What readers think of The Last Time They Met, plus links to write your own review.

A WORD OF ADVICE -- Don't give the story away in your reviews!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am in the middle of reading this book and was glancing through the reviews out of curiosity...THANKS FOR RUINING IT!!

My first Anita Shreve book was The Pilot's Wife and I really enjoyed it; It was well written and certainly engaging. I then went to the library looking for more, but I'm starting to think I may have better left well enough alone. From the reviews, I seem to be in the minority here, but I am addicted to the drama in her books, but always pay a price for it. The ending to Weight of Water was so unexpected and emotional that I swore off (unsuccessfully it seems) Anita Shreve altogether. I agree with the earlier post that it is best to read Last Time first. I read Weight/Water first and, upon discovering that this is a kind of sequel, had high hopes that something redeeming might come out of Thomas' life after all the horror of Water (no, unfortunately, I did not immediately recall the revelation from Water to solve the mystery of Last Time which might have at least kept my hopes of redemption lower).

Halfway through the last page of The Last Time They Met, I started crying. I have never read something so stunningly beautiful and penetrating. The story of Thomas and Linda, particularly the last section at age seventeen, is beyond words. I felt such pain for these two lovers, and shock at the book's surprise conclusion. This is a spectacularly woven story, harsh and aching, and dripping with realism. The Last Time They Met is certainly the best book I have ever read. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

I cannot express how much emotion was felt when I read Shereve's dazzling novel. It was beautiful, so simple, it is engraved in my mind forever. Never before had I read a book so real and full of life I felt it touch me on my shoulder. I desire to write a script to give all the characters in her novel physical life because they scream for it. This novel has given me a new light. It has defined what love trully is or what it is meant to be. The novel is based on a love so pure-
" A simple posture, accomplished thousands- no millions- of times a day, and yet so serious you could hardly breathe".
I cannot rate this out of 5- that number is too insignificant for such a marvellous novel. I urge you must read this. It is a bible, a Mona Lisa.

I started reading this book Sunday night, and finished it Monday night(I could not sleep at night becasue I wantedt o finish it)...this book was the first I have read of hers and will not be the last. She uses words in a way that I have not seen very often. The ending left me speechless, and I want to reread it again to once again expereince the magic of this authors imagination and words.

I just finished the book ... like Margaret Atwood or Louise Erdrich, Shreve's writing is compelling, lyrical, beautiful. The rhythm of her sentences alone is enough to keep me turning the pages. And I loved the story, right up until an ending that left me feeling mystified and manipulated. The reviewer who called to mind the dream sequence year of the TV show, "Dallas," hit it on the head. I appreciate that Shreve was not likely driven by the same craven motives as the producers of "Dallas," but to seduce the reader with such a rich, detailed story of lovers whose life together, the reader discovers in almost the last paragraph, [edited], feels like a betrayal of trust.

Once again Anita Shreve blew me away with her book, The Last Time They Met.

I would like to think that when Linda died in the car accident it was a symbolic death, in that she had just liberated herself by discussing the rape with the priest and was now able to give herself to Thomas. She was in a sense reborn.

Thomas' suicide was the self imposed misery after losing Linda and not being able to see her after the accident. He merely went through the motions and really did not live his life.
The other interpretation for this ending is too much like the dream sequence "Who Shot J. R.?"
Any one else with me on this one? Mabbott24@attbi.com

If you're choosing between Fortune's Rocks and The last Time they Met? I'd say read them both!

Apparently Fortunes Rocks is part of a triology with Pilot's Wife and Sea Glass, but I think its just a connection with the actual property they live in...rather than the characters.

The Last Time they Met does share a character with Weight of Water and I'd say you definitely need to read The Last Time first ( I read them the other way around and The Weight of Water gives you information that if you catch on would highlight the twist in The Last Time they Met! - fortunately I just put it down to artistic licence and didn't catch on!)

The Last Time They Met is definitely one of Anita Shreves best novels...I read the last page of the book and was so amazed by the ending that I just sat with my mouth wide open for about 10 minutes...definitely one that I would read again.