The Last Summer

Wild Isle, Book 1

By: Karen Swan

Narrated by: Katie Leung

Length: 14 hrs and 7 mins

Publisher's summary

Opposites attract in this epic and spellbinding novel, which transports us from the untamed beauty of St Kilda to the glamour and intrigues of high society in the 1930s. The Last Summer is the first book in The Wild Isle series by Sunday Times bestseller Karen Swan, inspired by the true history of St Kilda and its small island community.

Summer on St Kilda – a wild, remote Scottish island.

Two strangers from drastically different worlds meet . . .

Wild-spirited Effie Gillies has lived all her life on the small island of St Kilda but when Lord Sholto, heir to the Earl of Dumfries, visits, the attraction between them is instant. For one glorious week she guides the handsome young visitor around the isle, falling in love for the first time – until a storm hits and her world falls apart.

Three months later, St Kilda falls silent as the islanders are evacuated for a better life on the mainland. With her friends and family scattered, Effie is surprised to be offered a position working on the Earl’s estate. Sholto is back in her life but their differences now seem insurmountable, even as the simmering tension between them grows. And when a shocking discovery is made back on St Kilda, all her dreams for this bright new life are threatened by the dark secrets Effie and her friends thought they had left behind.

©2022 Karen Swan (P)2022 Macmillan Publishers International Limited

Critic reviews

"The Last Summer is meticulously researched and beautifully told...a wonderfully satisfying read: love, passion, drama, violence, menace and peril, and characters you fall in love with... Happily, this is the start of a series so your longing for more will be fulfilled." (Santa Montefiore)

"The most exciting, enchanting and evocative story of forbidden love I’ve ever read. I truly loved it and am waiting feverishly for the second instalment." (Cathy Bramley, author of The Summer That Changed Us)

"Powerful writing and a wonderful premise make this a novel you’ll simultaneously want to savour and race through. I loved it and can’t wait for the next in the series!" (Jill Mansell, author of And Now You're Back)

Good story with great narration

Took me around an hour to get used to Scottish accent. Beautifully narrated though.
Quite slow start of the story, more and more enjoyable later.

Fantastic story

Loved this book!
It has been a while since I could say that.
I cannot wait for book 2…..a long wait!
First book I’ve read/listened to by this author & I will definitely be looking at her other books ❤️

Surprising

Took time to get used to the Scottish accent. But I hope there will be a sequel as end left you hanging, it is mainly a grim story based on fact and I cried buckets re the evacuation from the island though I had to keep reading. Not her usual style.

A moving story in beautiful St Kilda

In this new novel, Karen Swan is taking us to St Kilda in that last summer before the evacuation of the Island in 1930.
Effie Gillies has lived there all her life, working hard to support herself and her dad. Because her brother died and her father is getting older, she has to take on the chores they would have normally done and she becomes a very independent, wild and free spirited young woman. Shortly before the evacuation, she guides one of the visitors to the Island, the Earl of Dumfries, and her son Sholto for a birding tour. There is instant connection but they are from such different worlds. She is pursued by the unpleasant factor Matthieson and Sholto goes back to Scotland. The evacuation brings Effie and her father to Scotland and the employ of the Earl of Dumfries. Effie has one foot in the past and her eyes set on the future. Where will her new life take her?
This well researched story gives us a glimpse of the life on St Kilda in 1930. An island inhabited by 36 people who were still living in the old ways. Fetching eggs, birds and puffins to feed themselves, having very little material comfort and very isolated. The visit of tourists like the Earl of Dumfries gave the St Kildans an idea that they could have a better life and they decided to ask for their evacuation. But their new lives were not simple either. The story is full of really strong and interesting characters. St Kilda is beautifully depicted in its roughness and natural beauty, the contrast of the love St Kildans have for it and the wish they have to leave it because their life is so harsh there. The story also illustrates the strength they draw from their simple and mindful life.
I was totally absorbed in this novel and felt sad when the last page came a little abruptly. I was not ready for the end and I felt there were still so many questions left hanging. And then, I learned that this is the first novel of a series. I cannot wait now to read the next ones.
A very good novel and enjoyable read.

The audiobook is excellent. The story is narrated with an accent that brings it really to life. It is read at a good pace, with a pleasant voice that clearly switches between the characters. The narration really made me feel part of this group of people and it was very immersive.

Fabulous story

loved it, loved the story and the narrator thoroughly enjoyable and enthralling to listen

Last Summer

I love Karen Swan stories so decided to buy this audio even though the story did not appeal to me. As other reviews mention, it is a very slow starter and the accent took a while to get used to. However, I absolutely fell in love with the characters and beautiful descriptions of the isle. I did not want it to end.

Best story by Karen Swan so far

I loved this story as the subject matter was very different to anything I’ve previously read and I particularly enjoyed the history and traditions associated with St Kilda,
Quite a few years ago I was due to crew on a boat to St Kilda but the weather conditions were against us so never got there but felt through this story that I had Iived and experienced a little of island life with this wonderful read.
The narration was spot on and could feel the joys, angst and all emotions through the wonderful Scottish narration. Thank you so much for the many hours of enjoyment - I admit I didn’t want it to end!

Loved it

I throughly enjoyed this book, the storyline was gripping and it was completely brought to life by the narrator. I have been plugged into my headphones for the last 3 days.

Absolutely loved this!

Karen Swan's books keep getting better and better, this is the best so far. Cannot wait for the next one.

Lovely to hear a real Scottish accent narrate.

Great listen, great narrator

story was sometimes a bit long winded, however still a great storyline with a cliffhanger finish, and I will for sure be listening to the sequel.

I hated it

I persevered for more than half way thinking it would get better. Had difficulty understanding her accent