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Book Summary and Reviews of The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave

The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave

The Last Thing He Told Me

A Novel

by Laura Dave

  • Readers' Rating (19):
  • Published:
  • May 2021, 320 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

The "genuinely moving" (New York Times) and "gripping thriller" (Entertainment Weekly about a woman who thinks she's found the love of her life—until he disappears.

Before Owen Michaels disappears, he smuggles a note to his beloved wife of one year: Protect her. Despite her confusion and fear, Hannah Hall knows exactly to whom the note refers—Owen's sixteen-year-old daughter, Bailey. Bailey, who lost her mother tragically as a child. Bailey, who wants absolutely nothing to do with her new stepmother.

As Hannah's increasingly desperate calls to Owen go unanswered, as the FBI arrests Owen's boss, as a US marshal and federal agents arrive at her Sausalito home unannounced, Hannah quickly realizes her husband isn't who he said he was. And that Bailey just may hold the key to figuring out Owen's true identity—and why he really disappeared.

Hannah and Bailey set out to discover the truth. But as they start putting together the pieces of Owen's past, they soon realize they're also building a new future—one neither of them could have anticipated.

With its breakneck pacing, dizzying plot twists, and evocative family drama, The Last Thing He Told Me is a "page-turning, exhilarating, and unforgettable" (PopSugar) suspense novel.

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!
  1. Consider the quotes that open each part of the book. What connects them? What relation do they have to each part of the story?
  2. Consider the choice of narrator. How does the narrator shape our understanding of the contours of this story? How might the book be different if the narration switched off between Bailey and Hannah? Or even added in chapters from Owen?
  3. In the prologue of the book, Hannah recalls that on their second date, Owen grilled her about the "could-have-been boys" of her past, "the men I'd left behind, the men who had left me." (1) In what ways is Owen one of those "could-have-been boys"?
  4. Discuss the message that Owen sends to Hannah before he disappears. What does Owen mean by "Protect her"? How ...
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Reviews

Media Reviews

"Dave's neat trick is to unveil revelations at a brisk clip that does not overwhelm character development. The novel's richness comes from the way Hannah and Bailey realize they need each other in the face of staggering loss; the mutual trust that grows between them is genuinely moving. As both daughter and stepmother come to realize, "That's how you fill in the blanks — with stories and memories from the people who love you." —The New York Times Book Review

"Dave pulls off something that feels both new and familiar: a novel of domestic suspense that unnerves, then reassures. This is the antithesis of the way novels like Gone Girl or My Lovely Wife are constructed; in The Last Thing He Told Me, the surface is ugly, the situation disturbing, but almost everyone involved is basically good underneath it all. Dave has given readers what many people crave right now—a thoroughly engrossing yet comforting distraction." —BookPage

"Laura Dave's The Last Thing He Told Me is a thrilling roller coaster of a novel. This smart, intimate exploration of love and family is the foundation of a beautifully constructed mystery filled with twists and turns. A must-read." —Jean Kwok,New York Times bestselling author of Searching for Sylvie Lee

"With dizzying suspense and gorgeous prose, The Last Thing He Told Me tackles tough questions about trust, marriage and what it means to be a family. A page-turner of the highest order." —Riley Sager, New York Times bestselling author of Home Before Dark

This information about The Last Thing He Told Me was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

Reader Reviews

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techeditor

A great mystery with a perplexing end
What a terrific mystery THE LAST THING HE TOLD ME is. I am so pleased to recommend it.

Hannah is married to a man, Owen, who has a teenage daughter, Bailey, from a previous marriage. We learn in Hanna's flashbacks about Owen, especially that he would do anything for his daughter. In Hanna's flashbacks we also see what she now understands were hints of what was to come.

Now Owen is gone, and Hannah needs to know why. One thing she does know is that Owen would never leave Bailey unless he thought he had no other choice. So the two of them, Hannah and Bailey, try to unravel this mystery.

Hannah realizes that Owen has left his daughter in her care and she must protect Bailey above all else. So here's what I don't get: why does Hannah want Bailey to have contact with the people they discover in Texas? How is this protection?

THE LAST THING HE TOLD ME is a great mystery that has a perplexing end.

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Author Information

Laura Dave

Laura Dave is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Last Thing He Told Me, Eight Hundred Grapes and other novels. Her work has been published in thirty-eight languages and six of her novels, including The Night We Lost Him, have been optioned for film and television. She resides in Santa Monica.

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