Last One Home

The Mountain Novels #7

by John Ehle

Amanda and Pinckney Wright move from their small North Carolina mountain settlement to Asheville, where--years later--their three children battle to control Pinckney's life-insurance business

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction

345 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 1984

About the author

John Ehle (1925-2018) grew up the eldest of five children in the mountains of North Carolina, which would become the setting for many of his novels and several works of nonfiction. Following service in World War II, Ehle received his BA and MA at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he met the playwright Paul Green and began writing plays for the NBC radio series American Adventure. He taught at the university for ten years before joining the staff of the North Carolina governor Terry Sanford, where Ehle was a “one-man think tank,” the governor’s “idea man” from 1962 to 1964. (Sanford once said of Ehle: “If I were to write a guidebook for new governors, one of my main suggestions would be that he find a novelist and put him on his staff.”) Ehle was the author of eleven novels, seven of which constitute his celebrated Mountain Novels cycle, and six works of nonfiction. He had one daughter, actress Jennifer Ehle, with his wife Rosemary Harris, also an actress.

Reviews

[Bonnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I hated to finish this wonderful book bc it’s the last book in the series. I love his writing, his knowledge of families and his twists and turns. I took weeks to finish this book bc I didn’t want it to end.
The main character Pink is ahead of his times and progressive, Amanda his wife is not, she is backward and that causes most of the conflict. Highly recommend the entire 7 book series.

[J.M. Hushour · Rating 3 out of 5]

More like 2.5 stars. This is the seventh and final volume in Ehle's "Mountain novels" series, which tells the 150-year history of a couple of families in the western mountains of North Carolina and, later, Asheville. This one, weirdly, takes place at exactly the same time as the previous novel in the series Lion on the Hearth although not a single individual or event from that excellent story figures in here, so I'm not sure what Ehle was thinking. In some ways, this is a similar story to that novel, too, which maybe indicates Ehle was running out of steam by this point.
It has its moments, but is definitely the weakest book in the series.

[Caleb Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

In his final book (#7) of his 'Mountain Novels', Ehle unfortunately limps across the finish line. If, like me, you were drawn to Ehle's account of the western North Carolina mountain landscapes written in beautiful detail throughout early books in this series, they've vanished at this point - yet instead he trains that detailed writing on the complex relationships of family (biological and chosen) as they navigate a migration away from Mountain Life™ and get drawn in by the Capitalism abound in a growing urban center (relative to its rural surroundings) in Asheville, NC.

This final book in the series was written in 1984, over two decades since the last story of Depression-era Asheville (The Lion on the Hearth), and Ehle's writing is noticably different. Mind you, it is not bad writing by any stretch, but the presentation of the King and Wright families (joined together here by the marriage of Pink Wright and Amanda King) is devoid of the mythos that typically surrounded them in earlier novels. Though Pink still carries a bit of mythos about him, it hits different for me in Last One Home.

I've never thought it my place to demand more of another's published stories, feeling as though there was a reason why I was left wanting more, or why unanswered questions remained, but the resolution of a story across seven novels spanning over 125 years of Wrights, Kings, and Plovers...the whole thing ended as if Ehle just stopped writing mid-stream.

Maybe that was the point. Then again, the ending of the Soprano's pissed a LOT of people off, too.

[Don Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the seventh of John Ehle’s Appalachian novels which span the time from the early settlers in the mountains near Asheville, North Carolina to the early 20th century. I read the first, The Land Breakers a few years ago. I’ve enjoyed reading all seven. The novels were especially interesting to me because I have ancestors who migrated to this area before the Revolutionary War. A few years ago when I was visiting the area I met a man who knew John Ehle very well. I didn’t know much about Ehle until I read his obituary in the New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/12/ob....

The Land Breakers is available in paperback (a NYRB Classic). The other six novels are available from Press 53. He also wrote Trail of Tears: The Rise and Fall of the Cherokee Nation.

These are great American novels by a little-known but excellent writer. Highly recommended.

[Rick · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one gets a big OK. I learned of this seven book series (The Mountain Novels) a number of years ago when I was given this title - the seventh in the series. It languished on my shelf until I decided to read it without beginning at book one. I must say I am glad I didn't go out and buy the first six. The book is good, but just not my cup of tea.

Ehle writes about the North Carolina mountain people and their families, and their slow transition into the cities ... at least in this book. It was mildly interesting. His description of families, their nuances, and their inner workings was pretty spot on ... but the arc of the story just didn't engage me. It was a bit like a Seinfeld show where Jerry Seinfeld himself admits that nothing really happens. I suspect I won't try one of the earlier books.

[Press 53 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book seven of John Ehle's (Ee-Lee) seven-book Appalachian series that Ehle called his "mountain books." In Last One Home Pinkney “Pink” Wright and new bride Amanda King leave the mountains in Pink’s search for fortune in Asheville. After establishing a successful insurance business that serves mountain whites and city blacks, a stroke forces Pink to turn his business over to one of his children. Kirkus Review says, “[Ehle’s] generous novel is full of his deep knowledge of human nature, his splendid feel for time and place, his strong, quiet integrity.”

First published by Harper & Row in 1984 and reissued in 2009 by Press 53 as part of their Carolina Classics Editions imprint.

[Elizabeth Simons · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book had been on my shelf for years, and I was glad to have finally gotten around to reading it. The Appalachian region is one of the most fascinating areas of our country. Maybe the earlier books by this author deserve a look.

[Katherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another gem from John Ehle.

[Lisa Angle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn't make it to the halfway point in this one. Detailed family history, not a story.

[Darcy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like all the books in this series, I didn’t want it to end.

[Rhonda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite a yarn. Didn’t think I’d ever finish it and was relieved when one of the main characters expired.

[Betty McMahon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love reading John Ehle's novels but this one disappointed compared to the others I've read. I had a feeling reading it that he wanted to finish the series and just get it over with.