The Last Summer

The Last Summer by Karen Swan, is set on the Scottish island of St. Kilda. The residents of St. Kilda are evacuated in 1930 and the residents are brought to the mainland to begin new and very different lives. Effie Gillies, is one of the main characters of the book, an 18 year old who is a skilled climber and very knowledgeable about local bird life. Following the evacuation she takes a position as curator of Dumfries House’s ornithological collection, after having impressed Lord Dumfries’ and his son with her expansive knowledge when they visited St. Kilda. The book is filled with secrets, a scandal and learning to live a new and different life from the one you had grown up with.

Thank you to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan, Macmillan UK for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fantastic book that combined thoroughly researched history, extremely well-drawn characters, romance, and a touch of suspense. Author Karen Swan has created a dynamic character in Effie Gillies, supported by a cast of other unique personas. The love story in the book tugs at the heartstrings, but the reader is kept wondering how things will turn out with both that plot element as well as another. I am looking forward to the rest of the books in the forthcoming Wild Isle series, which will all be immediately moved to the top of my to-be-read list.

That’s how it ended?! C’mon Karen! I want more!

The story starts out by introducing us to three friends, Effie, Flora and Mhairi who live on the island of St. Kilda off the northern coast of Scotland, set in the year 1930. We’re introduced to their primitive and rustic ways of life, tending sheep, knitting, fishing and climbing the cliffs around the island. The island’s main source of income (and excitement) comes from the tourists that visit the island to witness how this community lives. The story primarily follows Effie, who becomes the tour guide for a wealthy earl, staying on the island for a week. She strikes up a friendship with the son of the earl and a romance blooms between the two of them. When the inhabitants of St. Kilda are evacuated to the mainland by the government, Effie never would have imagined that she would end up living in the home of this earl and his son! Adapting to this new way of life, some unresolved feelings and learning of a murder that took place on the island before they all left are just some of the things Effie has to deal with in her new home.

Having read many of Karen Swan’s prior books, I knew I was in for an adventure with The Last Summer. She has such a captivating way of taking you away to the various destinations that each of her books features and this was no exception. I did find this book extremely slow to start off but I’m really glad I stuck with it because the story really pulled me in. I do wish there was a little more excitement and some twists and turns earlier on as I felt these were all saved up until the last 5 chapters or so. And then the way things were left off… I won’t spoil it for anyone but I was definitely left with my mouth hanging open and wishing for a few more chapters!

I was happy to learn that this is the first book in a new series that Karen is working on and I’m committed now to reading the rest of them as they come out. I can’t wait to see what happens next! That being said, I did feel that this book was a very long prequel to the rest of the series. The background detail and information is important to understanding what this community went through and for setting the stage for the rest of the books, but I felt a little cheated at the end that I finally made it to the “good part”, only for it to end so abruptly. I also wished that we dove more about the friendship between Effie, Flora and Mhairi as I predict that this will become more important in future books, but aside from the first few chapters, they are largely absent and separated from each other for the majority of this book. Clearly their friendship is a lot stronger than it was alluded to.

All in all, I really grew to enjoy this book and will be looking out for more to come!

Wow, what a story!

When I first started this book I really wasn’t sure where it was headed. I had no idea I would witness such a hard way of life, so many emotional scenes (this book actually made me cry which is not a common occurrence for me), and so much change.

I found it a bit of a challenge to get into for the first little bit, but once I got to know the characters and the story started moving a bit more I fell right into this world and the lives of the characters. I loved that this was a historical fiction. And reading the authors note at the end where Swan describes how she came up with the idea, that the premise is based on actual events is even more fun! I really want to visit these characters again!!!

I hope you will pick up this book and decide for yourself what you think!

Thank you to Pan MacMillan, Karen Swan and Netgalley for a gifted copy in exchange for an honest review.

5 stars +:

I’ll say it right away. THE LAST SUMMER is by far my favorite Karen Swan novel. Everything in it is amazing, from the very well-drawn characterization, to the rich and highly addictive narrative, not to mention the beautiful and envious setting of Scotland’s St Kilda (in the 1930s). The story focuses on Effie. She is a young and strong-willed highlander who ultimately leaves St Kilda to embark on a personal journey that will deviate from everything she has come to know. Of course she will find love and some unhappiness in this new world of hers. This novel is a departure from the author usual lighter repertoire. It is stronger, more grounded, and so much more rewarding in the end, in my opinion. Oh don’t get me wrong. You still get the same Karen Swan that we all know but with an extra edge. I still found myself turning the pages as fast as permitted and yearning for the next tome to materialize soon. Because, yes, there will be a next one. This is the first in a series. I hope THE LAST SUMMER is a bigger hit for Karen Swan, for she certainly deserves all the praises. My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this fantastic ARC.

