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Summary
Summary
Book Pipeline 2017 Grand Prize Winner
Winner of the Audiofile Magazine 2018 Earphones Award for Fiction
For fans of Lauren Oliver and Kazuo Ishiguro, The Last to See Me is a spellbinding American ghost story deftly weaving past and present into an unforgettable narrative about a young woman's fight for a life of her own--long after her life is over.
Over one hundred years ago, Emma Rose Finnis was born and died in the remote northern California town she now haunts. When she was alive, she was a lowly chambermaid and worse, a Finnis. Now, no one remembers her hardworking life and her grand dreams--because there are none left to remember. In a world where phantoms are considered "unclean," the spirits of her town have already been swept away. All except Emma Rose.
But when a determined hunter arrives with instructions to extinguish her once and for all, Emma Rose refuses to be hounded from her haunt, the stately Lambry Mansion. She's earned her place and she'll keep it--even if it means waging a war on the living. After all, she's got nothing left to lose. The same might not be said for those who still enjoy the luxury of a breath . . .
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Dressler takes up the perspective of a ghost in this gothic tale with a modern twist. In the book's alternate universe, ghosts are a known entity but are so unwelcome that professional hunters work around the clock to eradicate them. Emma Rose has inhabited Lambry House ever since her death nearly a century ago. But when a hunter comes after her so that new owners can move in, Emma will have to fight to save herself and what little still exists of the personality she had while alive. Moving seamlessly between the present and Emma's past, the narrative ratchets up the tension slowly as secrets from the past are revealed and the living come to terms with their own mortality. Dressler makes great use of the tension that arises from characters fighting against the very things they will one day become. The living and dead occupying the same space sparks insightful, but never overbearing, discussions of life and death. In this enjoyably claustrophobic novel set almost completely within Lambry House, Dressler reaches beyond the grave to consider the lengths that people go to in order to leave their mark behind. (Sept.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
One hundred years after her death, Emma Rose Finnis still haunts Lambry House, nestled along the harsh coast of northern California. When the last of the Lambrys dies however, Emma must match wits with a ghost hunter who's come to cleanse the estate of her spirit.Dressler (The Deadwood Beetle, 2001, etc.) conjures a bewitching seacoast village swathed in fog and rimmed by fierce, cold, crashing waves. It's a strange parallel world in which ghost hunters have rid most towns of all ghosts, revenants unconvinced of their own deaths. Clever and careful, Emma has avoided complete obliteration from the hunters' strange weapons, yet the arrival of the Danes, who hope to renovate the historic estate, provokes her. Able to manipulate the physical world, Emma locks them in a pantry, bewilders them into thinking they're drowning, and then kicks them roughly into the hallway. The realtor, Ellen, is astonished when, instead of fleeing the premises, Mr. Dane immediately signs a contract for the house, vowing to rid the place of its ghost. Pratt, the hunter, is a cruelly calculating man, but Emma may well prove his match. Dressler's tale compellingly shifts and slips between Emma's long-buried life story and her increasingly eerie cat-and-mouse game with Pratt. A century ago, riven with lossof her mother to childbirth, of her father to a horrific shipping accidentEmma gamely accepts Mrs. Augustus Lambry's lucrative offer to work for the new family up at the lighthouse, an offer she knows is intended to keep her awayfrom Quint, the family's eldest son. Mrs. Lambry's ploy, however, sets into motion a series of disasters. Quint, utterly besotted, follows Emma to her new post, but his parents' opposition frustrates him. Meanwhile the lighthouse keeper has noticed Emma's beauty. As the veil lifts on Emma's star-crossed fate, more secrets come to light, and Pratt's relentless pursuit coils into dangerous waters. A gorgeous mystery of love that twists into curses. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
A real estate agent is fighting tooth and nail to pawn off a pricey piece of property in a Northern California logging town. Selling the old-money mansion would be a breeze were it not for the unpredictable paranormal activity taking place every time the house is shown to a new yuppie couple. The realtor hires a reputable spirit hunter to clean the property of hauntress Emma Rose Finnis, who has no plans to leave the material world. Emma isn't in the business of scaring potential homebuyers for naught. She is working tirelessly to have her life remembered. The house she haunts once belonged to the family of her lover, a family that deemed her unfit to marry their heir. She perished in the early 1900s while fighting for her right to love and is committed to disturbing the peace until she can find some of her own. Told in alternating timelines, sliding seamlessly between Emma's time in life and in death, Dressler's chilly new story is one woman's unforgettable fight for visibility.--Eathorne, Courtney Copyright 2017 Booklist
Library Journal Review
In a picturesque village along the coast of Northern California, mysterious events are occurring, and a professional ghost hunter is called in to purge the old Lambry estate of malevolent spirits and help secure the sale of the cliffside property. But the ghost of Emma Rose Finnis, strong and relentless, has been lurking for more than 100 years and is not ready to give up her secrets. As a child, Emma was a humble servant at the estate. When she and one of the young Lambry men fell in love, the family saw to it that their relationship was crushed. Now the ghost hunter and the real estate agent must work together to expose Emma Rose, but as they do, their own life stories begin to unravel. VERDICT In this highly atmospheric and beautifully crafted novel, the movements of the ghost of Emma Rose are both palpable and fascinating. This latest from Dressler (The Deadwood Beetle) is spellbinding from page one.-Susanne Wells, Indianapolis P.L. © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.