back to power in Iran and prop him up for the benefits of the oil and a hand in controlling the Middle East. We all know how that eventually played out, but it's also interesting to observe how little people were concerned about what the potential long-term consequences might be of playing politics in someone else's sandbox. Not only do Nick and Bet tend to be at odds with each other, but their daughter Katherine grows up to be a radical that rails out the established expectations of society and sees herself as a crusader for a better and more equal world. Often in the process conveniently overlooking the privileges that allow to continue the fight. One of the most interesting parts of the book for me was seeing how the times both generations grew up in had such a large impact on how they viewed the world - and how critical and confused they could be with each other. I think every generation experiences that with those who come before and after them, but I've never viewed my parents as out of touch the way Katherine does. I think the book is better for focusing on the relationships the family has with each other, but it's really nice to see Shattuck use the United States propping up oil and the shah in Iran as the historical backdrop, because I've haven't seen anyone else do it. I wouldn't say this book is exceptional, but I enjoyed reading it, and definitely thought it was thought-provoking. A complimentary copy of this book was provided by the publisher. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

LAST HOUSE is the exact kind of book I love best. Historical fiction set in an unusual period that reads like literary fiction AND that’s character driven. It’s right up my alley.

It might have been because I wasn’t in the mood for an understated book like LAST HOUSE, but I wasn’t totally enthralled with it the way I wanted to be. The book is written well, and some sections were easy for me to dig into, but others were less interesting to me. I didn’t care as much for the politics as I did the saga of the Taylor family, and maybe that’s where the story got stagnant for me.

The story centers around a home - Last House in Vermont - and takes readers from the 1950s to the 2020s, highlighting the social upheavals, wars and politics of the times. After the first quarter, it moved very slowly and proceeded tediously.

I just didn’t totally connect with these characters, but I can see that many will enjoy it and its quiet beauty.

Thank you to Net Galley and publisher William Morrow for the advance digital copy of LAST HOUSE in exchange for my honest review.

Last House is a sweeping, multi-generational saga that begins in the 1950s and extends to current day (actually 2025). The first page introduction to the multitude of diverse, seemingly random and expected uses of oil in our current day life is the perfect precursor to the Taylor family story of Nick and Bet, and then of their children Katherine and Harry. Upper middle class privilege is at war at home and abroad for the family, whose generations both massively benefit and then actively protest against the geo-politics of oil both in the US and Middle East. From Nick's tour in Vietnam to Katherine's radical protests and ideology, the reader is drawn into the choices of each generation to make the world better, and the often boomerang choices that their offspring will follow in rebellion.

For those of us who were too young to fully grasp the upheaval of the 1960s and early 70s, this story is an elegant lesson in the major historical events of the late 20th century. My favorite characters without a doubt were Bet and Nick as they were deeply drawn, with the complexities they faced from their twenties, through career and parenthood. Katherine, the story's narrator, to me was less likable, more a radical-turned-mindful environmentalist as a result of family tragedy with her brother Harry, which she foreshadows early in the book. The "future" generations of Kate and Harry's children (and a grandchild) are introduced at the end of the novel, too late for the reader to really know them except through Kate's 79 year old somewhat sentimental eyes. These youngest Taylor offspring do bring together the overarching elemental theme of family, legacy and what ideals and values are passed from one generation to the next.

I loved the writing, often beautiful sentences I would reread just to fully embrace Shattuck's descriptions - from the hills of Vermont to Mapleton suburbia and the radical couch surfing life of the many 60s and 70s activists. From the first page to the last, this is an epic novel to savor. Highly recommend! Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book had much promise at the start; I was interested in the time period as it has been a long while since I read a family saga starting in the '50s. It just lost all its steam about halfway through.