The Last Summer: A wild, romantic tale of opposites attract . . . (The Wild Isle Series Book 1)

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I was drawn to request this book to review due to the setting being in St Kilda, an island in the Outer Hebrides off Scotland. I have read other books about the inhabitants of St Kilda and have been intrigued by their bleak desolate environment and hardship, surviving on an island dominated by cliffs, seabirds and extreme weather conditions. It is evident the author thoroughly researched her subject and her descriptions of surviving the harsh conditions by eating the meat and eggs of the seabirds, collecting the oil and feathers from the fulmars, puffins and other seabirds was so interesting. New guy cooly and calmly is like, “Oh yeah for sure. They are similar because those letters you found in my room are me trying to copy the handwriting of the person who wrote the note so I can understand them better!”. Umm yeah. Such delightful writing, this book has everything! Romance, history, mystery, period drama, comedy & lots lots more.... (Warnings re sexual harassment & animal death).

Tom’s wartime letters to Clarissa were intercepted by her disapproving mother and hidden from her for years, just like Noah Calhoun’s letters to Allie Hamilton in the Notebook. It was the voice that captured me first: a wonderfully human mix of intelligence, vulnerability, understanding, and fallibility. I’m a fan of Karen Swan’s novels, enjoying the flowing prose filled that allows the reader to lose themselves in the setting as well as the story and appreciate a real sense of place. In The Last Summer the setting is St Kilda and the Scottish mainland in the 1930s. The tale is told through the eyes of Effie (Euphemia) Gillies, young and strong-willed who, when Lord Sholto, heir to the Earl of Dumfries visits, shows him around the isle as his guide, imparting her knowledge of the birds and nature. Admiring Effie, Lord Sholto finds her more than a source of information, and Effie, too, is smitten; they are drawn together until circumstances force them apart. Lyu gets to know the family and considers several means by which he may carry out his quest. Where his reconnaissance risks raising suspicion he finds the trusting family jump to conclusions he could not have predicted.I preferred the first part of the book, mainly due to its historical research and slower pace, but I can see other readers will prefer the faster paced second part developing the characters and their relationships. I believe this is the first in a series and I look forward to meeting up with Effie and Sholto again. On another note, I did not feel the cover matches the book, I would have preferred a more accurate representation of St Kilda- the bird life, the cliffs and the rugged sea. Dinsdag 14 maart '23 stond voor mij in het teken van de verschijning van 'Het wilde eiland', van Karen Swan, het allereerste deel in haar gloednieuwe, gelijknamige en vooral historische reeks. Ik mocht van de uitgeverij al een exemplaar ontvangen en ik kan je zeggen: de auteur stelt wederom niet teleur!

The novelty of a new mind to probe soon wanes and the family resume their own pursuits which Lyu seeks to influence. The audacious plan he settles on is not without risk. The family become caught up in the younger members’ attempt to further their education despite the university’s closure. They talk of aiding other students who do not enjoy their privileges which vexes their father.Huch was a member of the "Preußische Akademie der Künste", but resigned in 1933 when the National Socialists seized power and began purging the Academy. Huch left after Alfred Döblin quit. Despite her critical attitude to the new régime, Joseph Goebbels and Adolf Hitler sent her congratulatory telegrams on her 80th birthday. Huch dedicated much of her life to Italian, German and Russian history and historical novels that were psychological biographies. In 1947, she was an honorary president of the First German Writers Congress in Berlin. Riley is especially immature; at twenty-five she still makes a career out of being a lifeguard and has yet to enter into any sort of romantic relationship. But she’s always been the leader, encouraging her sister Alice and her best friend Paul to cling to childhood traditions and to reject the pretentiousness of adult pleasures. Because they love her they agree, but everything becomes more complicated when Paul and Alice fall in love. Guilt compels them to keep their relationship hidden from Riley. However, when Riley becomes seriously ill the strength of their love is tested, and the bonds both of family and friendship are put into question. A dramatic start to a gripping new series set on the Scottish island of St Kilda. The Last Summer is meticulously researched and beautifully told by one of our most prolific and talented writers. It contains all the ingredients of a wonderfully satisfying read: love, passion, drama, violence, menace and peril, and characters you fall in love with - and some you hate! Happily, this is the start of a series so your longing for more will be fulfilled.

