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A Novel
by Andrea Bobotis
Book Reviewed by:Some bury their secrets close to home. Others scatter them to the wind and hope they land somewhere far away.
Judith inherited all the Kratt family had to offer—the pie safe, the copper clock, the murder that no one talked about. She's presided over the house quite well, thank you very much, admittedly with some help from her companion, Olva.
But her wayward younger sister suddenly returns home after decades, sparking an inventory of all that belongs to them. Set in the hard-luck cotton town of Bound, South Carolina—which the Kratts used to rule but which now struggles to contain its worst instincts—the new household overflows with memories.
Interweaving the present with chilling flashbacks from one fateful evening in 1929, Judith pieces together a list of what matters. Untangling the legacy of the family misfortunes will require help from every one of them, no matter how tight their bond, how long they've called Bound home, or what they own.
This is classic Southern fiction at its best! Quirky characters, interesting plotline, and great writing... A list of possessions becomes a list of memories and secrets kept for 60 years...continued
Full Review
(690 words)
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(Reviewed by First Impressions Reviewers).
In Andrea Bobotis' The Last List of Miss Judith Kratt, an affluent white woman nearing the end of her life in the 1980s takes stock of her family estate in Bound, South Carolina, while recounting the years she spent there as a child during the 1930s. The novel offers a riveting tale of family secrets, revenge, and, especially, racial oppression in the Jim Crow South. As the story unfolds, the narrator muses about how race relations in America have changed since the time of her youth. In this, the novel joins a growing body of work that thoughtfully probes the nation's sinister history of racism.
In recent years racial tension has reached frightening levels in the USA. In a February 2019 poll conducted by the Pew Research Centre, 58% of ...
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Cynthia Swanson, New York Times bestselling author of The Bookseller and The Glass Forest
The droll voice of Andrea Bobotis's heroine, Judith Kratt, might charm you but don't be fooled into thinking this is simply one woman's trip down memory lane. The Last List of Miss Judith Kratt is a multilayered story about family, race, loss, and loyalty, featuring a complex cast of characters led by a woman who learns it's never too late for growth and change.
