Fiona Harper

Anna is still grieving the death of her husband Spencer. Though it's been just over three years and her closest friends and family are encouraging Anna to put herself out there again, she simply can't. That's why on New Year's Eve, desperate for that connection she misses so much, Anna finds herself dialing Spencer's mobile phone just to listen to his voicemail message. Except, this time, someone picks up. Thinking she was under some kind of cloud of grief, Anna hangs up. But when it happens show more again a couple of months later in another overwhelming moment of sadness, Anna decides to call the number again convinced that she hallucinated the person on the other end. But no, Anna wasn't hallucinating, someone else has been assigned Spencer's old phone number. Curious, Anna begins to confide in the stranger and eventually begins to come out of the shell she's formed around herself since Spencer's death.

On the other end of the phone, Brody is just as shocked by the woman randomly calling his number in the middle of the night. But Brody, like Anna, is dealing with his own grief, something that has caused him to retreat almost entirely from society.

As Brody and Anna embark on this tentative friendship, they both discover again what it truly means to be alive. Both the joys and the sorrows and what's really worth fighting for.

Listening to the audiobook of The Last Goodbye I thought that Antonia Beamish did a wonderful job with the narration. Really giving each character - though especially Anna and Brody - their own distinct voice. Really giving nuance to the vulnerabilities of each character, but keeping things from drifting too far into the maudlin.

On that note, I feel like The Last Goodbye is one of the best examples of the varying forms of grief that I've read in quite awhile. I think that Fiona Lucas does a fantastic job of giving taking us on this journey with Anna and Brody and seeing how their grief differs yet also the points where it is the same. Not only grief itself but the actual act of grieving.

When the story starts Anna is still cocooned in her own loss and we're seeing her very early stages of emerging. While Brody has been living with his loss for quite sometime more, but he's let it kind of overshadow his day-to-day life to the point where simple interactions with people are nonexistent.

I kind of liked how we see Anna's grief clearly. We understand immediately what has happened. Whereas with Brody we're not given the full picture right away. We, like Brody, have to work up to the point where we hear his whole story. It's like we experience the growth with the character and I think this makes it all the more rewarding when he's finally at that stage where he can talk about his past with Anna. It shows a depth to their forged relationship.

I know that books that deal with these kind of topics can feel heavy at times. I myself often hesitate to pick up something that I feel is going to delve too much into the desolation of loss. The Last Goodbye certainly has those moments, along with plenty of heartbreak, but it was also full of so much hope that outweighed much of that sense of helplessness that accompanies those moments in life in which we have no control. I think seeing both Anna and Brody take back some of that control, to make the conscious effort to continue to move forward and forming that connection with one another are the shining moments of the book. That they are both fully supported in their grief, but also supported in moving out of that grief.

Overall, I was so happily surprised by this book, this story. It's the first book I've read by Fiona Lucas, but I'll definitely be on the lookout to see what comes next. show less

This book is a long journey, but it needs to be, since it's a book about people who are grieving and stuck in place. And there aren't going to be quick remedies for that, but there will be a progression, one which is believably laid out by the author over the course of slightly more than a year.

The book opens with Anna, who lost her husband a couple of years previously and is still sheltering under the numbness. After one particularly low evening, Anna calls her late husband's old phone show more number. A number she's held on to just so she can call and hear his voice on the message. Except this time there's no reassuring voicemail recording. Someone actually picks up. Thus begins the slow development of a new friendship that offers Anna the listening ear and patient advice that she's been unknowingly yearning for.

Like me, you might not always be able to relate to exactly how these characters are acting. Like me, you might occasionally feel frustrated by the things they do or don't do. In a way, the reader becomes an extra member of the concerned friends brigade. Wanting to see the grieving person move forward a little sooner, but ultimately forced to recognize that grief takes unique pathways, and that the person will probably get to where they need to be in the end.

