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The Last Romantics: A Read with Jenna Pick Paperback – Large Print, February 5, 2019
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A Read with Jenna Today Show Book Club Pick!
An Instant New York Times Bestseller
Named a Best Book of the Month by Goodreads • Lithub • Refinery29 • InStyle • HelloGiggles • Real Simple • Parade • PureWow • Bustle
“A richly observed novel, both ambitious and welcoming.” -- Meg Wolitzer
A sweeping yet intimate epic about one American family, The Last Romantics is an unforgettable exploration of the ties that bind us together, the responsibilities we embrace and the duties we resent, and how we can lose—and sometimes rescue—the ones we love.
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 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.
- Print length512 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherHarper Large Print
- Publication dateFebruary 5, 2019
- Dimensions6 x 1.02 x 9 inches
- ISBN-100062887548
- ISBN-13978-0062887542
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Editorial Reviews
Review
“Tara Conklin is a generous writer who deftly brings us into the world of this fictional family, an engrossing and vivid place where I was happy to stay. The Last Romantics is a richly observed novel, both ambitious and welcoming.” — Meg Wolitzer
“It is the strength and fragility of the siblings’ bond, the evolving nature of love that is at the core of Conklin’s novel....Gracefully rendered, The Last Romantics focuses on the familiar theme of family with great originality.” — Washington Post
“Pick up The Last Romantics when you want to be swept into a fictional family....As the narrative traces [the Skinner siblings’] converging and diverging paths over the course of their lives—and promises made, kept, broken, changed—you’ll fall deeper and deeper in.” — Goop
“Conklin examines her characters’ lives with generosity and an unflinching eye for the complexities of love and family.... Fans of Jonathan Franzen’s The Corrections will find similar pleasures in the intelligence and empathy on display here.” — USA Today (four stars)
“A modern epic...in the vein of Commonwealth, THE LAST ROMANTICS is a sweeping look at what binds families together.” — Glamour
“Perfectly paced, affecting fiction.” — Booklist
“An intimate, soul-searing examination of a modern family and the ties that bind, for better or worse.” — Stefanie Hargreaves, Shelf Awareness Galley Love of the Week
“Intensely moving.” — Shanina Piyarali, Shelf Awareness
“An absorbing and redemptive novel of grace, craft and heroic characters.” — Berkshire Eagle
“A triumph of storytelling, an ambitious examination of the failures of love and how we, against all odds, find a way to survive.... A complex, resonant work that will reshape your understanding of family.”
— Kevin Wilson, author of The Family Fang
“All of the luxuriously spun characters in The Last Romantics, entwined via that impossible web we call family, unfold over their many years with the perfect balance of familiarity and wonder that makes turning their pages such a pleasure.” — Laurie Frankel, New York Times bestselling author of This Is How It Always Is
“There’s so much love and loss in this book that I read it with a box of tissues, laughing with astonishment through the tears. The kind of book you lose yourself in.” — Lisa Gabriele, author of The Winters
"A haunting story of familial love, loyalty and loss that will break your heart and then put the pieces back together again in better working condition. An impossible book to put down." — Jamie Ford
From the Back Cover
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 again confronted with a family crisis that tests the strength of this bond and forces them to question the life choices they’ve made and to ask what, exactly, they will do for love.
A sweeping yet intimate epic about one American family, The Last Romantics is a beautiful meditation on the power of stories and an unforgettable exploration of the ties that bind us together, the responsibilities we embrace and the duties we resent, and how we can lose—and sometimes rescue—the ones we love.About the Author
Tara Conklin was born on St. Croix in the US Virgin Islands and raised in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. She is the author of the New York Times bestsellers The Last Romantics and The House Girl.
Product details
- Publisher : Harper Large Print; Large type / Large print edition (February 5, 2019)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 512 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0062887548
- ISBN-13 : 978-0062887542
- Item Weight : 15.2 ounces
- Dimensions : 6 x 1.02 x 9 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #356,950 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #5,570 in Family Life Fiction (Books)
- #5,970 in Women's Domestic Life Fiction
- #17,669 in Literary Fiction (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
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About the author
Tara Conklin was born on St. Croix in the US Virgin Islands and raised in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. She is the author of the New York Times bestsellers, THE HOUSE GIRL and THE LAST ROMANTICS. Her third novel, COMMUNITY BOARD, is out on March 28, 2023. Visit www.taraconklin.com for more information.
