The Last Book Party by Karen Dukess
Summary
Eve Rosen is invited into a seductive, literary world she thinks will turn her into a writer. But will she have to lose herself to find her own voice?
In the 1980s, famed New Yorker writer Henry Grey and his poet wife Tillie throw Cape Cod’s most unmissable party each summer’s end, a legendary fête for the literary elite. Twenty-five-year-old aspiring writer Eve Rosen finagles her way into this Gatsbyesque orbit, which is completely different from her conventional, Jewish upbringing. But moving into one sphere means leaving another behind, and as Eve tries to negotiate the differences between her family values and this glittering world, she learns the risks of unbridled ambition and the importance of making her own choices about who she wants to be.
Lyrically evoking a bygone era with contemporary resonance, The Last Book Party charts Eve’s soundings as she learns to navigate the deep waters of sex, love, and life over the course of one fateful summer. Poignant, unerringly wise, and delightfully funny, Dukess’s debut tells the universal coming-of-age story of finding our way and our voice, one misstep and one false note at a time.
Book Setting: Wellfleet, Truro, & Provincetown, MA
Ballston Beach: Eve's family would go to the beach when they were on vacation. It was also featured in Tilly’s magazine column
Head of the Meadow Beach: Henry and Eve would park and hang out in the dunes
High Head Beach: Eve and Henry are walking and she suggests he dresses up as Odysseus at the Book Party
Great Hollow Beach: Eve goes the morning after the Book Party
Corn Hill: Eve's family would swim in the summer and celebrate the 4th of July. A spot every Truro resident knew about.
Old Cobb Library, Truro: Eve often visits her friend Alva Snow who is the longtime public librarian
Fanizzi's: Eve's parents got dinner with the Sapersteins one night, previously known as Pucci's
Hillside Farm Stand: Eve's mother would go to get fresh corn and tomatoes
Jams Truro: General store in the center of Truro
Napi's Restaurant: Henry and Tillie get dinner one night
Wellfleet Flea Market: Eve runs into Henry while browsing
Hatch's Fish Market: Eve's mom would get swordfish steaks
Horseleech Pond: Eve and Henry meet and swim together
Longnook Beach: Eve climbs the dune in distress after the revelations at the book party
Reviews
“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 spare, bittersweet page-turner …Dukess’s unmistakable love of words, stories and “book people” is what keeps you bobbing briskly along with the waves.”
—The New York Times
“Written with fresh confidence and verve, this first novel is a bibliophile’s delight, with plenty of title-dropping and humorous digs at the publishing scene of the 1980s….The lyrical evocations of the Cape Cod landscape will also enchant readers seeking that perfect summer read.”
—Kirkus