Although the subject matter was serious, I wouldn't say this was a hard or tragic book to read. It was poignant but not exhausting. The premise strained my credulity ever so slightly, not the strangers becoming friends over the phone idea, but that it would take Anna SO long to realize that she was the one who had been doing all the talking. It seemed like quite a one-sided friendship for a while. But what did sell me on the book was the concluding section. The emotional progress and the ultimate payoff were quite satisfying.

The writing was really good. Although it's a contemporary book, it felt fairly timeless because its focus was rightly on the character's internal worlds.

Thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow and Custom House for this advance review copy. show less

The Last Goodbye is Fiona Lucas's newest novel. She pens "heart-warming love stories and feel-good women’s fiction" and this latest is both.

Anna's husband Spencer died three years ago. She is still struggling with the loss and can't seem to move on with her life. On a lonely New Year's Eve, she calls his cellphone number to hear his voice again on the message. But this time, it's not Spencer's voice she hears - it's someone else named Brody, who has been assigned the number. And he's very show more much alive.

I thought this was such a great premise - hearing a loved one's voice one more time is something everyone can relate to I think. There are lots of ways this plot could progress...

I liked Anna as a lead character. She's kind, thoughtful and is self aware. Brody is a wounded soul as well, keeping himself to himself. But he's happy to talk to Anna. And talk they do - their conversations become more and more personal, despite never having met. It's is Anna's situation that takes the lead - it's quite awhile before we're privy to the reasons as to why Brody has isolated himself from family and friends. There are a number of strong supporting character as well. Anna's best friend Gabi is quite outspoken and a little loud and pushy, but she does care for Anna. Anna's mother in law Gayle's behavior borders on cruelty. But then again, everyone grieves differently. And that's what Lucas writes - how grief is handled from different viewpoints. And of course the question - can you ever love again after such a loss?

There's a lot of two steps forward, one step back as Anna begins to make progress. The friendship with Brody is a large part of her progress. Can it ever be more? I'm not telling!

I chose to listen to The Last Goodbye. The reader was Antonia Beamish. She had a lovely tone to her voice, very pleasant to listen to. She speaks clearly and is easy to understand. She has lots of movement in her voice, capturing the emotions of the character and the action of the book. She does provide different voices for the characters, including the male players. But...sorry, yes I have a but. I could not stand the voice for Gabi - it just grated on me. It is mentioned that she is Brazilian and Beamish has provided a unique voice for her. But for me, she was too loud, I couldn't stand her dropped letters on every word that ended with ing and shortened, staccato words or on the flipside - long drawn out single words. She just didn't ring true with me. So, I ended up fast forwarding through her appearances. Other than that, a good performance.

The Last Goodbye was a thoughtful, slow burning exploration of grief and loss and the search for self - and love. show less

I read this years ago but didn't remember much. It's a sweet story with a reverse celebrity trope: Louise is the former model and just-divorced wife of a movie star, while Ben is the normal-guy landscape architect. They meet when Louise buys the estate of a late movie star whom Ben knew and whose garden he has continued to take care of.

Their initial animosity evaporates pretty quickly and they get to know each other, at first through their children (Louise's 8YO Jack and Ben's 11YO Jasmine) show more but then on their own. Louise is trying to stay out of the paparazzi's sights and create a normal life for Jack and herself, while Ben is mostly a single dad whose relationship with his ex, Megan, is prickly. The conflict is very low-key and primarily driven by Louise's fears of getting involved too soon after finally standing up for herself against her ex. In that way it's quite realistic, and the slow burn of their grown attraction makes the eventual HEA more believable.

As a novel, though, the lack of conflict makes for an understated read. I like the lack of angst, but the occasional paparazzi moments and problems with the exes don't add up to a strong story arc. Also, these two people don't seem to have any friends, and their families are all offpage. The family absences make sense in the context of the story but the lack of friends stuck out to me. It makes for a very narrowly focused story. Still, it's a nice romance and one I enjoyed rediscovering. show less