Last Summer

Rory Buchanan has it all: looks, talent, charisma-an all-round good-guy, he's the centre of every party and a loving father and husband. Then one summer's afternoon, tragedy strikes. Those who are closest to him struggle to come to terms with their loss. Friendships are strained, marriages falter and loyalties are tested in a gripping and brilliantly crafted novel about loss, grief and desire.

Told from the points of view of nine of the people who are mourning Rory, this riveting novel presents a vivid snapshot of contemporary suburban Australia and how we live now. Marriage, friendship, family - all are dissected with great psychological insight as they start to unravel under the pressure of grief. The characters live on the page; their lives are unfolded and their dilemmas are as real as our own.

Last Summer is a stunning novel about loss-the terrible pain of losing a husband, brother or friend-but also all those smaller losses that everyone must face: the loss of youth, the shattering of dreams, the fading of convictions and the change in our notions of who we thought we were. It is also about what comes after the loss: how we pick up the pieces and the way we remake our lives.

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“A superb tale of friendship, love, loss, depression, desire, joy and enlightenment… five stars.”

Sunday Herald Sun

Reviews

“Readers who enjoyed Kylie Ladd’s first novel, After The Fall, will be equally impressed with her second, Last Summer... An absorbing and compelling tale about the fragility of human relationships.”

— Good Reading Magazine

“Intelligent, sophisticated, deeply Australian”

— Caroline Overington, bestselling author of ‘I Came To Say Goodbye’

“When I wasn’t reading it I kept thinking I should text the characters to see how they were doing… they had become such a part of my life. This is a warm, wise, entertaining and somewhat life-changing book.”

— Booktopia

“An insightful, natural storyteller”

— Women’s Weekly

“Last Summer is a wrenchingly honest look at relationships, old and new. It’s enough to make you look suspiciously at all your friends and wonder what secrets they’re hiding under their cricket whites. You’ll take sides just as you would in your own friends’ lives, and later change your point of view. Straightforward yet evocative, Last Summer is a vivid slice of suburban life, as potent as the smell of zinc.”