Well written and atmospheric

I found this book well written in that it transports the listener back to the start of last century. The performance was excellent and I'd certainly listen to more by this narrator.
The story was frustrating in places but as the book reiterates, it was a different time and social expectations were much more rigid.
All in all a good, if slightly down beat listen.

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Captivating, engaging, enraging

I got this as part of a two-for-one promo, so I wasn't expecting much. It started off as what I thought was a rather cliched love story across the class divide, and I don't like love stories much, as a rule, so I put it aside for a few days. It did, though, have an underlying teasing erotic tension, never explicitly stated, so I picked it up again! When I started listening once more, I rapidly became totally addicted to it, and listened to the book all over the house, on the bus, on my walks, in the garden while hanging up the washing, etc. Rarely do I find myself shouting at fictional characters, but I did desperately want these star crossed lovers to get together, and also for the woman, Clarissa to Just Say No to her overprotective Mama! However, that is a 21st century judgement...
Yes, this is at heart a love story set in the Edwardian era, but it is also a vivid description of the life and rhythms of a large country estate, and a moving account of the horrors and the waste of lives that war brings, and how it continues to affects the survivors.
I listened in format 4 on my ancient iPod nano, and found the narration faultless. The pace never dragged, and listening to this story took me miles and miles away from the no. 93 bus route in the rain to an altogether sunnier and more privileged place and time.

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7 people found this helpful

Excellent summer read!

A beautifully written story. This is my first read of this kind of genre and I couldn't put the book down! the writer makes this period of time come alive.

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4 people found this helpful

Best book Ever!

What did you like most about The Last Summer?

The beautiful relationship between Tom and Clarissa. They would do anything for each other.

Which scene did you most enjoy?

So many! Perhaps after the war when they have some stolen moments at Deyning.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

YES! I did all I could to keep listening!

Any additional comments?

A beautiful story about innocence, experience, war and how love takes hold and stays with us.

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adolescent's sob story

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

It needed a really good editor and a real ending. With better skill (of the writer)the reader could perhaps have understood the reason for the actions of the characters better.This story was like reading a too extensive outline.

What will your next listen be?

A really good book for grown-ups.

What about Jane Wymark’s performance did you like?

She read it perfectly.It is the only positive about this book.

What character would you cut from The Last Summer?

The brothers who never really came to life.

Any additional comments?

Ridiculous plot, unlikely story, not very convincing. The heroine is a whining child, the story goes on and on; and in the last chapter loose ends are quickly tied off; perhaps the writer had had enough by this time too.
It is not a historical novel ; the Great War is only the backdrop

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1 person found this helpful

Gave up on this one

I've struggled to get even half way through this but I give up. I can't stand Clarissa. She is characterless, just doing what others get her to do without asserting herself. If it were a better book, her being a doormat might have been a theme and the author would have been using this to say something about the role/position of women at the time. But I didn't get any of that. I just saw weakness of character and lack of any depth. People worth writing about - in any period of history - have a vibrancy of character, even if they behave submissively. Maybe this one would work better as a film, where her stunning beauty would make her stand out as exceptional, albeit superficially. As for Tom, the object of her great love, I just don't get it. I've rarely read about a more boring, blank character.

It's a shame. There was possibly a good book in there somewhere. A better editor might have been able to draw it out.

The reading was the best of it, but not enough to make me want to continue.

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disapointed

I enjoy a good love story , but this one dragged on and on .... and really got on my nerves !!. A lot of the time nothing much going on, just moaning about how much she loved him bla bla bla
On Audible was advertized as being like Downton Abbey,(which I loved ) well it might have been set in the same era , but it was nowhere near as good otherwise. certainly did not live up to my expectations at all.

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3 people found this helpful

Hard

I could not get into this. Very slow and annoying music to go with it. I've tried a few times when on a dull train ride to get back into it but I think I would rather put pins in my eyes. Sorry, just could not get into it.

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1 person found this helpful

not like it is advertised

I bought this book on the recommendation it would be like a Kate morton book but unfortunately it wasn't. The story drags terribly in parts and I only perceived as I wanted a good ending. I would not recommend this book even as a love story, it really does drag on and on.

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