This is a tough review for me to write. I'm very torn over this book.
I originally started it and couldn't get into it , I put it down for nearly a month before trying again. Once I reached around 30% an undercurrent pulled me in, ripples began to show on the surface and I felt dramas and secrets were about to break through. I was gripped , for a time. The dramas unfolded very slowly.

I wasn't invested in the characters, I wasn't rooting for any one in particular .
I felt there were many loose ends that didn't get tied and I was left with many questions .

However, the overall story line was interesting, the era and southern theme were well written and authentic.
I liked the list, the ever changing and evolving list as the memories and flashbacks came . It was an original idea and the style of writing was unique.

I think this could be a lovely book for some people.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an Arc of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I found this novel tough going. I heard on the radio recently that a good story involves giving your audience a solid dose of dopamine, this is the magic ingredient that 'hooks' the reader. For me there was no dopamine. The story dragged with no real surprises. Sorry. Have to say that I didn't enjoy this novel.

“You know nothing of it’s history!” I said, pointing my finger at her. “Even if you did, you can’t change the history of an object because you don’t fancy the story it tells. Then again, escaping history seems to have been your life’s work!”
A debut novel written with a crisp Southern voice set in a fictional town in South Carolina.
The story follows the protagonist as she attempts to make a list of all her family heirlooms and in the process reveals the mystery of her brother’s murder more than 60 years ago as well as long buried family secrets!
It is historical fiction intertwined with mystery.
I loved everything about this book. The writing is flawless and I highly recommend it.

Thank you @netgalley and #sourcebooks for my free eARC in exchange for an honest review. Release date 9 July 2019.

Miss Judith Kratt is 75 and knows that her life is coming near to the end. When her sister suddenly returns, she decides that it is time to inventory her home to pass down. With each item she re-lives her glorious and tumultuous past. Many of the fine items are linked to the businesses her father owned, including the local department store. Each item holds clues to the family’s past and the truth of her father’s death.

This novel takes place in the south during the 1920s and the late 1980s. The novel does contain language and a portrayal of racism that would be considered typical for the time and setting. The mystery is engaging, and the reader will want to keep reading to find out the truth about the family’s downfall. This is a good novel for those who liked The Help, Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café, or historical fiction set in the south.

Miss Judith decides to do an "inventory" of the family heirlooms and in doing so reveals to us a story connecting those things to the characters and her family. This is a story touching on sensitive topics but told with a great "Southern" voice. A solid read.

**Thank you to the publisher and Net Galley in exchange of an honest opinion.**

This was quite boring, with no likable characters. I think there was an interesting story in there, but I couldn't eek it out. Not a fan.

This book drew me in with its Southern voice and a complex heroine. I liked both the scenes set in the present, as well as the flashbacks to a gone-away world of 1929. A bit of history, a big dollop of secrets, this is more than crime fiction or history fiction or a memoir.

Judith Kratt is a lonely old woman. She is 75 and lives with a woman she half treats as a friend and half as a servant. She has secrets, as does everyone in this tale. She is obsessed with her home and cataloging the contents. Her family was torn apart 60 years before by the murder of her brother. In fairness, it was a horrible family on the brink of falling apart its entire existence. Her brother was murdered, her little sister disappeared and her mother seemed to fade away as unimportant.

Now, her sister is back and Judith knows something more is coming. She will have to face what happened all of those years ago, and worse, why it happened. She comes from a truly powerful and horrible family. Her mother made choices that hurt her family for decades. Her father was an abusive, violent, dishonest tyrant. Her brother was sneaky, lazy, and cold, blackmailing the entire town to win favor with his father.

So many secrets, though most were not a surprise for the reader.

Lists. We make them all the time. We check them, lose them, forget them. Miss Judith was making a list of possessions which did not bring her joy. Sadly, things like family and friendships and people didn't make her list. I felt her life never moved forward.. She was betrayed by family members. Lied to by her mother. Used by her father to line his pockets. After sixty years, I felt she was getting a chance to experience a family she didn't realize she had.
I wonder how many other Judiths there are out there. Women who were kept from reaching their full potential.

Part drama, part history, part horror. This was a very good book that starkly told the tale of southern history in a way that hasn't been done. I enjoyed this book.

Oh, how I wanted to give this book a lovely review. Even from the very opening and meeting the first characters, I thought, "yes, this will be wonderful." Sadly, it was about halfway through that my interest began to wane, the story became a little too ordinary. Granted, the premise itself, I will always think was a good one. I had hoped for more. I do think it will still do well though; it will appeal to certain people who will never tire of the racism, family trauma, old white Southern people books. So, all my best to the author.

Miss Judith Kratt is a prim and proper spinster whose life is about to be turned upside down. Judith was born in Bound. Her father was the town’s most successful businessman. He made his money in cotton. As his business empire grew, he depended on his children Judith, the oldest, and Quincy, the middle child. Judith was his right hand daughter. She worked in the family mercantile. Quincy was the one who needed daddy’s approval. And then there is Rosemarie, the youngest. She is the beautiful, wild one. Rosemarie was not depended on for anything.

As we meet Miss Judith, she is living in the family home with Olva. Olva grew up in the home of Miss Judith’s aunt Dee, but is as much a member of the Pratt family as anyone. Miss Judith, at the ripe old age of seventy-five has decided to catalog the contents of the family home. The important things that are in it. Miss Judith puts a lot of worth into the things. Olva doesn’t seem to agree.

