Always the Last to Know

We return to Stoningham Connecticut in Kristan Higgins latest novel ALWAYS THE LAST TO KNOW. The Frost Family is quite eclectic and at times rather dysfunctional family. On the day of their 50th wedding anniversary Barb finally decided it was time to tell her husband John it was time for a divorce.. until she got the call – the call that would change everyone’s life. While out training for a triathlon John fell off his bike, hit his head causing massive bleeding in his brain. In possession of her husband’s cell phone she sees the biggest shock .. a 75 years old man that was cheating on her.

Juliet Frost is the eldest daughter, the perfect daughter in Barb’s eyes .. a Harvard and Yale graduate, has the perfect life – a wonderful British husband and 2 beautiful daughters, a beautiful home she designed and works as a Sr. Architect in a well the respected DJK Architects firms in the country has panic attacks and hides in her closet. But the day of her father’s accident, a father she know secrets about, Juliet wants to leave it all to become a smoke jumper n Montana.

Sadie Frost is the youngest daughter and the apple of John’s eye .. she is the free spirit, the struggling artist that could not wait to leave her small home town to live in the heart of NYC but had to leave the love of her life, her wild boy Noah behind. Coming home will not be easy for Sadie.

This is a story of 3 women and the many different levels of their love story; the struggles they encounter along the way to lead them to the discovery of who they really are. Kristan Higgins is fast becoming one of my top go to authors – I love her writing style and storytelling. She will make you laugh, she will make your heart ache for each character and she will make you smile. Always the Last to Know hits all the marks!

Barbara Frost knew that her marriage was over long ago. Ever since the birth of their daughters, an invisible wall has been erected between them. They’ve been existing in the same house but living different lives. But within hours of making up her mind to finally tell John that it's over, he suffers a debilitating stroke. What she then discovers about the man she thought she knew will change the course of the lives of each of the Frost women – for better or for worse.

Even though they grew up in the same family, Juliet and Sadie Frost couldn’t be more different.

Juliet is truly her mother’s daughter. She seems to effortlessly balance her career as a successful architect with her picture-perfect family. But at forty-three, she hides in her closet and is terrified that she’ll never be good enough.

Sadie’s dream of being an artist was always nurtured by her father. She left her quaint hometown for the big lights of New York City as soon as she was old enough. Now at thirty-two, she’s still searching – searching for affirmation and for a connection to someone special like one she had so long ago.

I can always count on Kristan Higgins to create stories where the characters somehow become a part of me and Always the Last to Know is yet another extraordinary example.

She masterfully captures every nuance of love – for friends, family and that one-of-a-kind soul deep devotion - in a way that makes my heart ache in the best of ways.

Her characters are equally inspiring in both their strength and their fragility. I understood each of them on every level. They made me laugh. They made me cry and they made me proud. But for me, it was Sadie and Noah that really made this book so remarkable for me. What can I say? I’m a sucker for wild boys with Heathcliff hair.

This is a story for every woman who has ever doubted herself. Remember that you deserve the world and a friend just like Caro…

My first Kristan book was The Best Man, her Blue Heron series...I adored her romantic comedies. When she switched to women's fiction, I had my doubts, but oh!!!!!! Doubt no more. This book is so good.

This novel is full of such richly drawn characters who are so far from perfect yet so utterly real, reading this book was effortless. I never got pulled away from the story to reread sections for clarification.

This book taught me that love comes in as many shapes and sizes as people do.

Do you ever come to a book with pre-conceived notions about what's going to happen, how it will end? I'm so happy to say this book surprised me. There is a scene in which a character writes a letter to his wife and I've never envied a character more. I WANT A LETTER LIKE THAT.

I am now a hard core Women's Fiction fan.

Life in Connecticut just wasn’t right for Sadie Frost. Sadie was an artist bound for greater things. Life in Connecticut seemed to be perfect for Barb Frost, Sadie’s mother, select woman and mover and shaker in their little town. Life in Connecticut was starting to be too much for Juliet, Sadie’s sister and well-known architect. Life in Connecticut wasn’t as marvelous as the Frost family seemed to portray and suddenly everyone’s life was turned upside down.

Sadie was living in Manhattan teaching children art and still waiting to be discovered when her father, her wonderful father, fell ill. Sadie was needed at home, so she took a leave of absence, rented her apartment on AirBnB and went home to help.

Barb was busy doing her part to get rid of her Mid-Westernness and making herself indispensable within their sweet town when she got the call that her husband was gravely ill. Just when she was going to ask for a divorce.

Juliet, an accomplished architect, mother of 2 and wife of the ever-smiling, wonderful husband, Oliver, was secretly having anxiety attacks because life was just too much.

This is wonderful novel of family, love and struggles. We all think everyone else’s life is perfect, but when we look deeper, secrets, pain and tears are just below the surface.

Wow, another Women’s Fiction winner for Kristan Higgins!

