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Last Movement
Helikon is a unique spa on the Greek island of Drendos, run by the enigmatic Dr. Adnan from Aiken’s earlier novel, The Embroidered Sunset. In this tranquil setting outstanding musical performances combine with soothing medical treatments offer to treat a myriad of ailments - but can they heal the past?
Stage manager ‘Mike’ Meiklejohn accompanied by her ailing mother, and successful playwright Lady Julia Saint with her amnesiac partner arrive at the luxury spa centre in the hope that their troubles will be healed – but their stay in this Greek idyll is soon shattered by two horrifying murders. As the women’s paths intertwine they plan to stage an opera performance of Hamlet, but the longer they spend at Helikon the more they learn about the secrets their loved ones are hiding from them . . .
Full of suspense and surprise Last Movement is a holiday romance with a dark edge from award winning author Joan Aiken.
Stage manager ‘Mike’ Meiklejohn accompanied by her ailing mother, and successful playwright Lady Julia Saint with her amnesiac partner arrive at the luxury spa centre in the hope that their troubles will be healed – but their stay in this Greek idyll is soon shattered by two horrifying murders. As the women’s paths intertwine they plan to stage an opera performance of Hamlet, but the longer they spend at Helikon the more they learn about the secrets their loved ones are hiding from them . . .
Full of suspense and surprise Last Movement is a holiday romance with a dark edge from award winning author Joan Aiken.
Paperback
First published January 1, 1977
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About the author
Joan Aiken
334 books607 followersJoan Aiken was a much loved English writer who received the MBE for services to Children's Literature. She was known as a writer of wild fantasy, Gothic novels and short stories.
She was born in Rye, East Sussex, into a family of writers, including her father, Conrad Aiken (who won a Pulitzer Prize for his poetry), and her sister, Jane Aiken Hodge. She worked for the United Nations Information Office during the second world war, and then as an editor and freelance on Argosy magazine before she started writing full time, mainly children's books and thrillers. For her books she received the Guardian Award (1969) and the Edgar Allan Poe Award (1972).
Her most popular series, the "Wolves Chronicles" which began with The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, was set in an elaborate alternate period of history in a Britain in which James II was never deposed in the Glorious Revolution,and so supporters of the House of Hanover continually plot to overthrow the Stuart Kings. These books also feature cockney urchin heroine Dido Twite and her adventures and travels all over the world.
Another series of children's books about Arabel and her raven Mortimer are illustrated by Quentin Blake, and have been shown on the BBC as Jackanory and drama series. Others including the much loved Necklace of Raindrops and award winning Kingdom Under the Sea are illustrated by Jan Pieńkowski.
Her many novels for adults include several that continue or complement novels by Jane Austen. These include Mansfield Revisited and Jane Fairfax.
Aiken was a lifelong fan of ghost stories. She set her adult supernatural novel The Haunting of Lamb House at Lamb House in Rye (now a National Trust property). This ghost story recounts in fictional form an alleged haunting experienced by two former residents of the house, Henry James and E. F. Benson, both of whom also wrote ghost stories. Aiken's father, Conrad Aiken, also authored a small number of notable ghost stories.
She was born in Rye, East Sussex, into a family of writers, including her father, Conrad Aiken (who won a Pulitzer Prize for his poetry), and her sister, Jane Aiken Hodge. She worked for the United Nations Information Office during the second world war, and then as an editor and freelance on Argosy magazine before she started writing full time, mainly children's books and thrillers. For her books she received the Guardian Award (1969) and the Edgar Allan Poe Award (1972).
Her most popular series, the "Wolves Chronicles" which began with The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, was set in an elaborate alternate period of history in a Britain in which James II was never deposed in the Glorious Revolution,and so supporters of the House of Hanover continually plot to overthrow the Stuart Kings. These books also feature cockney urchin heroine Dido Twite and her adventures and travels all over the world.
Another series of children's books about Arabel and her raven Mortimer are illustrated by Quentin Blake, and have been shown on the BBC as Jackanory and drama series. Others including the much loved Necklace of Raindrops and award winning Kingdom Under the Sea are illustrated by Jan Pieńkowski.
Her many novels for adults include several that continue or complement novels by Jane Austen. These include Mansfield Revisited and Jane Fairfax.
Aiken was a lifelong fan of ghost stories. She set her adult supernatural novel The Haunting of Lamb House at Lamb House in Rye (now a National Trust property). This ghost story recounts in fictional form an alleged haunting experienced by two former residents of the house, Henry James and E. F. Benson, both of whom also wrote ghost stories. Aiken's father, Conrad Aiken, also authored a small number of notable ghost stories.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 17, 2023
This novel of suspense is a little grittier than its predecessors (The Embroidered Sunset introduced Dr. Adnan; A Cluster of Separate Sparks introduced the fictional island of Dendros and its unique fictional species of butterflies). Though most people on Dendros are still nice, Mrs. Meiklejohn is holding a grudge, Kerry Farrell is a transsexual, Dikran is a terrorist, Dr. Adnan is beginning to recover from Lucy and feel attracted to young Priscilla Meiklejohn, and "Mike" ("my given name is suitable only for tombstones") is just beginning to notice these things and connect them to her sheltered schoolgirl life. There's even a scene where, although we're spared the details, we're explicitly told that Dikran and Julia are in bed (well, they're there on honeymoon after all).
The ending can be called happy, although to preserve suspense I won't say who's murdered and who's injured but going to live happily ever after. The baddies are identified and punish themselves, and Dr. Adnan gets the happy ending some readers wanted him to have in "Sunset."
The ending can be called happy, although to preserve suspense I won't say who's murdered and who's injured but going to live happily ever after. The baddies are identified and punish themselves, and Dr. Adnan gets the happy ending some readers wanted him to have in "Sunset."
June 29, 2022
Summer reading
This book is perfect summer reading. The island setting is redolent of hot dry days and evenings by the Med... It reminds me of Mary Stewart's books, suspenseful and romantic.
This book is perfect summer reading. The island setting is redolent of hot dry days and evenings by the Med... It reminds me of Mary Stewart's books, suspenseful and romantic.
March 2, 2012
Sort of a romance, but the romance didn't come into it until late. Mike Meiklejohn spent three wonderful years of her youth on Dendros island, off Greece. As an adult, she is somewhat alienated from her mother, who she feels was detached from her. Nevertheless, when her mother is injured, Mike runs to her aid, and takes her on a cruise to Dendros. There she finds out more truths about her past.
June 19, 2021
why is this rated so low? It's a fun little suspense/romance.
August 19, 2025
The usual bonkers Joan Aiken suspense in an exotic Greek island sanitorium setting. A subplot about a trans opera singer is quite sympathetic (although inevitably tragic) and moderately sensitive for the 1970s.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews