The Last List of Miss Judith Kratt

by Andrea Bobotis

Some bury their secrets close to home. Others scatter them to the wind and hope they land somewhere far away.

Judith Kratt inherited all the Kratt family had to offer—the pie safe, the copper clock, the murder no one talks about. She knows it's high time to make an inventory of her household and its valuables, but she finds that cataloging the family belongings—as well as their misfortunes—won't contain her family's secrets, not when her wayward sister suddenly returns, determined to expose skeletons the Kratts had hoped to take to their graves.

Interweaving the present with chilling flashbacks from one fateful evening in 1929, Judith pieces together the influence of her family on their small South Carolina cotton town, learning that the devastating effects of dark family secrets can last a lifetime and beyond.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Mystery, Southern, Historical, Literary Fiction, Family

311 pages, Paperback

First published July 9, 2019

About the author

Andrea Bobotis is the author of the debut novel The Last List of Miss Judith Kratt.

Andrea enjoys visiting book clubs. To contact her, visit her website: http://www.andreabobotis.com

A native of South Carolina, Andrea holds a Ph.D. in English literature from the University of Virginia. She lives with her family in Denver, Colorado, where she teaches creative writing at Lighthouse Writers Workshop.

Reviews

[Beata · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recently I have been lucky to read debut novels that turn out to be intriguing. The Last List of Miss Judith Kratt is definitely the novel that surprised me and kept me interested not merely for the mystery unravelled by Miss Kratt as she approaches the end of her long life.
For one thing, I liked the narration which is classic-like, with reminiscences, and I liked Judith being an unreliable narrator. Besides, she knows a lot but keeps cards close to chest until the very end of the novel.
Moreover, the place itself, a small cotton town of Bound in the Deep South is a location where everybody knows each other, where everybody knows each other's secrets but doesn't reveal them until the right time comes. Bound is described wonderfully and I could actually visualize the place and learn what life what like in such places in the second decade of the 20th century and earlier. And the characters. Some of them are more likeable than others, they are well-portrayed and believable in their actions.
*Many thanks to Andrea Bobotis, Sourcebooks and Netgalley for providing me with arc in exchange for my honest review.*
This was my third Buddy Read with my GR Friend Peter. So far, we have been extremely fortunate with the books we read, and I hope it stays this way 😊 Peter is extremely patient and understanding, and asks questions that add to the pleasure of reading. Thanks, Peter! His review gives an excellent insight into this book I highly recommend:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Angela M · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Windsor chair
Wooden spinning wheel
Mahogany secretary
R.S. Prussia vase
Pie safe —Grandmother DeLour’s Butler’s tray (silver plated) Amsterdam School copper
mantel clock
Hamilton drafting table
Letter opener (cut glass)”

Things are just things - aren’t they ? It’s not that simple as 75 year old Judith Kratt begins her inventory of items of value in her house at the end of the first chapter. As the list grows it tells the story of this southern, well to do at one time, family and what happened to them in 1929 to bring them where they are in 1989. The story of what happened in 1929 unfolds in alternating narratives with the present 1989, both told by Judith, a recluse who has not left her house in 60 years. It’s the story of a southern family beset by dysfunction and secrets, a family headed by a domineering, racist father who pretty much owns the town of Bound, South Carolina, controlling the businesses and the people of the town as he struggles to control his family. It about a mother, who carries her secrets and broken heart, about the fourteen year old brother, whose murder is announced in the opening of the novel, about the sister who runs away and returns 60 years later. And of course, the enigmatic Judith and Olva, the black woman whose history is tied to the Kratt family in ways that we come to know as the story progresses, as the list grows.

I loved how the story was told right through to the end of the list. I was always captivated even as I surmised the secrets long before the ending. Recommended to those who enjoy southern lit and to those who enjoy family sagas . Kudos to Andrea Bobotis for a notable debut.

I received an advanced copy of this book from Sourcebooks Landmark through Edelweiss.

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Affirmation
To take a journey through a story enraptured by the characters and setting, to enjoy the slowly maturing and revealing threads of secrets which friends and family have held close, to witness the community dynamics across a spectrum of personalities, and to truly appreciate the slow transition towards equality between whites and blacks in society - that is the amazing experience awaiting the reader of this wonderful book.

The Last List of Miss Judith Kratt is a totally absorbing novel with such beautiful writing reminding us of the classics. The book is written from the first person perspective, with Miss Judith Kratt narrating over 2 time periods; when she was a young girl of 15 in 1929, and as an elderly lady of 75 in 1989.

Daddy Kratt is a stern man, ruthless in business and ambitious to the point where he effectively controls the town of Bound in South Carolina. He owns the cotton gins and several plantations, he built the department store that sold everything needed by the community and is a landlord with 500 acres of land. He is also that feared father and husband, as he rules his family with unquestioned authority.

As a young girl, Judith is the eldest of 3 children and works for Daddy Kratt in the Department store keeping inventory and running tours of the 4-floor department store. Judith’s brother Quincy, is the son striving to impress the domineering and powerful father. He skulks around, eavesdropping to uncover secrets or misdemeanours that can be leveraged against anyone, which he furnishes his father with. Rosemarie is two years younger than Judith, still flighty and is excused from working in the store. All three children grow up with Olva, a black girl of the same age, whom their Mama had a special fondness for.

As the older introspective woman, Judith has aged with various biased beliefs and a recognition that the family house and standing, are synonymous with her. She shares her life in the Kratt family mansion with Olva, who has remained with Judith her whole life. Judith decides to undertake an inventory of all the possessions within the house. Many of the items have deep meaning or sentimental value, and each with their own story which is told during the earlier time period and listed in the latter. This is a brilliant way to draw the two eras together and those threads that run across time bring an appealing aspect to the novel. Judith receives a postcard from Rosemarie indicating she’s coming home after 60 years away, and the old memories come flooding back.

“You see, Quincy gathered secrets, but Rosemarie’s impulse was to scatter them to the wind. And my sister believes I killed Qunicy. Well now. It was time to get my inventory underway.”

Secrets permeate every relationship, and different versions of the truth weave a complicated story that illustrates how the ambiguity of perception can underpin false incrimination and the stances people take. Even after 60 years, secrets can be exposed.

This book is an immersive literary delight. The writing is beautifully descriptive with a wonderful array of characters including, family, friends, servants, employees, business partners and town folk, all adding amazing dimensions to the characterisations and interactions. The secrets and consequences are worth waiting for, even though you may guess them -that’s not the point – the journey is the reward.

This is another Buddy Read with Beata and she used some wonderful terms describing Judith that I wish I'd thought of. You'll have to read her review to find out. I would highly recommend this book and I'd like to thank Sourcebooks Landmark and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC version in return for an honest review.

Additional Book Ratings
Cover Design: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Title: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Proofreading Success: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Quality of Book Formatting: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Book Format/Status: Kindle/ARC
Illustrations: N/A
Number of Pages: 320
Number of Chapters: 14 (approx 23 pages per chapter)

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Told from the perspective of Miss Judith, this book has the stilted tone of a proper southern lady from the first half of the 20th century. Miss Judith, age 75 years, begins an inventory of her family possessions, which brings on a flight of memories, especially back to a fateful time in 1929. The return of her sister Rosemary after 60 years also threatens to expose a number of family secrets.

It’s a beautifully written book. “She became a long, solitary coil of smoke escaping a snuffed candle.”

While I struggled to connect with Judith, I was entranced by her comments on sibling relations. The book tackles loyalty, prejudice, the struggle to survive and how what we hold dear defines us.

The book moves as slowly as the air on a languid summer day. The author does a good job of capturing the time and place. I could see what the big reveals were going to be from soon after the beginning. But that didn’t make me upset. This book wasn’t so much about the conclusion as about the journey. I truly enjoyed it. I will say it took me a while to get drawn into the book. But once it drew me in, it truly gripped me. So, if you’re waffling at the beginning, stick with it.

I recommend this to anyone who likes dark southern fiction. I was pleased to see the book is meant to include a list of discussion questions as I think this would make an excellent choice for book clubs.

My thanks to netgalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for an advance copy of this book.

[*TUDOR^QUEEN* · Rating 3 out of 5]

This work of historical fiction takes place in South Carolina during a sixty-year period (encompassing the 1920s through 1980s). Without warning, the time period weaves back and forth as the story unfolds. At the book's beginning, Judith and Olva are relaxing in their sunroom, enjoying the warmth. There is a sense of old age, and a kind of quiet, loving relationship between these two elderly women. They share a long history together. Olva is thoughtful, speaks carefully, and is always offering to do things for Judith. It slowly becomes a revelation that Olva is a woman of color. A newspaper report that Judith Kratt's only brother Quincy was murdered at the age of 14 in 1929 is the first piece of information thrust at the reader. The book will take you on a journey from the past to the present to slowly unravel the mystery of who killed Quincy, and also to uncover family secrets.

But as the book begins, Judith has decided that she wants to make an accounting of various valuables owned by the Kratt family. As each chapter ends, items are diligently listed that Judith has spoken about during those pages. When you get to the final chapter, the list will be long and complete. Judith's family home is very important to her, and these family heirlooms are treasures with stories to tell.

Daddy Kratt ran a successful cotton gin business and eventually opened the Kratt Mercantile Company, a glittering, imposing multi-floored store that even had elevators. Judith was trusted to take inventory and on opening day she took endless store visitors on tours of the facility. However, Daddy Kratt was a ruthless businessman and an abusive, cold-hearted father. Son Quincy, all of 14 years old, would gather information on various people in the (fictional) town of Bound, South Carolina to use against them in order to curry favor with his father. These would serve to improve the Kratt family's business interests by blackmailing enemies. In 1989 we know that the store did not survive, so that is another story to tell.

The book centers heavily on issues of race relations, the depressed state of a once thriving town, a disfunctional family, and closely held family secrets. The character of the murdered boy Quincy was so despicable that I was devoid of any sympathy, or even in much interest as to who killed him. Ditto for the father Daddy Kratt. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. The core relationship that appealed to me most was that of Judith and Olva, and the saving grace of these characters carried my middling interest to the book's conclusion.

Thank you to the publisher SOURCEBOOKS Landmark for providing an advance reader copy via NetGalley.

[Carolyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Miss Judith Kratt is 75 and has decided the time has come to take an inventory of her family's possessions. She lives alone with Olva, an old family maid, rattling around in the grand mansion built by her father Daddy Kratt and his money made from cotton in the South Carolina of the 1920s. In a time of segregation, lynchings, greed and corruption, Daddy Kratt ruled with an iron fist over most of the small town through his cotton empire and grand department store. Miss Judith once kept the inventory for her father's store and now with her parents and brother dead, her sister not seen since she fled her home some 60 years ago, she reflects on past events and family secrets as she lists the various items in her home.

The novel has a very authentic Southern feel and the characters feel just right. Daddy Kratt almost leaps out of the page, striding through his department store, striking fear into the hearts of all as he passes, including his children. Although Miss Judith is difficult to like at first, remote and somewhat selfish, it's easier to feel some understanding of her as she retells events from the past, particularly her friendship with Charlie, the colored mechanic at the store and as her newspaper deliveryman Marcus and his little daughter enter her current life. This is an excellent debut novel and I loved the structure of the chapters with Miss Judith's list reflecting her past life. It takes a little while to hook you in but once it does it's an engrossing tale. 4.5★

With thanks to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for a digital ARC to read.

[Zoeytron · Rating 4 out of 5]

A place for everything, and everything in its place.  It's an old proverb, and one that wears well.  It certainly reflects Miss Judith Kratt's way of thinking.  As one grows older, it is not unusual to start taking stock of your life.  Making an inventory of things, and the memories attached to them.  The evolution of objects as well as people, some of these we save, while sacrificing others.  This is Southern lit to its very core, with a backdrop of shadowy secrets meant to be kept secret.

[Cheri · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars

”My father might have been frugal with his words, but he spared no expense for this grand house. Built from sand-yellow brick, it was like the sun itself, or so Daddy Kratt made it feel, with the whole of Bound orbiting around it.”

Judith is in her mid-seventies as this begins, this story goes back and forth through time, alternating between the present year – 1989, and the past – 1929, in the small town of Bound, South Carolina, where her father once reigned, living in the once grand home that has seen better days.

In her earlier years, Judith worked in her father’s store, keeping the records of their inventory, and she begins to do the same with items in the family home, which has been home to only Judith and Olva, a woman who serves as Judith’s companion, and friend, who also helps to take care of her. Judith’s brother, Quincy, died sixty years ago, and her sister, Rosemarie ran off after his death.

And then Judith receives mail letting her know that Rosemarie is coming to visit, and Judith begins her “list,” an inventory of the items in the home which are family heirlooms, and the secrets attached to each slowly come to the surface. Family secrets, but also the secrets kept by the town, as well. Some secrets she might prefer remain buried, and some begin to haunt her – and she can’t help but be disturbed by the return of her sister, and the timing of her leaving to begin with. What does her sister want after all these years? She continues on with cataloguing all of the items. In part because she feels she will be remembered for these items, ”the mahogany secretary in the hallway, the peach R.S. Prussia vase on the mantel, my grandmother’s pie safe in the kitchen…”

”She exhaled. ‘Memory and history are bound up with one another. Where does one end and the other begin?’”

”’It has always seemed to me that the more we touch something, the more we draw it up into ourselves, so that when that thing goes away, it is still within reach, its traces lingering on our fingertips.’”

Memories, families, racial division and love are the primary themes in this story, which is a very slow moving story, and it took me too long to really feel invested in this story, chasing different memories over time – but I have to say that the ending wrapped everything up so that most of my initial hopes weren’t completely dashed – just a bit diminished. The writing is occasionally lovely, and the full story behind all of the hidden whispers from years past eventually comes to light, which provided an almost perfect ending for this story.


Pub Date: 09 Jul 2019

Many thanks for the ARC provided by Sourcebooks Landmark

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story is an emotionally unsettling tale that gradually builds an undercurrent of menace beneath a layer of beguiling Southern gentility. What an inspiring contrast!

The setting is the small Southern town of Bound, South Carolina during a timeline set between 1929 and 1989. Judith Kratt, now in her 70s decides to inventory her many heirlooms, which triggers a host of ugly truths from her past, including criminal activity, bigotry and racism, and even murder.

Andrea Bobitis’s debut novel was an accomplished and bittersweet tale with a rich cast of characters. It’s a compulsively readable story full of revelations of secrets and lies that reveal the murky and complicated human dimension of slavery’s legacy and racism that festers even decades later.

I greatly enjoyed and highly recommend this thought-provoking novel!

My thanks to Sourcebooks Landmark through Goodreads Book Giveaway for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Sandysbookaday (taking a step back for a while) · Rating 4 out of 5]

EXCERPT: I examined the postcard. Perhaps I thought slipping it in the draw would forestall its news. Or prevent Olva from seeing the connection between it and my new need for an inventory. More than anyone, she should understand the necessity of chronicling our family's history. It is prudent, after all, to keep a record of how one sees things, especially when others perceive matters so differently. On the desk is a letter opener made of cut glass that we played with as children; we marveled at how, held to the window, it produced a different color for each of us. And isn't that how memory works too?

I studied the postcard again. Addressed to me, it pictured a majestic building. The architecture looked Greek revival. The caption across the top of the postcard read 'Montgomery, Alabama' and across the bottom 'The First Capital of the Confederate of the United States 1861.' The whole bottom line had been crossed through with a red ballpoint, as though history could be changed with the stroke of a pen.

'Olva -'

But she was gone. I flipped over the postcard, which was unsigned. But I had known from the moment I saw it. It was unmistakably my sister's hand, a muddle of agitated letters. The message had been scrawled off, with the last word sitting a bit apart from the others, as if she had been in the process of getting up from her chair when she wrote it. 'Sister, I am coming home.'

I stood with the postcard held aloft in my hand, as if aiming it at something. Or someone. It is important to know that Rosemarie has never been bound by any sense of responsibility to our family. You see, Quincy gathered secrets, but Rosemarie's impulse was to scatter them to the wind. And m sister believes I killed Quincy.

ABOUT THIS BOOK: Some bury their secrets close to home. Others scatter them to the wind and hope they land somewhere far away.

Judith Kratt inherited all the Kratt family had to offer—the pie safe, the copper clock, the murder no one talks about. She knows it's high time to make an inventory of her household and its valuables, but she finds that cataloging the family belongings—as well as their misfortunes—won't contain her family's secrets, not when her wayward sister suddenly returns, determined to expose skeletons the Kratts had hoped to take to their graves.

Interweaving the present with chilling flashbacks from one fateful evening in 1929, Judith pieces together the influence of her family on their small South Carolina cotton town, learning that the devastating effects of dark family secrets can last a lifetime and beyond.

MY THOUGHTS: This is a wonderful book, filled with an air of mystery, chronicling the days of an era we can only image, and the beginning of the move towards racial equality. It is the sort of book you should read reclined on a lounger under a tree in the heat of summer with an iced tea at hand. It is deliciously and darkly southern to its last full stop.

The characters are richly portrayed, and equally as richly described. 'He was a boorish man whose two storied face had extra square footage on his forehead - square footage that, based on his ruthlessness in all business matters, he would probably be willing to sell off in hard times.'

While I found the main character, Judith, hard to relate to (she is very 'buttoned-up'), I could sympathise with her. She has tried to hang on to her way of life in a changing world, and succeeded up to a point, aided and abetted by her faithful companion Olva. That point is the reappearance of her younger sister Rosemarie, who Judith believes to have spent her life fleeing from things, and whom she has not seen since the death of their brother Quincy.

The Last List of Miss Judith Kratt is an absorbing read. It is a cinematic read. It is atmospheric, and as delicious as a tub of your favorite ice-cream. 4.5*

THE AUTHOR: A native of South Carolina, Andrea holds a Ph.D. in English literature from the University of Virginia. She lives with her family in Denver, Colorado, where she teaches creative writing to youth at Lighthouse Writers Workshop. She also teaches yoga and is a national parks geek.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Source Books, Landmark, via Netgalley, for providing a digital ARC of The Last List of Miss Judith Kratt for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own opinions.

Please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the 'about' page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com for an explanation of my rating system.

This review and others are also published on my webpage sandysbookaday.wordpress.com

[Mackey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Being born and raised in the southern part of the US, I came to love southern literature. It has a flow and charm to it, a rhythm that is unlike any other. When it is done well you can smell the gardenias and magnolias on every page and feel the grit from the dusty Delta roads. The Last List of Miss Judith Kratt is such a novel, one that envelops you and transports you to the hot, humid backroads of the deep south complete with its oppressive heat and family turmoil.

Miss Judith wants to make a list of all that she owns before it is her "time to go." She doesn't have much; in fact, she doesn't have anything of value really except memories and stories and secrets. She would like to keep the worst of those secrets all the way to her grave but she knows that will be impossible when her sister returns home hell-bent on exposing all that she knows regardless of the cost to anyone around her.

The actual story itself is, for many of us, as old as the hills: a family that has grown apart due to a tragedy that had to be kept quiet, in this case a murder that was covered up decades before the story takes place. As Miss Judith tells her story, catalogues her belongings and her life, however, we realize that this is more than an ordinary tale, but rather one that is told beautifully, with eloquence and in a manner not unlike the great story-tellers of the past: Faulkner and Harper Lee, even a touch of Flannery O'Connor's biting wit comes through in the tapestry that Bobotis has woven together.

Don't be fooled, however. This is not just a piece of fiction, an historical account of Miss Judith's life. There is a mystery here, deep and dark, that must be resolved for all those concerned. Regardless of your genre of choice, this is a book for everyone, a classic in the making.

Thank you to #Eidleweiss, @Sourcebooks and #AndreaBobotis for my copy of this
amazing book on sale today at your favorite bookseller and Amazon

[Selena · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a free e-copy of The Last of Miss Judith Kratt by Andrea Bobotis from NetGalley for my honest review.

Miss Judith Kratt, the narrator, is an elderly woman who knows her life is coming to an end. She decides she needs to inventory the many heirlooms in her home. As she does, each item triggers a memory of her past.

The story's timeline is from the late 1920's to the late 1980's. Her family controlled the town of Bound, South Carolina. Many of the heirlooms are memories of the business her father had owned (the cotton gins, several plantations, the department store, and 500 acres of land around town). Judith speaks of her father, Daddy Kratt as a domineering man. Each item also has clues and secrets as to the past and the truth of her father's death.

Judith is the oldest of three children. Her brother, Quincy, is the town snoop. He makes sure he knows everyone's business and their secrets. Rosemary, sister, is flighty and never never let anything in their family life concern her.

One night, there is a shooting and everything changes for the Kratt family after that night. A wonderful and engaging read that will keep you reading through the night.

[Krista · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating: 4 dark, Southern stars

Andra Bobotis’ debut novel firmly caught me in its web early on, and held me there despite my struggle to leave more than once. I found this piece of Southern Fiction told in dual timelines, set in 1929 and 1989, to be dark as Southern Fiction is often wont to be. Daddy Kratt, the patriarch of the Kratt family, was a pure villain who ruled the 1929 town of Bound, SC in his cruel tight fist. Judith Kratt was Daddy Kratt’s eldest child. She tended to stay in the shadows, watching the goings-on, as a means to keep out of the way of Daddy Kratt. The middle child, and only son, Quincy perfected the art of spying. He used his gleaned information to get in Daddy Kratt’s good graces. The youngest child, Rosemarie simply flees as often as she can. The last time she fled, she left for 60 years.

I say that this is hard book read, and that I wanted to abandon the book several times because of the commonplace prejudices and class system found in both 1929, and sadly still in 1989. There were very few glimmers of hope or relief as we watch the aftermath Quincy’s killing in 1929, and see how it’s ramifications still echoed down to 1989. Judith is the narrator of the story. She has remained in the family home as the town of Bound fell further and further into almost a ghost-town status. In 1989 at the age of 75, she starts writing an inventory of the items remaining in the house. As each item is added to her list, we discover the generations of stories that are attached to it.

Judith and Olva, her African American companion, have lived on together their own in the Kratt house for many decades. Olva is a year older than Judith. They seem to have a somewhat distant relationship, but they just kept rubbing along together through the years. The groove of their lives have been firmly set. Judith relies on Olva for the day-to-day tasks that keep the household running. They have had a shared history since well before 1929.

This is a mystery about who killed Quincy. It’s a story about aging, and how family ties affect us. It also touches on the generational effects the South’s inability to come to terms with the horrendous way African Americans have been, and continue to be, sidelined, belittled, and held back economically ever since they were enslaved and brought to the United States. This is an intractable problem, and the author, with a very deft hand, did not get preachy about it. She showed, rather than told how this legacy still continues. That legacy and the cruelty of Daddy Kratt were the disturbing and moving parts of this story for me. While I wanted to look away, I just couldn’t.

While I don’t think that I actually learned any new history, the history that I was already aware of was brought to vivid life. I was touched by the empathy that I felt for many of the main characters. This book made me feel something. I didn’t always like the feelings, but the writing was outstanding and the story ensnared me. As far as I’m concerned, that is a sign of an expertly written book.

‘Thank-You’ to NetGalley; the publisher, Sourcebooks Landmark; and the author, Andrea Bobotis for providing a free e-ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Martie Nees Record · Rating 4 out of 5]

My Rating: 4 ½ out of 5
Genre: Southern Literary Fiction/Mystery
Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark
Pub. Date: July 9, 2019

This novel has such a crisp Southern voice that the reader will be surprised that the book is a debut novel. The author, Andrea Bobotis, is no stranger to good writing. She holds a Ph.D. in English literature from the University of Virginia. Her fiction has received awards from the Raymond Carver Short Story Contest and the James Jones First Novel Fellowship. The novel is based in a fictional town in South Carolina (Bobotis is a native of South Carolina) and splits its time between1989 and 1929. The author interweaves the moving timelines throughout the novel without missing a heartbeat. Miss Judith Kratt is a white woman now aged into her late seventies. She is the eldest daughter in the family. The Kratts were once the most powerful family in a cotton town that they owned. Now their once-stately home, as well as the town, is falling apart. She lives in her family home with her black companion, Olva. Judith views her relationship with Olva as part family member, part friend, and part housemaid. Judith is writing her last list, which is made up of family heirlooms. The writing can move at a slow, Southern pace, but is never boring. In the present, through Judith’s memories, we learn of her family’s dark secrets. Some you will be able to guess. Others you will not.

There are similarities in “The Last List” to the novel, “Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café.” Both books are narrated by the protagonist through the time period changes. They both explore the themes of the segregated south, family, aging, male brutality towards females, and the dehumanizing effects of racism. Still, both tales give the reader demonstrations of female strength while also managing to squeeze in some humor. Judith is a quirky one. It is fun to read how Olva, who is one year older than Judith, deals with her companion’s eccentric ways. “The Last List” is obviously racially charged. It is sad to realize that these same racial tensions are still around in the year 2019. It can make one feel weary. Still, the author does a good job of capturing the aspects of what can be called the genteel South and its sweet southern style. But make no mistake, the book is truly about the ugly truth hidden behind those grand Southern mansions. After most chapters, the inventory grows. Each listed item is cleverly written to connect to the story-line. Bobotis does an excellent job in these thoughts- provoking connections. Possibly, the author created the list to challenge the reader to examine the imprints of their own memories. And to acknowledge the unfair power that comes from the objects (or once people) that we own, begging the question: Will we ever truly live in a world of equality? The story may read slowly, but it is a page-turner.

I received this Advance Review Copy (ARC) novel from the publisher at no cost in exchange for an honest review.

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"The Last List" can be preordered on Amazon.

[Gemma · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a tough review for me to write. I'm very torn over this book.
I originally started it and couldn't get into it , I put it down for nearly a month before trying again. Once I reached around 30% an undercurrent pulled me in, ripples began to show on the surface and I felt dramas and secrets were about to break through. I was gripped , for a time. The dramas unfolded very slowly.

I wasn't invested in the characters, I wasn't rooting for any one in particular .
I felt there were many loose ends that didn't get tied and I was left with many questions .

However, the overall story line was interesting, the era and southern theme were well written and authentic.
I liked the list, the ever changing and evolving list as the memories and flashbacks came . It was an original idea and the style of writing was unique.

I think this could be a lovely book for some people.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an Arc of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

[Ankit Garg · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Last List of Miss Judith Kratt by Andrea Bobotis follows this extraordinary idea wherein the protagonist tries to make a list of family heirlooms, and in the process, reveals a story connecting those things and the lives of the characters in general. The story ends up touching a few delicate topics, including family relationships, racism, survival of the fittest, et al.

The book is a crisp read. Although detailed, the author reveals just enough chapter-after-chapter so as to maintain the suspense till the end.

There are easter eggs in the book for the readers. The protagonist mentions a lot of books throughout the story, which can then be added to the TBR as per liking.

Recommended.

Thanks to the author and the publisher for the ARC.

[Kyra Leseberg (Roots & Reads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Memory and history are bound up with one another. Where does one end and the other begin?" *

Miss Judith Kratt has spent her entire seventy five years in the small town of Bound, South Carolina.  She lives in her childhood home which was once a grand symbol of Bound's strong economy, owed largely to her father who owned the cotton gins and the general store.  Her childhood friend Olva, who was abandoned as a baby on her aunt's doorstep, lives with her.

As a child, Judith didn't understand that Daddy Kratt built his wealth on hard work and blackmail.  Her brother Quincy was his ears, collecting the secrets of everyone in town to use when it would benefit him the most.  Her sister Rosemarie was always quiet on the periphery because she realized how dangerous secrets could be.  

On a fateful night in 1929, Quincy was shot and killed.  Rosemarie left town that night and hasn't returned since.

Sixty years later, Judith has received a postcard with one sentence: Sister, I am coming home.

The postcard stirs up her memories of the year her brother died and as she looks around her home, still full of heirlooms attached with memories, Judith decides to begin an inventory of items.

"It is important to know that Rosemarie has never been bound by any sense of responsibility to our family. You see, Quincy gathered secrets, but Rosemarie's impulse was to scatter them to the wind. And my sister believes I killed Quincy. Well now. It was time to get my inventory underway." *

As Judith begins an inventory of the items and her sister Rosemarie returns after a sixty year absence, secrets of the the past are revealed that will change a family and a town forever.

The Last List of Miss Judith Kratt is a beautifully written novel that examines family secrets, memory, and love.  Judith's narration in alternating timelines is well-executed with the naivete of youth in the past and the solemn introspection that comes with age in the present.  I loved the different versions of the truth that unfolded and how each version shifted the perspective of each character involved.

This is definitely one to stack for fans of historical fiction and mystery that focuses on familial bonds and secrets!

Thanks to Sourcebooks Landmark and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.  The Last List of Miss Judith Kratt is scheduled for release on July 9, 2019.

*Quotes included are from a digital advanced reader's copy and are subject to change upon final publication.

For more reviews, visit www.rootsandreads.wordpress.com

[Tammy · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 ☆ I love a great Southern family drama. As luck would have it this is the authors first novel so of course I knew I had to read it. Two timelines with love, family, coming-of-age, adultery, racial tensions, lies, murder and cover-ups.

It’s 1989, Judith Kratt’s now seventy-five. Judith’s family had passed down priceless family heirlooms that she begins taking an inventory of. In doing so it brings back long buried memories, some very special and some painful.

Spanning the year 1929 the Kratt family were very successful in cotton and a variety of brick and mortar businesses in their small South Carolina town. On the other hand, they didn’t get there without having multiple skeletons in their closet. Everyone was fearful of their tyrant father who ran the town. And then you have their brother who could always somehow obtain the juicy secrets of everyone. Secrets his father used against his business partner and the townspeople when needed.

In 1989 family skeletons are fully revealed when Judith’s long lost sister Rosemarie arrives after leaving 50 years before (at age thirteen), the night of her brother’s death. Family friend Alva and their departed mother’s scandalous secrets sheds much light on their family’s past. And boy was it was dark!

If you enjoy good ole’ historic southern stories don’t pass this one up!

[Karen R · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Memory and history are bound up with one another. Where does one end and the other begin?”

Judith Kratt was born into wealth and privilege in the small Southern town of Bound. She is first introduced as an older woman living in her family’s crumbling 1922 home which once was the envy of her community. 67 years have passed and Judith is in the midst of a mundane task, inventorying the home’s contents and contending with the sudden appearance of her long-estranged sister, Rosemarie, “who had gone out to get some fresh air for sixty years’. Old memories bubble up, recollections of buried secrets, her tyrannical father’s rise and fall and a tragic past are unveiled. Poignant, engrossing and cleverly written. Thanks to Sourcebook Landmarks for providing the ARC.

[Davida Chazan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am trilled to give you the link to my #bookreview of this debut novel. This is a real winner and I hope that you'll take a look at this to find out why I'm giving it 5/5 stars, without any reservations! https://tcl-bookreviews.com/2019/06/2...

[Sharon Huether · Rating 5 out of 5]

A story in true Southern style.
The Kratt family were well respected in Bound, South Carolina, where the father "Daddy Kratt" was a big cotton farmer and General store owner.

The children, Judith the oldest, Quincy, the middle boy and Rosemarie the youngest.

There were secrets,service and memories, which Judith began her lists of the material items found in the house.
A very captivating story of race,loyalty, love and unforgettable events.
This is the authors debut novel. I hope she writes more books.

I won this free book from Goodreads First reads. Thank you Goodreads!!

[Donna Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

“We will choose what we take with us.”

This thunderous debut by Andrea Bobotis bears a small resemblance to the work of Elizabeth Strout and the late Harper Lee. Issues of race and menacing family secrets simmer beneath the surface of this narrative like some otherworldly being biding its time in the swamp, till at last it rises and we must look at it.

As the story commences, Judith, who is quite elderly, is ready to take inventory. Her family home, all six thousand square feet of it, is jammed full of heirlooms, and each is fraught with history. The year is 1989, but as Judith examines one heirloom and then another, she takes us back to the period just before the stock market crashes, back when she was young and her parents and brother were still alive.

I have to confess that the first time I picked up this story—free to me, thanks to Net Galley and Sourcebooks Landmark—I thought, Huh. A boring old lady and her stuff. Pub date’s a ways off, so let’s put this one on the bottom of the pile. Of course, I picked it up again later. I read a bit farther this time and found I was acutely uncomfortable; I told myself I had to read it because I had requested the galley, but then I didn’t for awhile.

But like Judith, I pride myself on being reliable, so toward the end of June I squared my shoulders and opened the book. An hour later my jaw was on the floor and my husband was avoiding me, because he knew if he got too close I would start reading out loud. If you were to show up right now I’d do the same to you. I genuinely believe this novel and the characters and social issues they’re steeped in is one for our time.