The novel takes place in a particular time and place, and captures this with insight and integrity. Nevertheless, its central theme resonates strongly and painfully with recent events in Manchester, whereby violence becomes the chosen and devastating method of making some kind of futile point. The Last Summer is an absorbing tale that sweeps you away to 1930 and into the life of Effie Gillies, an eighteen-year-old girl who, along with her family and closest friends, is one of thirty-six inhabitants of the isolated St. Kilda archipelago who is content with her isolated existence, living a simple life amongst the birds and the cliffs, until things start to get a little more complicated and she falls for a man way above her station, the government decides to evacuate the island villagers to the mainland, she takes on a new job curating the ornithological collection of Lord Dumfries, the father of the man who stole her heart, and the deserted island is left with more than just empty dwellings and whispered secrets, but the body of a man who wasn’t all that kind or liked and had more than one person who wished him dead. When the official’s dimwitted son happens to be in the new guy’s room, and happens to be rifling through his papers (because of course he is) for no reason whatsoever, he notices that new guy’s handwriting is suspiciously similar to the writing on the threatening note! He’s going to confront the new guy about this! Aha! Waar dat mee te maken heeft? Met twee dingen: de schrijfstijl van Karen Swan die ervoor zorgt dat alle beschrijvingen van het prachtige eiland tot leven komt en de unieke karakters. Je volgt namelijk de onverschrokken, dappere en eigenzinnige Effie die haar hele leven tot nu toe heeft doorgebracht op het afgelegen eiland St. Kilda - ver weg van de buitenwereld en de ontwikkelingen die zich op het vasteland hebben afgespeeld (zoals de Industriële Revolutie). Maar dan komt de rijke en vooral enorm aantrekkelijke Lord Soltho op het eiland, die haar hart voor het eerst in haar leven sneller laat kloppen. I am officially in love with the very mature way Ann Brashares explains her story. The plot, to me, is very simple, the way I like it - nothing overly dramatic, everything falls in place naturally. I love how the author knows each character perfectly - we can't just imagine how they look, but also how they react, how they feel, their preferences, their insights, their feelings, and each is very personal and sensitive in a good way. The scenes are vivid, and I like how the beach seems just the right setting for everything in the book. Her proses are simply beautiful.Effy has to compete and win against the males and it seems no challenge is too small for this young girl. This is the kind of book you can disappear into. The voice is pitch perfect, for me, and drew me into a different era. And there's an edge to the gentle voice of the early 20th century, an edge which, as far as I'm concerned, declared its hatred of war - and not just because the war causes the narrator pain, but because war is evil, full stop, regardless of whose side you're on. Alice is an annoying girl who spends the entire book whining about her childhood friend Paul. Does he love me? No he doesn't love me. Wait DOES HE LOVE ME? No I don't think he loves me. We can see that Lusinya truly loves Yegor, the professor, longing forward to the time she can be alone with him. Whilst the children may not necessarily agree with their father’s political views, and indeed are more revolutionary than their parents may realise, they obviously care for him. As for Lyu, whilst he intent on his mission the longer he spends with the family the more he grows to feel for them. His letters become tinged with something akin to regret as the story progresses. He also has the brilliant idea of leaving a note under the wife’s pillow saying that the official’s time is almost up. Prepare to die!

Thanks to Netgalley for the review copy of this book. I’ve been a long term fan of Karen Swan’s books, always enjoying the flowing prose filled with descriptive sentences that allow the readers to really immerse themselves in the setting as well as the story. Whether the setting is Spain, Rome, Norway or Canada, there is a real sense of place in her books. This time her setting is St Kilda and the Scottish mainland in the 1930s, at the time of the evacuation of the inhabitants of the island of St Kilda, whose meagre population struggles for survival in a centuries old manner, cut off from much of modern conveniences. It is told through the eyes of Effie Gillies, a wild tom boy type whose skill at all the men’s work required for their survival, including rope work along the cliffs, captures the attention of Lord Sholto when he visits with his father, the Earl of Dumfries, just before the evacuation. She becomes their guide, her knowledge and understanding of birds catching the earl’s attention and admiration. But it’s his son who finds her more than a source of information, and his attention becomes irresistible to Effie. The two are drawn together, ever closer, until circumstances forces them apart. There’s a little in this for everyone – there’s a mystery that runs through the second half of the story, where someone meets their demise and there are investigations into it. There’s also a bit of romance although I’m not really sure about that portion of the story. I actually thought a much better match for Effie came from one of the men working for the Earl, as I never really warmed to the one that seemed to be end game. I just really didn’t like the way Effie was treated at certain stages and felt like the excuses for such things were very poor (but to be honest, probably not unrealistic). Yegor van Rasimkara, the governor of St Petersburg closes the university and imprisons some radical students. He receives death threats and as a result his wife Lusinya hires a bodyguard, Lyu to protect him whilst his family vacation at their summer home. But little does she realise that Lyu sides with the students. Has she invited the viper into the nest? To me it was entertaining in some places with some really wonderful descriptive passages in others.Peirene books are novellas from around the world, often previously unknown to the English Language market and they are the ideal length to be consumed in a couple of hours. Swan's earlier novels are largely contemporary in which he carefully introduces another story that begins in the past. "The Last Summer" is entirely historical fiction, but I enjoyed it just as much. I've read several of the author's previous novels and I love the way she combines romance and a bit of mystery with a strong sense of place. In this case, I was pleased to learn about the evacuation of the island of St. Kilda.