's Best of 2001
The Last Time They Met opens with two old lovers, both poets, running into each other at a writer's conference. Well, Linda Fallon and Thomas Janes aren't old, actually--just middle-aged, with a lifetime's worth of history between them. In the first section, Anita Shreve only suggests what that history contains: there was adultery, we gather, and a car accident, plus some illicit encounters under a pitiless Kenyan sun. Presumably the rest of the book will lead back to the beginnings of this grand passion, right? We think we know where this is going--but that's the tricky part, because we don't.

The novel does get off to a slow start, with an unnecessarily drawn-out description of a luxury hotel. But it picks up speed as it moves backward in time, from the lovers' vividly evoked interlude in Africa, to their adolescent years in the Massachusetts village of Hull, and finally to Linda's deepest, darkest secret. Only then does the author unveil her final revelation, which should leave most readers somewhat out of breath, and possibly even obliged to turn back to the first page and read the book over again. Shreve is a canny storyteller, and she knows her characters inside and out. (As well she might: Thomas is the husband of Jean, the photographer in The Weight of Water.) And The Last Time They Met is yet another example of the kind of book she does best--one that's as skillfully plotted as a thriller, but with writing that lingers long after the last plot twist is unfurled. No matter whether people actually have affairs like these. Reading this book only makes you wish that they did. --Mary Park


From Publishers Weekly
The latest work by this versatile novelist (The Pilot's Wife; Fortune's Rocks) may be her most mature to date, as she demonstrates new subtleties in the unfolding of a complex plot. Proceeding in reverse chronological order, Shreve recounts the obsessive love between poets Linda Fallon and Thomas Janes; theirs is a highly charged affair, though they connect only three times in 35 years. The novel's three sections ("Fifty-Two," "Twenty-Six" and "Seventeen") refer to Linda's ages when she meets and later encounters Thomas first (last in the book's structure) as a troubled teen near Boston with "only indistinct memories of her mother and no real ones of her father"; then in Kenya, where Linda has joined the Peace Corps and Thomas's wife, Regina, is working with UNICEF; and finally at a literary festival in Toronto where both characters, unbeknownst to each other, are guest speakers. Though each of the novel's segments is intensely powerful, the cumulative effect is especially wrenching, as the reader knows what Linda and Thomas have yet to experience. Their Africa encounter is especially gripping, since both characters are torn between their mutual passion and their love for their spouses. (Linda has also married, and Regina's announcement of her pregnancy adds further tension.) Shreve's compassionate view of human frailties a recurring theme in much of her work is at its most affecting here, as she meticulously interweaves past and present with total credibility. Her fluid narrative perfectly mirrors her protagonists' evolving temperaments and viewpoints, while her overall restraint serves to intensify the novel's devastating conclusion. (Apr.) Water, starring Sean Penn and Elizabeth Hurley, is due in theaters later this year. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
Shreve is one of those rare novelists whose prose is just as remarkable as her storytelling. This new work picks up the character Thomas Janes from Shreve's The Weight of Water (LJ 10/15/96). (He is the husband of narrator Jean.) We learn the history of Thomas's great love with fellow poet Linda Fallon. The novel is told in reverse time, starting with the present, when Linda and Thomas, now in their fifties, reconnect at a literary festival. The middle section takes place in Africa, where the couple, then age 26, had a disastrous affair that horribly affected a number of loved ones and changed their own lives forever. The intensity of Africa's vibrant texture and color heightens the passionate drama. And the last section, during high school, takes place in New England, where Thomas and Linda launched their life-long obsession with each other. While the backwards progression is confusing at times and can necessitate some rereading, it is time well spent. The tragic relationship of these two connected souls will stick with you for days. Oprah-pick Shreve does it again with this achingly emotional novel. Stock up.- Beth Gibbs, formerly with P.L. of Charlotte & Mecklenburg Cty., NC Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From AudioFile
Thomas Janes and Linda Fallon, poets and former lovers, reunite at a writers' conference, where they discover their intense feelings remain. However, life has taken them in separate, tumultuous directions. Blair Brown's sophisticated and inviting vocal rhythms orchestrate the intensity of two lives moving through years of loss and personal challenges. This beautifully written story is perfectly revealed by way of Blair's sensitive and intuitive interpretations, which are vivid snapshots of the numerous events in these lovers' lives. Blair provides an imaginative and absorbing performance. B.J.P. © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine


From Booklist
The author of The Pilot's Wife (1998) moves the major characters in this novel back and forth in time and place, from a Toronto literary festival in the present, to their first meeting in high school, to an encounter in Kenya. In between, Thomas and Linda have both moved on, married others, had children, and become distinguished writers. More importantly, they have both endured tragedies that have etched their lives with pain. As readers ponder these events, the question becomes, Is there any satisfaction for Thomas and Linda in seeing each other again, or are the memories too heavy, too tragic? By examining the past and the present from both viewpoints, particularly Linda's, Shreve gives us a bird's-eye view into what might have been, what was, and what is. As events slowly unfold, her character's lives seem destined to intertwine. Although the ending may seem magical to some, it may be shattering to others. A worthy, readable novel that reaches its conclusion all in good time. Marlene Chamberlain
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

FROM OUR EDITORS

In The Last Time They Met, Anita Shreve, author of Fortune's Rocks and the bestselling Oprah pick The Pilot's Wife, shows how the decisions we make can affect the course of our lives. It is with mixed emotions that poet Linda Fallon greets her old lover, fellow poet Thomas Janes, when they bump into each other at a literary festival. Devastated by their breakup years before, Janes chose this moment to reconnect and, if possible, reignite their romance.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

A man and a woman sustain a life-long passionate relationship even though they have been together only three times.

At a literary festival in Toronto, Linda Fallon encounters the man who was once at the center of her life: Thomas Janes, the famous poet. Since last seeing him, she has married, given birth, and been widowed. Thomas' appearance rocks Linda, raises questions she had long abandoned, and inspires new dreams.

The Last Time They Met moves backward to explore Linda's life years earlier, at age 26, when an affair with Thomas shattered her life, and at age 17, when they first met.

In this mesmerizing novel, Anita Shreve, author of the international bestseller The Pilot's Wife, examines the resilience of emotion and the extraordinary repercussions a single choice, even a single word, can have over a lifetime.

SYNOPSIS

In this mesmerizing novel, Anita Shreve, author of the international bestseller The Pilot's Wife, Shreve examines the resilience of emotion and the extraordinary repercussions a single choice, even a single word, can have over a lifetime.

FROM THE CRITICS

Chicago Tribune

...a flat-out, can't-put-it-down pageturner...a riveting story that teases and confounds...

USA Today

Shreve's cleverly designed act of prestidigitation is dazzling.

Publishers Weekly

The latest work by this versatile novelist may be her most mature to date...demonstrates new subtleties...Shreve's compassionate view of human frailties...is at its most affecting here, as she meticulously interweaves past and present with total credibility.

Newsday

...a fluid weave of past and present, subtly mounting suspense, an unabashed insistence on the primacy of love.

People