I wait every year for Kristan Higgins's new book. I even delay reading them because I want to savor the moment and that way, it is less time for me to wait for her next release.

It’s always a real pleasure immersing in her stories. There is always something that clicks with me.

Always the Last to Know, wasn't an exception. It made me laugh and it made me cry.

Once I read the first few pages, I knew the next few hours would be centered around one family: The Frost Family.

There is John, the patriarch who has been a good provider but not a very good father to his first child or a good husband to Barb, his wife. The day he has a massive brain bleed, Barbara finds out something he has been hiding from her.

Barbara, the wife and mother, who has never been truly happy in her marriage despite trying to do things she assumed were expected of her as a "wife". She has a great relationship with her daughter Juliet but the same couldn't be said about her youngest daughter, Sadie. Sadie has always been John's favorite.

Juliet is a successful architect but lately, she has noticed she has competition at work from someone she brought in and tried to mentor. She also worries about her own marriage and her two girls especially the one who's becoming a typical teenager.

Lastly, we meet Sadie. A New Yorker by heart. Someone who didn’t want to stay and live in a small town. Her dream was to be discovered as an artist and become a famous painter. In the present, she's almost engaged to Alexander Mitchum, who’s a yacht salesman but her main love has been always been Jon snow, I mean scratch that, Noah Pelletier. Noah had a different dream than hers. He wanted to stay in town, marry Saddie and form a family together.

The trials and tribulations of these characters were perfectly described by Kristan Higgins. She humanized them and gave them meaning. I ended up liking all three women in a very different way. Of course, I love Noah and Sadie together and I laughed every single time Mickey spoked. She had me in stitches. Barbara and Caro's friendship was a refreshing change. I also love how awesome Juliet's husband, Oliver really was.

I'm sad to say goodbye to this family but I'm sure next year, I'll meet some awesome new ones.

Cliffhanger: No

4/5 Fangs

This is the story of 70 year old Barb , her 75 year old husband (married 50 years) and their 2 adult daughters. Juliet is the perfect daughter with husband, children, great job. Sadie is single and struggling to be a well known artist. Before Barb can ask for a divorce on their 50th anniversary, John has a stroke. She subsequently finds that he is having an affair. Barb and John have drifted apart and she just wanted to live the rest of her life alone (in their big old home). An interesting section was when Barb meets 'Work'. That was spectacular. Perfect Juliet has her own family/job issued to work thru. Daddy's girl Sadie is struggling to find her place in the art world of New York city. Both girls story lines are interesting. The only character that I thought was ridiculous was Janet. Apparently when introduced to non verbal John in the hospital , she thought 'here is someone to get to know better'. She just pops up in the home to visit John and eventually develops a close relationship with this incapacitated 75 year old man! One of the only issues I have with John's illness is that as he struggles with simple words like 'dog' but he is able to say divorce. It was good to include John's thoughts. He actually did care about Barb and was sorry for how he handled his marriage. I do wish that he had been able to communicate this by tears (when Barb told him she knew of his affair)

The Frosts are a typical American family. Barb and John, married almost fifty years, are testy and bored with each other…who could blame them after all this time? At least they have their daughters—Barb’s favorite, the perfect, brilliant Juliet; and John’s darling, the free-spirited Sadie. The girls themselves couldn’t be more different, but at least they got along, more or less. It was fine. It was enough.

Until the day John had a stroke, and their house of cards came tumbling down.

Now Sadie has to put her career as a teacher and struggling artist in New York on hold to come back and care for her beloved dad—and face the love of her life, whose heart she broke, and who broke hers. Now Juliet has to wonder if people will notice that despite her perfect career as a successful architect, her perfect marriage to a charming Brit, and her two perfect daughters, she’s spending an increasing amount of time in the closet having panic attacks.

And now Barb and John will finally have to face what’s been going on in their marriage all along.

My Thoughts:

A story about family, with its issues, sibling rivalries, and even infidelity, Always the Last to Know was a book I felt like curling up with on a long rainy day. I was drawn to each of the characters, from the artistic Sadie to Juliet with her architecture and her special closeness to the mother Barb. Sadie’s close connection to John, the father, was changed by his illness, and even when she came to stay in the family home, she held on to hope that all would return to normal.

But each family member soon discovers that hopes and dreams do not necessarily come to those who work hard toward that goal. What they do learn, however, is that they can create their own versions of family life, despite the challenges they are facing.

I rooted for Sadie to finally connect to Noah, her long-lost love, discovering a way that they could be together in spite of what seemed like very separate versions of happiness. A story that held my interest until the end, it earned 4.5 stars.

Readers are told repeatedly the mom, Barb, is from Minnesota, then get tortured with over-colloquialisms that distract and annoy. When Barb’s voiced chapters arrive, I almost stop reading, I’m so taken out of the story. As authors we know a very few colloquialisms go a long way. The characters interactions all feel a bit “on the nose,” and more telling than showing. Doesn’t feel organic. A laudable effort and premise that falls short.