Last Night in Montreal

By: Emily St. John Mandel

Narrated by: Alyssa Bresnahan

Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's summary

From the bestselling author of Station Eleven and Sea of Tranquility—when Lilia Albert was a child, her father appeared on the doorstep of her mother's house and took her away. Now, haunted by an inability to remember much about her early childhood, Lilia moves restlessly from city to city, abandoning lovers and eluding the private detective who has dedicated a career to following close behind.

Then comes Eli. When Lilia goes out for a paper and fails to return to their Brooklyn apartment, he follows her to Montreal, not knowing whether he wants to disappear, too, or help her find her way home. But what he discovers is a deeper mystery, one that will set past and present spinning toward collision.

Look for Emily St. John Mandel’s bestselling new novel, Sea of Tranquility!

©2016 Emily St. John Mandel (P)2016 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"Breathtaking.... Simply blew me away." (Nancy Pearl, NPR, Morning Edition)

"Emily St. John Mandel is astonishing." (Emma Straub, author of The Vacationers)

"Stunning.... A brilliant tale of desperation and identity." ( Richmond Review)

Something reslly different

I took a chance on this one and I'm glad I did. It is relaxed, has a few very interesting people and places but left me wondering just what kind of mystery it is. Crimes certainly abound....

Prose beautiful,l development, not so much.

I thought this plot had potential but it just kind of letters out into cliches without really fleshing out some of the chars Byers enough.

Strange but compelling story. Not her best novel

I have read several of Mandel's novels. This one did not live up to the quality of the others, but I just love her writing and her ability to cast a spell and a sense of mystery and danger. The story of Last Night... was far-fetched and really dragged in the last third.

too long

This one was a hard one to finish - I felt like it was one of those "meetings that could have been an emai"l. Too much time each time on the same information and overly descriptive. Yes, we get the character development and what they're going through.

beautiful writing

heard sea of tranquility was good so I started at the beginning. was not disappointed. I love her style of writing, feels poetic. flowed through this in a few days. audibly (ha that's the thing) said wow several times.

Tres bien

I have never been disappointed in a book by Ms St John Mandel. While “Station Eleven” remains my favorite, every story she tells resonates with depth. Her use of language is superb. Character development is incredible. Sense of place outstanding. Choice of narrators has been fabulous. My only regret is that I’ve read and listened to all of them, and now I have to wait.

Always a fan

This author weaves her stories carefully and the reader’s voice is respectful of it. Lilia has been traveling most of her life, Eli and Micheala never go anywhere, but their dreams embrace the world. While Christopher pursues Lilia, Micheala is at home. While Lilia leaves, Eli wonders what to do. She is the linchpin in a beautiful tragedy.

Beautiful and wicked smart, but also stupid

There’s a lot of really beautiful prose in here. Just lush, luscious stuff. And the book comes together pretty well at the end. But at the same time, the entire story hinges on the main character not having/knowing his live-in girl friend’s telephone number. Which seems super unrealistic in the time period it’s set. And that sort of thing just bugs me because it’s so distracting. Instead of listening to the story unfold, you find yourself thinking “just call her. Send her a text. Why can’t he just CALL HER!”

So, yeah, if you can get past that, there’s a lot of really lovely moments in here.

Still, and probably forever, my favorite author.

Such a beautiful work of mystery, sadness, the complexities of human nature, and the perseverance of independence.

Story and plot leaves something to be desired

I love this author, she’s a writer who enjoys prose and words and contemplation. Her characters are the most enjoyable part of her novels because they seem to have these rich inner lives and no matter what, the women she writes about are intelligent and fascinating which seems to make up for lacking storylines and plots.
However in this book I can’t say that there is enough of either well crafted characters nor a good plot line to make me want to recommend it.
There is a thrilling story here, though the book is not thrilling- and you will get answers, which is key to going through an entire journey with fictions characters and their existential woes. However we spend too much time with characters I wanted to move on from.

The narration was excellent, she knew how to flow with the pontificating prose and sometimes a good narrator makes it worth it.
If you’re in the mood for some poetic waxing on inaction and intellectual navel gazing along with some meaningless vagabond wandering then I suggest this book.