The Last List of Mabel Beaumont

Ask anyone who knows me intimately, and they will tell you that it is RARE when I have no words...

This book, however, has left me speechless...

I don't know how to put into thoughts my feels...

Except to say that this book ended up being NOTHING like I expected it to be. For most of the book, I had moments of frustration because of the protagonist and her hesitation to do and/or say what she was thinking or wanted.

And it rubbed me the wrong way because I am exactly the same way. I am not assertive and I do not advocate for myself or clearly state my needs, wants, feels, etc.

We won't go into the reasons why...

However, as soon as we finally understand Mabel's reasons, ...

Oh! My heart! 💔😭

And I just want to wrap her in my arms and love and hug her tightly...

This sentence is SO PROFOUND!

"You can’t live in the past, I tell myself, but you can visit. And you can bring bits of it into the present, when you need them."

YOU CANNOT START OVER, BUT YOU CAN START FROM WHERE YOU ARE...

To my younger me, to sweet Mabel, and to everyone out there like us... Hugs!

Thank you for this beautiful story. It’s a story about women, young and old, and 2nd chances and the courage to live the way we want to. I am so glad I read it!

When I started the book, I almost put it down. It had such a slow start, I didn’t think I’d enjoy it. I don’t know why I decided to read further, but it turned into such a good story. Mabel, the main character who tells the story, started out seeming like a cold fish who was just a shell of a person. As the book progressed, she became more and more alive.

Mabel makes several women friends after her husband’s death. Each one has some sort of pain or grief. Each one is lonely. In their efforts to help Mabel find the woman who was her best friend and whom she hasn’t seen in 62 years, they become a solid group of friends who support each other. They all grow right along with Mabel. They each learn to live their own way rather than what they feel is expected. Most beautifully, they learn to accept themselves as the people they are.

And, isn’t it wonderful that someone decided to write a story not about a young woman just starting in life, but about an old woman who finally gets the chance to live her life? An old woman who, after years of playing it safe, finally has the courage to live! Even with the mistakes she makes with her new friends, she ends up helping each of them, albeit not in the ways she tries.

I think this is my new favorite book for this year. With as many books as I read, that’s saying a lot.

Take the time to go past the slow beginning. You’ll be glad you did.

MS Pearson has done an extraordinary job at storytelling in this book. She has all not the require mental for na novel: A beginning, middle, and end, well-developed characters, a setting, a surprising event, excellent diction, and a satisfying end. What makes the novel so exceptional is the way ahe constructed her story. Almost keeping the end a total surprise, she does give some hints as she tackles an issue still divisive today--homosexuality. The character of Maud is an eighty-six year-old woman who loses her husband of six the two years and must face life without him--alone. She is an unfortunate car character, difficult in every way. There is no passion in the marriage and no children. She really did not want to marry him in the first place and is just totally unhappy. After his death she launches a widespread search for her girlfriend who disappeared she Arthur proposed to Maud. This search and its attendant issues for this book. Along the way she befriends a gay teen--Erin--whose family has turned her out. Maud bonds with Erin who aids the search. You will not believe the ending! As you sit there with your Kindle in your hand trying to take it all in, you will share the joy and remember the sixty-two year love less marriage and think about the kinds of love. Yes, you need to read this book. Be aware of Only the dog, he has a story too.

A wonderful story of an elderly widow trying new things, making new friends, & helping each other to find happiness, or purpose. While the female friendships & bonds made are inspiring, the ending lovely, I can’t help but feel such sadness for Arthur. His loyalty to Bill, his dead best friend, & to Mabel, the younger sister of Bill, whom Arthur married, meant Arthur was cheated out of a life he could have had- a passionate, reciprocal marriage, children, & grandchildren.

As i was reading, I felt as I could really relate to the main character- Mabel - but at the end of the story I was disappointed. It's ironic that I felt cheated. I had so much emotional connection in the beginning, and then no. The story really drew me in, but then no. The book was written well, but felt too woke and political at the end. I don't want to give the plot away, but I wouldn't recommend this book for religious or conservative individuals. They might be disappointed at the ending.