Last House by Jessica Shattuck is a gem! It is a remarkable, elegant and well-crafted story.
The strength of this book is in its storytelling, its rich characterizations and Shattuck's phenomenal writing!
If you love well-written historical fiction, family saga’s, love a fantastically crafted setting and characters, this is one book you’ll want to read! You’ll be swept away by the timelines and writing.
It was truly one remarkable story!

Thank You NetGalley and William Morrow for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

A beautifully written family saga set in a tumultuous era
Last House opens in 1953 as young WW II veteran and lawyer Nick Taylor visits Abbadan as part of the legal team from American Oil. On the plane a former classmate from Yale who is now a CIA agent recruits him to help in the “battle between Communism and democracy”. It would be easy to be misled by this prologue into expecting an action-packed story set mainly in the Middle East. The action and even violence that is certainly important to the book is pretty much all offstage, though. Instead, it is a beautifully written family saga that follows Nick and his wife Bet and their family through the years all the way to 2026.
This is the story of a family who all love each other but are torn by intergenerational conflicts revolving most prominently around Nick’s employment in the oil industry (They are NOT aware of the assistance he provided his former classmate.) given that his daughter Katherine is extremely active in antiwar activism to the extent that she even goes to work for a leftwing newspaper and his son becomes devoted to environmental causes. Other issues like racism also cause some strain in the family. Katherine falls in love with Brent, a Black man, but he is also a graduate of Columbia Law School and wins a Fulbright The characters are all well developed, and I understood and sympathized with each of them, even the ones I did not agree with. The title Last House literally derives from the Last family, who built the house originally back in the 1700s but no doubt also refers to the family’s feelings about the house as a sanctuary.
In some ways it is too good a book; I found it a tough read. I am the same age as Katherine, so her struggles as she was maturing and in her young adult years were all too familiar to me. She often comes across as obnoxious and holier-than-thou, a characteristic that was common in many of my more zealous activist friends. I recall antiwar demonstrations getting out of hand and personally sheltered friends from the city during the riots after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King.
This book will bring back memories for older readers and give younger readers a good glimpse at life in the 60s and 70s. It would make a wonderful selection for book club discussions, especially if the members varied in age. As I hear about a number of colleges canceling or scaling back their graduation ceremonies in 2024 because of student protests about the war in Gaza I have to wonder if it is also relevant to our current day.
I received an advance review copy of this book from NetGalley and William Morrow.

I’m a fan of historical novels about the 20th century, and I was particularly piqued by the fact that this book had much to do with the oil industry because I have several friends and family members who have worked in that industry, from the 1940s to fairly recently. Also, I’m a baby boomer, and I remember very well what it was like having so many family members, including my father, who were WW2 veterans. Of course, I remember even better what it was like growing up in an era obsessed with the threat of Communism and nuclear war, then experiencing the tumult of the 1960s and 70s, as the Baby Boomers came of age and rebelled against, well, practically everything, as our parents thought.

Shattuck spends about the first 40% of the book on Nick Taylor and Bet O’Connor, who becomes his wife. Nick is the son of a strict midwestern pastor, and was bright enough to get a scholarship to Yale. When World War II comes, Nick serves in the Pacific Theater of Operations. Bet also has a keen mind and hopes to get a Ph.D. in literature, but the war interrupts her life too, as she is recruited to go to Washington DC and crack codes. The two meet in Washington, marry right after the war, and Nick goes to work as a lawyer and negotiator for a big oil company. All Bet’s dreams are subsumed into making a home for Nick and the two children they soon have, Katherine and Harry.

To Nick’s bewilderment, Katherine grows up to disdain her parents and becomes involved in the leftist movement. At about the 40% mark of the book, it becomes a story about what Nick, Bet, and Katherine are doing with each of their lives. Nick is very much involved in making deals with Iran, and is a close witness to the US government’s clandestine re-enthronement of the Shah. Bet has questions about his work and questions about what Katherine is doing, but women of her generation had little influence, no matter how bright they might be. And everyone worries a bit about Harry, a sweet soul who has difficulty finding himself.

It’s amazing how quickly the book goes by, considering how eventful it is. Shattuck’s writing is intimate, evocative, and insightful. There are some passages that stick with me, like one when Nick thinks about how his “self” slipped off like a cloak when he was in battle, and he became just a part of terrain, bodies, and sounds, in a struggle for survival. Another passage struck me when Bet and Katherine try to talk to each other about the fight for racial and sexual equality, but Katherine is still too young to have a real conversation with her mother. It is only years later that Katherine sees her mother as a real person and thinks about her ambitions and desires, thwarted by family commitments.