Judith is the eldest of the Kratt children; her companion, Olva, lives with her, but her status is undetermined and remains that way far into the book. Part of the time she appears to be a live-in servant, hopping up whenever Judith wants a cup of tea or a blanket; at other times the two of them sit on the porch together and watch the world go by as if they were sisters or good friends. We know that they grew up together and share a history as well as the trauma of growing up with the vicious, unpredictable Daddy Kratt, the wealthiest man in Bound at the time.

As layer after layer is peeled back, using the household treasures that are inventoried as a framework of sorts, we see the gratuitous cruelty that was part of both women’s daily existence as children. Kratt can be generous at times, and yet at others—with increasing frequency—he is vicious and sadistic. We see the responses his unpredictable fury brings out of Judith as a child, her younger brother Quincy, who’s a chip off the old block, and their younger sister, Rosemarie. Kratt can ruin someone’s entire life purely on whim and never feel the slightest regret. He likes to watch. The entire town fears him.

Now he’s gone, and here we are. Judith acknowledges that her social skills are stunted, and she never knows what to say or do to smooth a difficult situation. She was never a pretty girl, and she has never married. We can also see that she is solipsistic, insensitive to the feelings of others, and at times just straight-up mean, but she doesn’t see herself that way, because she measures herself against her late parents. Judith is nowhere near as nasty as her daddy was; she has never permitted herself to be broken by him, as her mother was. So Judith tends to let herself off the hook lightly. As she remembers back over the years the cataclysmic events that have taken place around her—or in some cases, because of her—her overall tone is self-congratulatory.
But her little sister, who is also an old lady now, returns to the family manse, and that overturns the apple cart in a big way. How dare Rosemarie run out and leave Judith to contend with that awful man but now come back to claim her birthright? Isn’t that right, Olva?

Olva just smiles.

In fact, this story is every bit as much about Olva as it is about Judith. . Every single one of these women is sitting on secrets; every one of them has a different story to tell. Every new revelation brings additional questions to mind, so that although this is not a mystery or a thriller, I cannot stand to put it down. I generally like to flop on my bed at night and read before I go to sleep, but I can’t do that with this book. I’d climb under the covers; open the book; read a little ways and then sit bolt upright. Eventually I realized that this cannot be the bedtime story. (It occurs to me just now that retelling one or another portion of this story in the voice of one of the characters not heard from would make a great creative writing assignment related to point of view.)

What Bobotis has done here is masterful. She begins with an old, wealthy white woman and yet develops her, and I cannot think of even a dozen books where that has been accomplished in a believable way in literature; once we get old, that’s pretty much who we are going to be. But the elderly Judith at the story’s end is a better person than the elderly Judith at the outset. And as if that weren’t enough, she also develops Olva, the dark-skinned elderly companion that seems to us, at the beginning, to be a live-in servant or nurse of some sort. But however circumspect Olva has been—a prerequisite for an African-American that wants to stay alive in the American South in the past and at times, maybe the present—Olva does in fact have some things to say. It is Rosemarie’s return that makes this possible.

This isn’t necessarily a fun novel to read, and yet the skill with which it is rendered is a beautiful thing in and of itself. I believed every one of these characters, those within this pathologically corrupt family and those around it. I suspect that the formidably talented Bobotis could pluck any one of these characters and create a sequel just as remarkable. This writer is going to be around for a long, long time, and as for me? I’m ready to read whatever she comes up with next.

Highly recommended.

[Marianne · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Fair to middlin’. The phrase called up a memory for me, too. Of Grandfather DeLour, Mama’s father. ‘You are only fair to middlin’,’ he had once told me solemnly as I played with my dolls on the front porch steps. ‘But your sister, she’s the finest grade there is.’ Everything in Grandfather DeLour’s life, no matter how disparate— his grandchildren, the taste of his pipe tobacco, the fitness of his horse— he assessed in the language used to grade cotton”

The Last List of Miss Judith Kratt is the first novel by American author, Andrea Bobotis. When seventy-five-year-old Miss Judith Kratt tells her coloured companion (not maid!), Olva DeLour, that she intends to make an inventory of her home in Bound, South Carolina, because it is time, several things happen: listing all the notable items in the house she has lived in all her life brings back some stirring memories; and her younger sister, Rosemarie, absent some sixty years, returns.

Back in 1929, when Miss Judith was fifteen, inventory was her main duty at the Kratt Mercantile Company (est. 1913), so this is a natural thing for her to do, and takes her back there, to the events that culminated in the shooting death of her fourteen-year-old brother, Quincy. The York Herald stated that Kratt Mercantile Company mechanic, Charlie Watson was the prime suspect for the murder but Miss Judith was there, and she knows the truth.

Not that Quincy Kratt was a sweet innocent boy. He took after his father, Daddy Kratt, a thoroughly nasty man. Even Miss Judith herself does not come across as all that likeable but perhaps the observation she makes to Olva applies to herself (and maybe Quincy too): “It is true some of these fictional heroines have challenging personalities, but defects of character are often an outcome of circumstances, are they not?”

For sixty years, Miss Judith has kept the family secrets, and now, it seems, with Rosemarie back, they are going to come out. Olva, too, feels the time has come for some revelations, but more importantly, she is determined to keep those dear to her safe.

