Book review - Last Summer by Kylie Ladd

"In a heartbeat their lives will change forever ..."

So says the line on the front cover of this thoughtful story about a sudden death and the ripples that roll out from it to rock the lives of the family and friends left behind. Kylie Ladd has used the archetypically Australian bond of cricket to paint a detailed portrait of modern suburbia, telling the story of Rory Buchanan's life and death through the eyes of nine people mourning his loss.  Marriage, friendship, family - all are dissected with great insight as they start to unravel under the pressure of grief.

I purchased this book in the hopes it would be suitable for our local Book Clubs.  Having to commit to 10 copies is a bit scary with our limited funds so it had to be good enough for general consumption once the clubs had their turn reading and dissecting the storyline.  Fortunately, choosing this title has proved to be a solid investment.  It's a great read for anyone, not just those looking for hidden agendas between the lines.

The back cover states

Last Summer is a stunning novel about loss - the terrible pain of losing a husband, brother or friend - but also of those smaller losses that everyone must face: the loss of youth, the shattering of dreams, the fading of convictions and the change in our notions of who we thought we were.  It is also about what comes after the loss: how we pick up the pieces and the way we remake our lives.

I took this book home for something to keep me occupied on the plane and in the motel room whilst at a conference at Logan ... and finished it as the plane touched down at Brisbane airport!  Once I started, I found myself completely engaged with the characters as their lives slowly unfurled before me on the page.  In fact, the only disappointment I have with the novel is that it finished!

The characters are believable, caught up in the myriad dilemmas that strike us all at some point or another in our lives.  Everyone knows a Rory, Nick or a Laine and most people have been touched at some point by grief in some shape or form.  For some characters, it's a happy ending. For others, not so much.  But for all of them, Rory's death is a reminder that life is fragile and can be taken from us at any time.  The point is not to waste the time we have.