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-Tara Conklin, The Last Romantics
I’ve had this book for almost a year now, just sitting on my kindle shelf collecting edust. (I do that a lot - buy a TON of ebooks when I haven’t even finished reading other books on my kindle!). SO, it was my turn to pick a book for our Sister Book Club and I decided to go with one that I already had instead of picking one from the library like I normally do! (Again, don’t know why I do this, I just do!)
But I am really happy that I decided to finally give this book a read because it certainly did NOT disappoint! There were parts that were hard to understand or follow, but overall it was a very enjoyable read.
It starts with Fiona in 2079. She is asked by a young girl named after one of the individuals in her poems, Luna, about how she came up with the name. So then starts the stories of their lives.
The story really begins with “The Pause”, the moment in their life after their father died when the Skinner kids (Renee, Caroline, Joe, and Fiona) had to take care of themselves because their mother could barely leave her room. The Pause lasted for 3 years. They come out of the pause united and better than ever. But then 20 years later, another wrench is thrown at them.
How will the family handle these life-altering events? Will the family be able to stay together during these testing times? Or will love be able to hold them together?
I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars. There were some parts that I really didn’t understand the connection - ex: the blog and book title with the rest of the story. But otherwise, I really enjoyed it; a good family story about the ins and outs through life. Staying together, drifting apart, reconnecting. And what happens when life-altering events are thrown at them.
I definitely recommend giving this book a read!
It begins with the sudden death of the father, Ellis Skinner, tragically changing the lives of the entire family. Unable to cope, their mother, Antonia, falls into a deep depression locking herself in her bedroom creating a state of chaos for her children, forcing them to fend for themselves. The four siblings refer to this period as "The Pause" which lasts for an unbelievable three years. This happens when the oldest child, Renee is 11, attempting to take care of her siblings as best she can. Caroline is 8, emotional and needy. Joe is 7, the only boy who is now "Man of the House", eventually earning this title for real in a big way. Fiona is the youngest at 4, an early reader, a dreamer and the narrator of this book.
The writing is emotionally charged as it takes the reader on a journey through the lives of the Skinner siblings, desperately hanging on through "The Pause". Through the years they are always connected, forever entwined, but each finding their own way. They drift apart from their differences but always finding each other because of the deep love they share. Their journey together is one of tragic loss and uncertainty, unexpected betrayal and hardship, loss and discovery, struggles to survive and hold-on, and openly embracing the rewards of forgiveness.
I highly recommend this book.
Magnificently written by Tara Conklin, this is the story of four siblings—Renee, Joe, Caroline, and Fiona Skinner. When they are still very young, their father dies suddenly of a heart attack. Their mother retreats to her bed with a debilitating depression—for three years. Still a child herself, Renee becomes the defacto mom, cooking dinner, doing laundry, reading bedtime stories. Joe tries to become the man of the family, Caroline suffers recurrent nightmares, and Fiona, at age five, is just confused. They call this time The Pause. Eventually it ends. The kids grow up. And when they are adults, one of the four of them dies. The book, which is narrated by grown-up Fiona, is not only the story of their childhood, but also the effect these two traumas had on each of them, the people they become, and most of all who they choose to love. Because more than anything, this is a love story. A family love story.
This book has it all: a well-developed, page-turning plot coupled with vivid, pop-off-the-page characters. Parts of it are hilarious, and parts of it made me cry. Just like real life. It is witty, wise, and tender.
Bonus: At the beginning of the third chapter there is a two-sentence description of female adolescence that is so perfect, so spot-on true that it will make all mothers who have or have ever had a 13-year-old daughter almost weep.
And I just want to say after my rather personal introduction to this review: My father died when I was seven, and one of my beloved sisters died more than a decade ago. But after my father's death, my mom never took to her bed. She will always be my hero for how she cared for my two sisters and me during a terrifying time.