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  • The Last Family in England

  • By: Matt Haig
  • Narrated by: Mark Meadows
  • Length: 8 hrs and 51 mins
  • 4.0 out of 5 stars (551 ratings)
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The Last Family in England cover art

The Last Family in England

By: Matt Haig
Narrated by: Mark Meadows
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Summary

From the number one Sunday Times best-selling author. 

Meet the Hunter family: Adam, Kate and their children, Hal and Charlotte. And Prince, their black Labrador. Prince is an earnest young dog, striving hard to live up to the tenets of the Labrador Pact (Remain loyal to your human masters, serve and protect your family at any cost). 

Other dogs, led by the Springer Spaniels, have revolted. As things in the Hunter family begin to go badly awry - marital breakdown, rowdy teenage parties, attempted suicide - Prince's responsibilities threaten to overwhelm him, and he is forced to break the Labrador Pact and take desperate action to save his family. 

©2005 Matt Haig (P)2018 Canongate Books Ltd

What listeners say about The Last Family in England

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  • 4 out of 5 stars
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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Why Matt Haig? Why write such depressing stuff?

Having read pretty much all of Matt Haig’s previous books and listened to several as audiobooks, I expected something uplifting.
Spoiler alert!

Right up until the very last seconds I really expected that somehow it would end “happily”. That even if a family’s problems will never be totally sorted - because things happen every day (in addition to the past coming back to haunt you) - the master would suddenly understand his Labrador’s motives, the wife or the children would rush in to the rescue, a total stranger would insist on adopting him, the vet would see something in him and change his mind...
But no.
My optimism was unfounded.
For some unfathomable reason, Matt Haig has written a story that is thoroughly miserable and makes you hate human beings and the way the world works, and feel miserable and borderline suicidal at the end.
I really don’t understand why.
But it is shocking and very disappointing when what you are expecting is a feel-good comedy.

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49 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Amazing but sad

Such a sad story but an excellent tail (pun intended)
Gripping, fast paced, but sad.

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45 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Loyal Labrador

The story of young Labrador Prince is one of a persistent pup who will stop at nothing to save his family. Matt Haig is never afraid to write about the darker topics that affect human lives, so much so that Prince certainly has his pawsfull. I found it a unique perspective to write from. The continuing concern of Prince creates quite an anxious read at times, as there is always something that he has to over come and the narrators determined nature never rests. It is very sad at times so if you are looking for an easy light hearted listen perhaps this isn’t for you. Overall all it was a wholesome story of the naivety of mans best friend and his not so perfect family.

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27 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

A story of what s hidden in families

Matt Haig is one of my faviourite authors and I do love the way his novels are so insightful about the human condition. Personally therefore, I did take a lot from this book (one of his earlier ones) however, there are some very difficult themes explored here and I think it might have been better to have been warned more about that before I listened to it - luckily I do usually listen on my own but this certainly isn't one to have on when children are around.

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20 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant!

Loved it all, and will listen to it again and again.
Highly recommend all of Matt Haig’s work but this is a shining example

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18 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

An interesting premise but v distressing in parts

I really enjoy Haig’s books. However I didn’t realise this would be so violent, and the ending was so depressing, I found it quite disturbing. The narrator was fantastic tho.

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15 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Utterly jarring

What seemed like an interesting and lovely book was utterly let down by not only it's ending but it's entire third act.

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10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Quite Downbeat

This was much more depressing than it looks. Family life told from a dogs perspective was an interesting idea, but the endless repetition of the Labrador pact became boring. Also the number of issues faced by the family and friends- everyone had a major problem/secret which was quite unrealistic. I don’t think we have reached this level of dystopia yet and I’m sorry to say I felt the Springers had the right idea.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Imaginative story-telling but over-long

The trials and tribulations of a family’s life told from the perspective of their Labrador dog is certainly a new way to tell a story but, especially for the first half of the book, I felt it was more worthy of a short story than a novel as the edicts of the ‘Labrador Pact” were repeatedly told and the story was a bit repetitive. However, the second half of the book becomes much more action-packed. Dog-lovers will find the ending sad.

Overall I enjoyed the book and found it a good company when out walking.

The narrator is good.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Dog lovers will hate this book!

I bought this book because I have a much-loved and cherished black labrador. I sincerely wish I hadn't bothered buying it. The story is bleak and sad particularly in the latter half. The hero is badly let down by the end of the story where various events are contrived to make it seem like the only choice available.

The author must be a complete misery to have come up with this story. There are so many other interesting directions that he could have taken this plot. It seems as though he had some axes to grind about social injustices and chose to air them using this book.

Almost all of the human characters are completely annoying and none of them deserve the wonderful dogs they own. The saving grace - and I had to think really hard to come up with one - is the voices that the narrator uses for various breeds of dog. He didn't get more stars for performance because of his whiny human voices which grated on the ear.

If I had a time machine I'd go back to before I bought this and get something else instead!

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7 people found this helpful