The story is told with the tone and cadence of an imperious Southern Lady, as Miss Judith’s statements demonstrate: “Olva and I share the belief that the world reveals itself to you if you take the time to sit and wait for it. Waiting, I’ve found, is not most people’s area of expertise. Olva is a blessed aberration” and “It never ceased to astonish me that we Kratt children grew up in the same hot cocoon of childhood yet emerged as such singular organisms, barely even the same species.”

Given the era and the setting, racism is, of course, bound to rear its ugly head, although even sixty years on, the undercurrent is still there. Olva remarks “It’s a luxury to be able to write or speak in the way you want.” Bobotis has a talent for descriptive prose: “…this gave the sense of the room having been tipped on its side and shaken by a curious child.”

The narrative alternates between 1929 and 1989, with each chapter of the latter era followed by Miss Judith’s cumulative inventory list. While initially the pace is very measured, it is worth persisting for a dramatic climax involving the family’s Purdey shotgun and the heart-warming resolution. An outstanding debut novel.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the early 1900s the Kratt's were a ruling family in small town Bound, South Carolina. Daddy Kratt ruthlessly built his empire through cunning and blackmail. The children, Judith and Quincy feared their father, doing his bidding, seeking his respect and approval. The youngest, Rosemarie, quite pretty, prefered to hide away, counting on Quincy's protection.
Judith has remained in the family home in Bound, and now in her final years is making an inventory of her family's possessions. Each item holds a memory of the past and the secrets connected to them.
Alternating between the past and the present, the story reveals the consequences of a life alternating event in 1929, which affected the lives of all of the Kratt family.
Judith struggled through life, resisting letting others get too close as described in this quote: "Sometimes I felt I was two people in one body, the first reaching out for others, and the second holding back because I was no good at sustaining whatever I managed to establish, all my effort spent trying not to offend with my words, which on their way from my mind to my mouth always became sharper. It was like how the cotton gin worked, refining and refining the cotton, and the same thing was constantly happening with my thoughts, except the end product was something too stripped down, too spare for others' ears, too likely to reveal the brittle and bleached-out feeling that resided in me." Judith carried this throughout her life.
I have always been drawn to Southern fiction and this novel does justice to depicting small town life in the Carolina's. Despite all her flaws and insecurities, I came to like Judith as her story was revealed.
4.5 stars

[Penny (Literary Hoarders) · Rating 5 out of 5]

You know what, yes, I'm giving this a 5-star rating. I was immediately drawn into the story, the writing is wonderful to read - very descriptive and lyrical. An excellent debut that made for a wonderful start to my summer reading (my first completed for #20BooksofSummer). Some paths, details of the story may be easy to predict, but it was the how and the beautiful and descriptive writing and Judith's story that made this an extremely enjoyable read.

[Lindsay L · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

A promising storyline idea that failed to deliver.

A woman nearing the end of her life is determined to catalogue her families remaining fortune, while reminiscing about a past with dark, deeply buried secrets.

I enjoyed the setting of the South Carolina cotton farm in the 1920’s. I also enjoyed the aspects of the plot that revolved around the family opening up the first department store in town. I liked the overall idea behind this story and it tackled some heavy themes but unfortunately the execution fell short. I didn’t care for any of the characters which was a large issue as I wasn’t invested in any aspect of this plot. The cataloguing of family heirlooms seemed interesting at first, but it was simply of a bunch of random lists that didn’t actually push the story forward in any way.

There is an air of mystery that runs through the storyline, however, I predicted several plot points which took away any sort of element of surprise or shock, lessening my enjoyment.

Overall, this was a miss for me, but I encourage you to check out the many positive reviews!

Thank you to the publisher for my review copy!

Audio rating: 3 stars. The audio narrator was ok but didn’t enhance this story in any way. I can’t say I recommend the audio. Perhaps I would have connected more if I had read the physical copy?

[Bren fall in love with the sea.]

"I hurried to sweep the curtains closed on that window, but as I did, the darkness ran to the next window, and when I secured those curtains, it sprang to the next, always a step ahead of me."
Andrea Bobotis , The Last List of Miss Judith Kratt



I did not expect this one to be a DNF but it was. Let down. I was really looking forward to it.

I am not going to rate it but I will do a partial review explaining my reason for DNFING soon.

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not coming from the US, and never having visited the deep South I can only imagine what it must be like and what it must have been like. This book reinforces my perception and creates that atmosphere of inequality that has never gone away but manages to camouflage itself better.

This is the story of Miss Judith Kratt from childhood through to old age but alternating in time between 1929 and 1989. Judith spends her whole life with Olva, a black girl the same general age who has always been involved with the family. There are plenty of family secrets and a really brilliant one that I probably saw coming but was totally enthralled anyway.

The secrets are revealed and there are many surprises. Fabulous characters and fabulous story what's not to recommend. Loved it.

[Debi Hawkes · Rating 4 out of 5]

"It is an illusion to think siblinghood is immutable; it has cycles just like everything else."

Lovely book, finely crafted. The author, Andrea Bobotis deftly uses Judith's list of family heirlooms to demonstrate the cycles of memory, family relations and complications, the experiences of the era, and the experience of life itself.

Definitely recommend.
Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

[Giulia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was fantastic. I will read anything else written by the author, Andrea Bobotis. This book is not one you can rush through it needs to be soaked into your bones. Racially charged times of the 1920's in the South are the setting for the book and the Miss Judith in the title is the narrator of the story. She tells us about how her brother came to be shot over 50 years earlier. The other characters of Olva and Rosemarie and Quincy and the father, are not as fleshed out as Judith's but you still feel like you know them. And in the case of Quincy and the father I would not want to know them. I highly recommend to any intelligent reader who enjoys historical non fiction set in the gothic South.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for the chance to read and review.