I won’t spoil the book by talking about what happens to the characters. I will just say that the story expands, and is about not just the Taylors, but all of us. This will make a great book club read.

Last House by Jessica Shattuck is a brilliant family saga about the Taylor family - Nick, Bet, and their two children, Katherine and Harry. The family members all grow and change immensely over the years, and the reader is there to witness all of it. The novel kicks off in the 1950s, right in the thick of the current events and happenings of that time period. The author does a phenomenal job of allowing the reader to experience the decades right alongside the Taylors. If you need an American history refresher, pick this book up! I can’t believe how much I learned about the oil industry. Ha! I feel like some readers will enjoy this one more than others, but I wouldn’t necessarily call it a “love it or hate it” type of book. I will admit that it took me a bit to get fully invested, but around the 25% mark, things really started to pick up. When the actual “Last House” was finally introduced in the story, I was completely hooked.

READ THIS IF YOU ENJOY:

- Family drama, dynamics, and dysfunction
- Multiple timelines and POVs
- Historical fiction
- Social and environmental issues
- Politically-charged storylines
- Stunning northeastern setting
- Themes of parenthood and marriage

The Taylor family is most definitely a memorable one. I just know that these characters will live rent free in my mind for years to come. My review would not be complete without mentioning the gorgeous cover. If I could draw a mental image of where I would like to retire with my husband, grow old, raise cats, drink wine, and read a lot of books at, it would definitely look similar to this. You all know that I’m a sucker for a nature scene on a cover!!!

Last House releases on May 14th! Super solid read!

A sweeping historical saga mapping the lives of one family in the decades following WWII, spanning multiple generations and nearly 80 years. It is beautifully written and throughout the story, Last House, is the constant in an otherwise changing world.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for this e-arc.*

Thank you William Morrow and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Unfortunately this didn’t work for me and I DNFed it. I’m picky about my historical fictions but I love family dramas so I was hoping to love this. But something about the language didn’t click with me - I just didn’t love the voice telling this story. I might pick it back up someday but, for now, it’s a DNF.

Last House is a breath of fresh air within historical fiction. The post-WWII Cold War era is rarely covered in fiction. I grew up in this era, just a bit behind Kat from the book, and the atmosphere and details felt real and nuanced. They resonated with my memories of the protest era in the '60s and covered the transition to the increased violence as it occurred in the early 1970s. This novel is a "dysfunctional family" drama but in a good way. There are generational conflicts, but the family members never stop loving each other.

This novel is medium-paced and full of compelling, complicated, and interesting characters. Early foreshadowing of a dark event to come worked well to keep this reader engaged. Underlying the action in the book is the global quest by the USA to control Iranian oil—I went down the Google wormhole several times as I delved into topics brought up by the book. This is the best compliment I can give a book.

In short, if you enjoy historical fiction and are looking for underrepresented eras and themes, this book will appeal to you. If you are a Baby Boomer or Gen Ex, this book may also speak to you personally (maybe some to the Silent Generation).

Bookclubs will find many topics to discuss.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an electronic ARC in exchange for a review.

Thank you to William Morrow for an immersive, grab on and dive in, family drama. Shattuck has a talent for strong writing but also telling a story in a way that draws a reader into feelings and moods, to the subtle shifts in family and relationships, to dropping in phrases that make the reader feel like an intimately connected observer of the Taylor family. Last House is a great read for family saga fans, and especially for those who like to examine family relationship dynamics within the context of historical periods and generational shifts.

I am a huge fan of books that span decades, that follow families over time and over generations and I love that this book captured the movement from post WWII greatest generation lives, the pursuit of wealth but also comfort and providing for family and how those ideals became at odds with the very children raised by this generation, the movement into the civil rights and Vietnam War protests and then into present 2020s at the end... An examination of family, of place and time, of how relationships and shifting roles and identities change (and don't change). Shattuck has a talent for strong writing but also telling a story in a way that draws a reader into feelings and moods, to the subtle shifts in family and relationships, to dropping in phrases that make the reader feel like an intimately connected observer of the Taylor family.

Thank you for letting me read this book. I appreciated the fine writing and will recommend it to friends that I think will also value it. It gave an accurate picture of the changes in history and in families over that period of time. Unfortunately, I do not think most of my followers are in that category so I will not blog about it.

