About the Book
(from Pan MacMillan SA)
“‘The Last Summer is meticulously researched and beautifully told . . . a wonderfully satisfying read: love, passion, drama, violence, menace and peril, and characters you fall in love with . . . Happily, this is the start of a series so your longing for more will be fulfilled.’ – Santa Montefiore
Summer on St Kilda – a wild, remote Scottish island.
Two strangers from drastically different worlds meet . . .
Wild-spirited Effie Gillies has lived all her life on the small island of St Kilda but when Lord Sholto, heir to the Earl of Dumfries, visits, the attraction between them is instant. For one glorious week she guides the handsome young visitor around the isle, falling in love for the first time – until a storm hits and her world falls apart.
Three months later, St Kilda falls silent as the islanders are evacuated for a better life on the mainland. With her friends and family scattered, Effie is surprised to be offered a position working on the Earl’s estate. Sholto is back in her life but their differences now seem insurmountable, even as the simmering tension between them grows. And when a shocking discovery is made back on St Kilda, all her dreams for this bright new life are threatened by the dark secrets Effie and her friends thought they had left behind.
Opposites attract in this epic and spellbinding novel, which transports us from the untamed beauty of St Kilda to the glamour and intrigues of high society in the 1930s. The Last Summer is the first book in The Wild Isle series by Sunday Times bestseller Karen Swan, inspired by the true history of St Kilda and its small island community.”
My Thoughts:
My Thoughts:The first thing I did was to Google “St Kilda” to get an idea of the setting of “The Last Summer”. I found the history of this island quite interesting, and as a fan of historical fiction I love the fact that you always end up learning a bit more than what you expected. That bit of a visual idea was extremely useful in setting the scene for this book – which is rumoured to be the first in a series of three or is it five?
Yes, that is commitment – and I’m ready for it. All 400 pages of it, which also makes “The Last Summer” the longest book I’ve read this year to date. I will check my facts on that one.
Karen Swan’s descriptive writing takes you right to the period (Scotland in the 1930s). Her attention to detail speaks of meticulous research and a passion for (accurate) story telling.
We get to know Effie as a bit of a “wild child”, living on the isolated St Kilda where there are very few/no “modern” conveniences and where physical agility and strength is needed for day-to-day survival. The spunky and strong-willed Effie catches the eye of Lord Sholto during a visit to St Kilda with his father, the Earl of Dumfries. They come from two different worlds though, so this looks to be a doomed relationship.
Effie’s life changes drastically a few months later, when all the residents of her beloved St Kilda are forced to relocate to the “mainland”, leaving the only place she’s ever known behind. How will she and the other island residents adapt to this new way of living? She is offered a job by the Earl of Dumfries, but how will it be to see Lord Sholto again, in his “proper” social standing?
To add even more complexity to the situation, the body of a man is found on the island.
I was drawn in right from the start! It seems as if I’m on a bit of a roll when it comes to historical fiction, especially when it features a strong female lead who challenges the norm and the idea of “suitable” roles for women. The cliff hanger ending had me stumped! How long do we have to wait for the 2nd book in the series Karen??
Trigger warnings: animal deaths & sexual harassment
RRR (Roelia Reads Rating) 4/5
Thank you to publisher, Pan MacMillan, for this review copy
About the author: https://www.panmacmillan.com/authors/karen-swan/6006
Also read my review of the next book in this series What I Read: The Stolen Hours by Karen Swan