I have read all of Karen Swan's books and this is my favorite! This historical fiction takes place in St. Kilda in 1930. The main character, Effie, is a strong and determined highlander who leaves her highland home for a new beginning. Lots of adventure and romance make for an excellent rea!
Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I’ve been reading Karen Swan’s novels for *checks files* er, a long, long time. I’ve always enjoyed them, some more than others, as they provide a lovely escape from reality and some solid armchair travel. When I heard she was writing a new historical fiction series I was intrigued but cautious. I was determined to give it a try, though, and wouldn’t you know it. I absolutely loved it. The Last Summer is the first in the series of five and I did not want to put it down.

Here's the book’s description:
When the residents of St Kilda ask to be evacuated from their remote island home in the summer of 1930, it’s in search of a better life on the mainland rather than the scratch existence on their mountain in the sea.
For 18-year old tomboy Effie Gillies, it’s a bittersweet departure. She’s the best young climber on the island, as skilled and brave as any of the men. But it is Effie’s expansive knowledge of local bird life that leads her to taking up a position as curator of Dumfries House’s ornithological collection - and back into the arms of Lord Dumfries’ son and heir, Sholto.
During her last summer on St Kilda, Effie had been Sholto’s guide, and their attraction had seemed irresistible but, in the glamorous polite society of Ayrshire, it is clear they are worlds apart. When a body is discovered on the island, soon after the evacuation, a scandal erupts as she is implicated. Sholto knows she’s keeping secrets – but are they even her own?
I can’t remember ever hearing about the island of St. Kilda which is sometimes the best kind of historical fiction to read. I was immediately intrigued and plan on learning more about it before the next book in the series is published. It was such an interesting time period to read about for a couple of reasons. Firstly, the story takes place in the years between two wars. The characters, of course, have no idea but the reader does. Second, the residents of St. Kilda weren’t living as their contemporaries who lived on the mainland of Scotland (can you call a country that’s part of an island “mainland”?).

There was also the interesting division between the island people, like Effie, and the people who lived at Lord Dumfries’ estate. Not only the class division but even the lifestyle division between Effie and the servants of the house. I was surprised at how frustrated I ended up being on Effie’s behalf because of how little the servants understood her position. They had never experienced St. Kilda and didn’t bother to try and look at things from Effie’s perspective and how difficult it would have been to leave everything she knew behind and start somewhere new that was entirely foreign to her. She was the one who had to adapt and adjust her behaviours, not them. And that bothered me! It definitely shows how talented Swan is when it comes to creating characters you really care about.

The Last Summer is a long book, clocking in at 400 pages, and I’m not entirely sure it needed to be quite that long. There was a lot of set up so I’ll be interested to see if book two is just as long or if Swan will be able to skip some parts. I’ll be a bit annoyed if I end up reading the exact same scenes, just from someone else’s perspective, over and over and over again. I want to see how other character experienced the evacuation, of course, but I sense there will be some unnecessary repetition. There were also some gaps left in this story that I understand would be intentional because that character’s story is coming but it was frustrating to only get part of the information I feel like I should have gotten in certain scenes.

I wouldn’t necessarily say this book compares to some of the great historical fiction stories out there (I’m thinking of the ones written by Genevieve Graham and Kate Quinn), but I was completely invested in the story. I would kind of describe it like…as if Swan wrote a story that just happened to take place in another time. Of course, the evacuation of the residents of St. Kilda is what set off this entire series and that most definitely took place in years past but this is, essentially, a fish out of water story with a dash of romance and murder.

The Last Summer will be a great read to pick up, well, this summer! Karen Swan’s latest is an intriguing start to a new historical fiction series that will keep you turning the pages. And hopefully you’ll be just as shocked as I was when you get to the last of those pages!

*A copy of this novel was provided by the Canadian distributor, Publishers Group Canada, in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*

A wonderful single time line historical romance. A story about class and struggles that the reader truly felt as they went through the story. This is the start of a new series, and with the cliffhanger ending ... I cannot wait until book two!