The Last Book Party by Karen Dukess

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The Last Book Party is a coming of age story about Eve Rosen, who is “stuck” in a position as an assistant to an editor at a book publishing company. When she is passed up for a promotion, which was given to a man, she begins to rethink her future as well as her past.

Since middle school Eve has wanted to write stories…short stories and novels. But unfortunately her fear of failure has always gotten in her way and with her brother who is a math genius and who has always been cheered on by her parents, she is afraid of not being able to live up to what she perceives are their expectations for her.

Then by chance she is invited to a party on Cape Cod where her parents summer and is introduced to renowned writer Henry Grey, his wife, a famous poet named Tillie and their handsome son Eric. And her life is changed. She quits her job and becomes Henry’s assistant as he tries to complete his memoir. She becomes obsessed with their lives and their writings while always feeling she could never be as good a writer as Henry or Tillie. Seeing them only superficially and from the outside.

As she assists them in planning their annual end of summer “Book Party” where everyone dresses as book characters, secrets begin to become exposed and Eve has the realization she has not been living her life as an adult, but as a girl who has barely grown up. Always living in her brother’s shadow and having no confidence in herself she sees that everyone has flaws and she is not as alone as she thought.

Thank you #NetGalley #HenryHoltandCo #KarenDukess #TheLastBookParty for the advanced copy. The book is out now.

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