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Title: The Last First Day

Subtitle: A Novel

Author: Carrie Brown

Narrator: Jo Howarth

Format: Unabridged

Length: 8 hrs and 30 mins

Language: English

Release date: 12-11-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 5 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

From the author of The Rope Walk, the story of a woman's life in its twilight, as she looks back on both a harrowing childhood and the unaccountable love and happiness that emerged from it.

Ruth has always stood firmly beside her upstanding, brilliant husband, Peter, the legendary chief of the Derry School for boys. The childless couple has a unique, passionate bond which grew out of Ruth's arrival on his family doorstep as a young girl orphaned by tragedy. And though sometimes frustrated by her role as lifelong helpmeet, Ruth is awed by her good fortune in Peter.

As the novel opens we see the Derry School in all its glorious New England fall colors and witness the loosening of the aging Peter's grasp - he will soon have to retire, and Ruth is wondering what they will do in their old age, separated from the school into which they have poured everything, including their savings. As the novel unfurls, it takes us back through their days and years, revealing the explosive spark and joy of their love - undiminished now in their 70s - and giving us a deeply felt portrait of a woman from the generation that quietly put individual dreams aside for the good of a partnership, twinned with the revelation of the surprising gift of the right man's love, which keeps giving to the end.

Members Reviews:

Carrie Brown's take on happiness

As someone who's read nearly all Carrie Brown's novels I feel confident in offering this warning: put aside your expectations and accept right now that what you're about to read is not going to be easy, but it will be well worth your time. Her work is hardest for people who come into it expecting a simple love story with an uncomplicated plot line and characters.

In the Last First Day she presents us with Ruth and Peter--two imperfect characters who are struggling to put a name to their position in the universe (just like most of us). Their lives are flawed and for every little joy there are an equal number of painful moments. Neither of them recognize their own strengths; they are simply doing what needs to be done. For them love is no more a decision than is breathing.

As she often does, the reader follows Ruth and Peter through lives that are fraught with troubles--beginning at the end and working backwards so that the reader first sees the culmination of their journey and just when we're is beginning to ask "why" she takes us back to the beginning and reveals the answer(s) before taking us on to the conclusion.

My only complaint with this work--and I plan to re-read it to make sure it's not just me, but I don't think so--is that I think to fully appreciate Ruth, we really need to either have seen her interact with the boys at the school or seen her through Peter's eyes far sooner. While I understand that she thinks nothing of her contributions or kindnesses, it would have provided some balance in a story that focuses rather intensely on Ruth's chronically sense of unworthiness (I'm hip, Ruth. I'm hip). The boys themselves are just background noise for an awful lot of the book and this dings it a bit. Until we finally get to see Ruth through Peter's eyes, we have no idea that she's done all these fine, noble things.

That said, even with that comment, it's earned its 5 star rating. Thanks so much Mrs.