The Last Day: The Sunday Times bestseller

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I found this memoir very brave for the author to write. For me personally reading this it gave me an insight into the life of a member of the Jehovah Witness Kingdom.

On the whole, this book is every bit as yeeeeuch as one might assume the imagination of a stereotypically white man in the Victorian era to be - which is to say Flammarion's ideas of men, women, race, religi When I first heard about The Last Day, I was intrigued. The debut from Andrew Hunter Murray who, among many other things, is a QI Elf, is set in a world where, ‘forty years ago, a solar catastrophe began to slow the planet’s rotation to a stop. Now, one half of the globe is permanently sunlit, the other half trapped in an endless night.’ It seems an interesting premise; especially given the setting in Britain, a country which once held the epithet, ‘the sun never sets on the British Empire’. While my own religious upbringing was very different and less fire and brimstone, I identified with some of Ali’s story, especially the freedom found in music and the struggle to forge your own identity, exemplified in this powerful line: "One day I'll have a house full of books I want to read and music I want to listen to." I don’t think people who didn’t have an upbringing like ours would really quite understand how important that is.

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I loved this book. It's a thing of beauty. Ali Millar pulls you heart first through an extraordinary life, somehow making sense of an experience that should make no sense at all. A sublime talent.'- David Whitehouse Jhn 11:24 Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day

I remember being a young girl at middle school and there being a family of girls who could never join in assembly when we sang hymns and could never join in making cards at Easter or Christmas. We knew they were Jehovah Witnesses but we didn’t have a clue what that meant. Later I learnt they couldn’t have blood if they were in hospital and needed it. But how could we understand, we were 10 years old. Murray hat es auch noch geschafft, in seinen sogenannten Thriller die Trivialität eines Frauenromans zu bringen." Ellen Hopper is a scientist working on an old oil rig off the coast of Britain, studying how the ocean currents have changed and what it might mean for humanity’s survival. She learned a terrible secret from a mentor, Edward Thorne, fifteen years earlier about how Britain established itself in the aftermath of the Stop, and she elected to more or less turn from humanity and live a rather lonely life. Now Thorne is dying, and he reaches out to Ellen with a message that he has something she must see and that she can “prevent a far greater evil being done.” Thorne leaves Hopper a clue before he dies. She can’t help herself, even though authorities are clearly shadowing her all over London. She must choose between keeping her career and her freedom or pursuing a secret that could turn the tables on Davenport’s government. The U.K. leader has a proposal for the remaining refugees from the United States: food for the last U.S. atomic weapons.

A good decision is the "Jesse Institute", which sets itself the goal of not only to distribute her prophecies, but all the sacred scriptures of this world for free, without propagating any particular religion. In essence, a kind theosophisch Sciene-fiction story.

I think Ali Millar comes very close in this memoir, identifying the emotions many of us go through at different times, the absolute inner-turmoil of conflict that only ever fades but never goes away after leaving. And there is no one really to blame except the faceless organisation itself, since Witness sincerity is actually a thing, their self-delusion another.

After sleeping on it I must say that this book will be an hard book to review. It tries to be several things at the same time. It's a scientific novel veiled by SF/Pseudohistory/philosophy/theological elements. It tries so hard to teach us that fails because of it... I am not so gifted with words, so I will just say that I found this book fascinating, with finely crafted characters and a though-provoking plot. I could not wait to find out how he would end it, but did not want it to end. Frankly I worried about how the author would actually bring it to a satisfying ending and was surprised and pleased with his choices. I consider myself a "progressive Christian" in that while I regularly attend church (and sing with a worship team) and love my church and its leaders, I still have a problem with how much of organized religion represents Christ to the masses - as is our duty. Jeza's call to abandon your churches and pulpits and fully embrace Christ's message to love and care for ALL people rang true. As did the anger and hatred it inspired in many world church "leaders." Just like Christ's message did in His time. And what was said was the absolute true: "Unfortunately, I must admit that the calculations of the astronomers are in this case, as usual, entirely correct." (The writer was an Astronomer)

Faith, desire, control, abuse of power… I devoured The Last Days, an incisive takedown of an exploitative, destructive organisation via a personal story.Ultimately it is clear that Jessa is still a real human being with a high intelligence, who sees herself as the follow-up of Jesus (in the meaning of prophetess). She dies on Good Friday and on Easter her body is gone. Whether alive or not, remains unsolved. Ellen Hopper our protagonist is a scientist who is in the North Sea when some government officials take her to London where her old university teacher Thorne is dying in a hospital. Thorne leaves a clue for Hopper to uncover a secret that he's trying to hide from the government. A tantalizing, suspenseful odyssey of frustration, deceit, treachery, torture, hope, despair and ingenious sleuthing' Washington Post