The Last Book Party, Karen Dukess
The Last Book Party, Karen Dukess
1 Rating(s)
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The Last Book Party
A Novel

Author: Karen Dukess

Narrator: Jesse Vilinsky

Unabridged: 6 hr 27 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 07/09/2019


Synopsis

“The Last Book Party is a delight. Reading this story of a young woman trying to find herself while surrounded by the bohemian literary scene during a summer on the Cape in the late '80s, I found myself nodding along in so many moments and dreading the last page. Karen Dukess has rendered a wonderful world to spend time in.”— Taylor Jenkins Reid, New York Times bestselling author of Daisy Jones & The Six

A propulsive tale of ambition and romance, set in the publishing world of 1980’s New York and the timeless beaches of Cape Cod.

In the summer of 1987, 25-year-old Eve Rosen is an aspiring writer languishing in a low-level assistant job, unable to shake the shadow of growing up with her brilliant brother. With her professional ambitions floundering, Eve jumps at the chance to attend an early summer gathering at the Cape Cod home of famed New Yorker writer Henry Grey and his poet wife, Tillie. Dazzled by the guests and her burgeoning crush on the hosts’ artistic son, Eve lands a new job as Henry Grey’s research assistant and an invitation to Henry and Tillie’s exclusive and famed "Book Party"— where attendees dress as literary characters. But by the night of the party, Eve discovers uncomfortable truths about her summer entanglements and understands that the literary world she so desperately wanted to be a part of is not at all what it seems.

A coming-of-age story, written with a lyrical sense of place and a profound appreciation for the sustaining power of books, Karen Dukess's The Last Book Party shows what happens when youth and experience collide and what it takes to find your own voice.

About Karen Dukess

With a background in newspaper and magazine journalism, Karen Dukess spent eight years as a speechwriter on gender equality at the United Nations Development Programme. She is a graduate of Brown University and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and lives in Pelham, New York.

About Jesse Vilinsky

Jesse Vilinsky is an award-winning narrator and accomplished voice actress. She has recorded over 350 audiobooks, and is known for her ability in bringing forth the strength, truth and vulnerability of her expertly voiced characters, as well as the depth and nuance of each narrative she tells. She is also known for her comedic timing, and quirky YA styling. She strives to make an author’s deftly created world 3D in the listener’s mind, and to aid them, and herself, in disappearing into their stories. She has been nominated for and won two Audie Awards, nominated for five and won two Voice Arts Awards, and has won 14 Earphones Awards.As a voice actress, she has been featured in many films and television shows, including The Giver, The New Mutants, Yellowstone and Rick & Morty, can also be heard in many major video game projects, such as Dead by Daylight: Dungeons & Dragons, Call of Duty 6: Black Ops and Alone in the Dark.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Caro on June 16, 2019

Absolutely mesmerizing and engaging. I loved every page of this novel. This book made me yearn for a place I've never been to, and a time in the publishing industry I did not live (I was alive at the time, just not there, you know what I mean). It's emotional and easy to read, the pages flew by. I di......more

Goodreads review by Diana on July 24, 2019

3.5 Stars → Loved that this novel was about books, writing, and publishing, set in the late 1980s. During a summer on Cape Cod, 25-year old Eve Rosen takes a job as research assistant to New Yorker writer Henry Grey. Eve's view of herself & her life's ambitions change when she becomes wrapped up in......more

Goodreads review by Suzanne on October 13, 2019

In the publishing world of the 1980s, Eve Rosen is stuck as an editorial assistant while yearning for her own writing career. Hoping that literary genius will rub off on her, she jumps at an invitation to a Cape Cod summer party hosted by New Yorker writer, Henry Grey, and his enigmatic poet wife, T......more

Goodreads review by Jamie on March 17, 2019

As a serious book lover with endless nostalgia for the 1980s, I completely lost myself in this beautiful book. It's a joy!......more

Goodreads review by Michelle on June 29, 2019

3 stars to this great summer read! The Last Book Party is the perfect summer read. It doesn't take itself too seriously, yet there is enough substance to keep the pages turning. It's characterized as "coming of age", which I am unsure about, but it definitely deals with a young, twenty something wom......more