July 2019

Set on Cape Cod in 1987, THE LAST BOOK PARTY by Karen Dukess is a brisk, smart summer read and a coming-of-age story. And if that’s not enough to entice you, it’s set in the world of publishing, giving readers a fun insider look at what unfolds behind the scenes in the book world.

Eve Rosen is 25 years old and an aspiring writer. She has left her low-level assistant job in New York City to work on her own writing. To help pay the bills, she is working as an assistant to Henry Grey, who is a New Yorker writer. Henry lives in a beautiful and bookish home along with his wife, a poet named Tillie. Throughout the summer, Eve is shuttling between the glamorous world of Henry and Tillie, and the more pedestrian lives that her parents lead as they summer in the same town. She falls under Henry’s spell and idolizes him, which turns to infatuation.

All events are leading towards the Greys’ famed end-of-the-summer party, where all guests dress as literary characters. But the party uncovers a number of secrets that had been hidden to Eve until then. You will love the escape of reading this as Dukess writes vividly with great style. For book groups, it would make for a fun discussion.