Liz's Reviews > Last House

Last House is more of a family saga that takes place in the past than a true historical fiction, at least as I define them. The story follows Nick Taylor, a lawyer for American Oil, and his wife, Bet and then their children. It begins in 1953 as Nick is just getting started, then hops up to 1968. Bet is the typical suburban wife of the time, giving up her own dreams for being a wife pand mother. When they have the ability to buy a second home in the Vermont countryside in an enclave of Nick’s work buddies, they grab it. As their friend Carter says, if WWIII arrives, what better place to be. The second part of the book is told from their daughter, Catherine’s POV in 1968. Post college, she’s writing for a radical newspaper in NYC.
I went back and forth with this book. Not necessarily because it was uneven, but because it didn’t quite meet my expectations. Initially, I expected it to be more about Iran and I wanted more background for the years leading up to 1953. It would have been helpful if Shattuck had found a way to include some of the history to better explain the political situation of 1953 and why Nick and Carter were over there. But then the story comes back to America and it’s obvious it’s more of a family saga. When it flips to Catherine’s story, Shattuck did do a better job of sliding in the historical info I was seeking.
The characters are all richly drawn and felt very real to me. The book gives an interesting take on how the Greatest Generation raised the Boomers, especially the ones coming of age in the late 1960s.
The book does a good job of asking a lot of questions and would make a wonderful book club selection. It’s very philosophical in dealing with a sort of “the sins of the father” thought process. I found myself highlighting multiple passages because of the way they made me see things in a different light.
My thanks to Netgalley and William Morrow Books for an advance copy of this book.