Sunday, September 15, 2024

The Last Romantics

        


Title: The Last Romantics
Author: Tara Conklin
Published: Mariner Books, February 5, 2019
Pages: 362
Genre: Literary Fiction

When the renowned poet Fiona Skinner is asked about the inspiration behind her iconic work, The Love Poem, she tells her audience a story about her family and a betrayal that reverberates through time.

It begins in a big yellow house with a funeral, an iron poker, and a brief variation forever known as the Pause: a free and feral summer in a middle-class Connecticut town. Caught between the predictable life they once led and an uncertain future that stretches before them, the Skinner siblings—fierce Renee, sensitive Caroline, golden boy Joe and watchful Fiona—emerge from the Pause staunchly loyal and deeply connected.  Two decades later, the siblings find themselves once again confronted with a family crisis that tests the strength of these bonds and forces them to question the life choices they’ve made and ask what, exactly, they will do for love. 

A novel that pierces the heart and lingers in the mind, The Last Romantics is also a beautiful meditation on the power of stories—how they navigate us through difficult times, help us understand the past, and point the way toward our future.


This book really put me through the wringer. It made me contemplate my relationship with my own siblings. This family is something else. It was so interesting to see this view of the future, all while seeing the past through Fiona's eyes. I did think that Luna was going to work out differently, but it was a beautiful full circle moment.

Ratings
Stars: 5/5

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