I was skeptical in the beginning and right at the beginning of part two but then I was hooked and had to stay up reading it. Prose was beautiful (minus the sometimes excessive exclamation points -- sorry!) I loved it.

I didn’t connect with this book or the characters. I ended up just skimming through the end of the book because it wasn’t holding my attention. I know there will be a lot of historical fiction fans that love this book, I just didn’t connect.

I unfortunately wasn’t able to finish this book. I had a hard time getting into it, and it just didn’t interest me. Thank you so much to NetGalley for my copy!

I enjoyed this book. Great character development, with the right amount of background for each to make them three-dimensional and totally believable. And the family dynamic between the father in the oil industry and the socially active children also felt realistic. Most loose ends were tied up at the end, except for one secondary character who will remain mysterious, his motives questioned.

I wanted so badly to love this book. A historical fiction across generations is my jam, but unfortunately this fell flat for me. The writing quality itself is beautiful, but the plot and character development was lacking for me. I didn’t feel attached to any character, there were jumps ahead in time where big moments that would’ve made me feel the feels were just skipped over. I feel like this could’ve been amazing if it were longer to give time to the events that occurred. Thank you to the publisher for the gifted arc.

I was really drawn in by this gorgeous cover and the time period beginning in the 1950s. I love reading books set in the 50s & 60s. But I don’t think I’m the right reader for this book. It was less historical fiction and more family saga with no plot to speak of. I just needed more to pull me in as the reader.

Thank you William Morrow and NetGalley for this advance copy.

Last House provides an excellent view of the history of the United States by following members of a family from pre WWII to current times. It captures the social and political climate of each period of history while engaging you with this family. Reading it brought back many memories of the different periods I have lived through and the struggles of each decade. While not a quick read, it is engrossing and you become invested in the family through the generations. I would recommend this book as an enjoyable read.

Last House by Jessica Shattuck is the multi-generational story of the Taylor family. In the beginning, we meet Nick and Bet Taylor. The Taylor family through generations has their differences from political beliefs, environmental issues, racism, etc. As a veteran of World War 2, Nick sees things in a different light than his activist daughter and environmentally conscious son. While going through all the difficulties that families incur, the one place throughout the years where they could all come together is the Last House located deep in the Vermont mountains. This becomes their escape from all the stress and worry of everyday life, problems and concerns. While there are beautiful memories on growing up at Last House, it is also is the backdrop for all the conflicts that arises as the Taylor children grow up and plot their own future, a future that Nick and Bet may not agree with. We are also giving an inside look at the workings of the oil industry in Iran and the political problems faced by Iran and its people. This is a good family saga.

This novel is a very good family drama covering the 1940s thru the turbulent 1960’s with a finale in present time. I was glad I got to read it due to NetGalley.. It’s well written and many of the issues are still present today in 2024! I will go back and look for other novels by the authorJessica Shattuck.

A look at recent US history dealing with overseas oil, changing society, and Vietnam war protests. Through the eyes of one family, the events that drove the country are related. The clashing of ideals slowly unfolds in this interesting novel.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Last House by Jessica Shattuck is a recommended generational family saga that spans nearly eighty years.

In 1953 Nick Taylor, a WWII veteran, is married to Bet (Elizabeth) and they have two children, Katherine and Harry. Nick and Bet met each other before he shipped out in the 1940's when she was an English major who worked as a code breaker for the war effort. Now she is raising their children while Nick is a lawyer for American Oil and travels to the Middle East. They bought a vacation house they call Last House, a secluded country home deep in the Vermont mountains. It is a place you could survive WWIII. In 1968, the second part of the novel follows Katherine facing the challenges and turbulence of the times. The novel continues to follow the family to 2026.

At its heart, Last House succeeds as a literary family saga more than historical fiction, although it does cover generations in the plot. The narrative unfolds through the points-of-view of Nick, Bet, and Katherine. This perspective showcases the differences between generations. Nick and Bet are more nuanced characters than Katherine, but she is portrayed as vehemently following her beliefs. At the forefront are generational differences, but life is made up of such and things change through the years.

All of the characters follow their personal beliefs concerning political, social, environmental, and human rights through the times in which they live. Admittedly, while I found the quality of writing excellent, I struggled to keep my interest or even care about these characters. This novel may not have been a good fit for me; it felt like it was trying too hard. Thanks to HarperCollins for providing me with an advance reader's copy. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

The review will be published on NetGalley, Edelweiss, X, Barnes & Noble and Amazon.