The story is written in current and past tense, between the current day Judith and the stories of the things and her life as a young adult in the 1920s and 30s. Central to many of the tales are the “things” that she holds dear. The underlying narrative tells us about Judith’s life and the lives of those around her. How secrets and lies can tie up a family in knots. How what appears on the surface may not be what is the truth.

This book is like the south itself, slow moving and solid. It is to be savored, not rushed through. Interspersed throughout is the actual list of objects, which grows with every chapter. It is the list that ties the whole story together. While it is slow moving, it is beautifully written. It brings forth a story about the segregated south that on the surface appears to have improved but deep down, there are still hidden secrets to be uncovered. I enjoyed this book very much.

Loved this book, I always looking forward to reading novels about the south and this was a good one. Have already recommended it to several of my patrons at the library where I work,.

The setting: small-town Bound, South Carolina, 1929 and 1989. Judith Kratt's family-- wealthy and influential back then [until...]. Judith, now in her 70s, decides to take an inventory of the family/house belongings. I wondered why list in in the title as the book refers to it as Judith's inventory--but I don't think the title The Last Inventory of Miss Judith Kratt would have worked as well.

The past is dark and holds many secrets. The inventory slowly reveals both. Judith [white] has been living in the same house [and not leaving it] for 60 years with Olva [black], her companion. They are the two main characters though others [in particular her parents and brother Quincy] but also others including Dee and Charlie [past], and Marcus and his daughter Amaryllis [present], are important to the story. Daddy Kratt, Judith's father, is vividly portrayed; he is despicable. Her mother, more pitiable, but...Her sister, Rosemarie, left suddenly 5o years ago and just as suddently reappears. Why? Read on.

The inventory grows as items are listed and their history revealed in the preceding chapter.

There is sibling rivalry, family dysfunction, and racism. Past and present.

A well-written tome, I found this book a combination of heartwarming, poignant, and disturbing.

Loved some of the descriptions both for their images and humor:

"words dropped from his economical mouth"

"...boorish man whose two-storied face had extra square footage on his forehead..."

"Children can be cruel, and I dont' know why that isn't a more frequent topic of conversation."

"A genealogical rung down, Jolly's spiteful buoyancy had degraded into a blunter kind of malice in her offspring."

"Dee herself resembled a sturdy tuber resilient and substantial and guranteed to be around a long while if stored properly."

"The receptionist, chewing gum as if it were her job."

And so many more.

Not necessarily a fast read, but I enjoyed it and was compelled to persevere and see how the story would unfold.

Recommend.

A poignant, rich and ambitious novel with wonderfully realized characters--which will give readers a lot to think about. Timely and moving--

The Last List of Miss Judith Kratt reminds me of chatter and scandals that are passed from one generation to the next. The author takes her time developing the story. Soon, however, it grabbed me, and I couldn’t put it down.

It’s written in the first person, and Judith is the one telling the story. We learn about Daddy Kratt, who is the most malicious man ever; Daddy Kratt let nothing get in the way of his getting what he wanted and had harsh consequences for anyone standing in that way.

We learned about Judith’s younger brother, Quincy, the town snitch; Quincy’s forte was to find out juicy secrets about everyone and blackmail them with that information for his own vile purposes.

Rosemarie is Judith’s younger sister who runs away when she’s thirteen and returns many years later as the family secrets begin unfolding.

Dear Olva has her own interesting history as do so many others, including Mama, Marcus, Amaryllis, Charlie, and more.

The family’s story is pieced together as Judith takes an inventory of her possessions along with an account of her life. Many secrets are unraveled as we learn of their foibles and imperfections.

I was most entertained by the author’s descriptive use of words. There were so many clever phrases that quickly brought to my mind what she was intending. One such example is, “The receptionist, chewing gum as if it were her job ...” had me picturing clearly this gum-chomping woman.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. I enjoyed every word. Well done, Ms. Bobotis, well done.

Thank you NetGalley and Source Books for the opportunity to read this ARC.

This is a story of race relations in the early 20th century in a small southern town told by Judith Kratt, the daughter of a the founder of the town. When she decides to take an inventory of the things in her house the story of her life and that of her family is told. When her long lost sister returns after 60 years secrets are revealed.

I enjoyed reading this book.. I found the plot to be predictable. I would have liked to see Judith and her sister resolve their differences. I feel like this could be a series with each book about the characters that still remain a mystery from this book.

This book tells us of the life of Judith Kratt who grew up in a wealthy setting. This wealth did not bring happiness to Judith or her family or the people of Bound.
So many secrets were to be had by all. Illegitimate children born. Relationships secret relationships between black and white. Blackmail and murder.
This book is told in the past and present of Judith Kratt and is one to be read by all.

I am sorry, no matter how hard I tried I could not warm to this book. I could not warm to the characters or feel part of the story at all.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

A story that jumped back and forth between present day and 1914 or so, this was an interesting read. Judith Kratt is telling her story in the first person and in her old age, she is taking stock of her life. In the practical sense, she is writing an inventory of the house in which she lives. In fact, it is the house where she has lived her whole life, 80 years or so. As she lists the items, she reminisces and remembers time gone by. There is lots of drama that has taken place in her life, including a murder, an illicit affair between her mother and a black slave, a love child, and a sister who leaves home and is never seen until she turns up 60 years later, picking up where she left off. The author does a good job of creating some degree of suspense and intrigue, although there were times when the switch between time periods was a little disjointed. I read this on my IPad and found I needed to go back and check on names of characters, something that is easier to do with a paper book. I commend the author for an excellent dubut novel.