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Book Reviews of The Last Romantics

The Last Romantics
The Last Romantics
Author: Tara Conklin
ISBN-13: 9780062358202
ISBN-10: 0062358200
Publication Date: 2/5/2019
Pages: 368
Rating:
  • Currently 4.1/5 Stars.
 9

4.1 stars, based on 9 ratings
Publisher: William Morrow
Book Type: Hardcover
Reviews: Amazon | Write a Review

Book Reviews submitted by our Members...sorted by voted most helpful

debbiemd avatar reviewed The Last Romantics on
Dragged a little in parts but overall, wow, what a great book. I loved the ending (and did not like the ending of The House Girl, also by this author). 102 year old Fiona is a poet in 2079 invited to speak at an event when a young girl in the audience, named Luna, asks about one of her poems written about a girl named Luna. Fiona then backtracks to when she was a young child in 1981 and proceeds to tell the story of her life. Her and her 2 sisters and brother Joe. There are flashes throughout to 2079 again and it is a world after climate change and very different to how we live now. However, most of the story is about Fiona and her siblings and their mom. Their lives, their ups and downs, but ultimately about love. Their partners throughout time and their love for each other. And the women's love for Joe and how their life revolves around him both before and after his death. The last time Fiona speaks with Joe it is an argument and he tells her "Find someone to love." The last two paragraphs of the book are the most powerful when she reveals she had someone all along - it was her family, it was him. In the last two paragraphs she is speaking to the audience again and says it was wrong of her to tell them this was a story of the failures of love. "No, it is about real love, true love. Imperfect, wretched, weak love. No fairy tales, no poetry. It is about the negotiations we undertake with ourselves in the name of love." She goes on to say how hard love is. "And yet. And yet! We believe in love because we want to believe in it. Because really what else is there, amid all our glorious follies and urges and weaknesses and stumbles? The magic, the hope, the gorgeous idea of it." Beautiful.