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Last Summer
It is summer in Stratford-upon-Avon. Thomas is a young theatre director at the Royal Shakespeare Company who is desperately in love with Lucy, the leading actress in a production of The Tempest. Their experiences are woven into the life of a theatre presided over by Harry, an ageing South African exile who becomes caught up in a history he sought to escape.
Hilarious and deeply affecting by turn, Thomas’s account is compelling in its lyricism, eccentricity and energetic attachment to life. Through him, we get to meet a colourful cast of characters and live through the gripping events of an ill-fated summer in Stratford.
Hilarious and deeply affecting by turn, Thomas’s account is compelling in its lyricism, eccentricity and energetic attachment to life. Through him, we get to meet a colourful cast of characters and live through the gripping events of an ill-fated summer in Stratford.
215 pages, Paperback
Published February 1, 2010
About the author
Craig Higginson
24 books44 followersCraig Higginson is an internationally acclaimed writer who lives in Johannesburg. His plays have been performed and produced at the National Theatre (London), the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Trafalgar Studios (on London’s West End), the Traverse Theatre (Edinburgh), the Stadsteater (Stockholm), Salisbury Theatre, the Citizens Theatre (Glasgow), Live Theatre (Newcastle), Next Theatre (Chicago), Theatre 503 and the Finborough Theatre (both London), the Market Theatre (Johannesburg) and several other theatres and festivals around the world.
Craig's plays include: Laughter in the Dark, Lord of the Flies, Truth in Translation (co-writer), Dream of the Dog, Ten Bush (co-writer), The Jungle Book, The Girl in the Yellow Dress, Little Foot and The Imagined Land. Novels include: The Hill, Last Summer, The Landscape Painter (UJ Main Prize winner), The Dream House (UJ Main Prize winner) and The White Room. His novels and plays have won several awards in the UK and South Africa.
Craig's plays include: Laughter in the Dark, Lord of the Flies, Truth in Translation (co-writer), Dream of the Dog, Ten Bush (co-writer), The Jungle Book, The Girl in the Yellow Dress, Little Foot and The Imagined Land. Novels include: The Hill, Last Summer, The Landscape Painter (UJ Main Prize winner), The Dream House (UJ Main Prize winner) and The White Room. His novels and plays have won several awards in the UK and South Africa.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
December 3, 2010
Craig Higginson writes in an engaging manner.
The narrator, Thomas Firth, tells the story of a summer in Stratford-upon-Avon. He is the assistant director in a production of The Tempest. The lovely self-obsessed, Lucy, plays the role of Miranda in the play. Thomas falls passionately and obsessively in love with her. He shares a house with Lucy that overlooks the river. And the ferry, with the ferryman, Kim, who steals Lucy’s heart.
Harry Greenberg, the director, is the most compelling character. He is a South African exile, whose reason for exile now seems unimportant. He has his cottage, and his dog, and memories of a love lost in Johannesburg.
Last Summer is laced with drama. The characters’ emotions are mirrored in the play that binds them together. Higginson has an artlessness so studied that it can only be contrived. In one scene, we have Lucy, full of theatrical self-importance, saying that there was nobody on the river. ‘Only the ferry operator.’ The other characters follow suit.
I should have liked this book better. Something jarred. Perhaps it was Thomas himself, so lacking in charm, and so pathetic with unrequited love. Perhaps it was his contrived opinions of what happened when he wasn’t in a scene. The only interesting thing about him was his epilepsy.
I imagine that theatre lovers will enjoy the allusions to the plays and to the legendary actors of that world. I was simply annoyed with Thomas posing as one of Shakespeare’s ghosts, reflecting on philosophical matters. This interfered with the flow of the story. Last Summer is a touch too clever at times.
The narrator, Thomas Firth, tells the story of a summer in Stratford-upon-Avon. He is the assistant director in a production of The Tempest. The lovely self-obsessed, Lucy, plays the role of Miranda in the play. Thomas falls passionately and obsessively in love with her. He shares a house with Lucy that overlooks the river. And the ferry, with the ferryman, Kim, who steals Lucy’s heart.
Harry Greenberg, the director, is the most compelling character. He is a South African exile, whose reason for exile now seems unimportant. He has his cottage, and his dog, and memories of a love lost in Johannesburg.
Last Summer is laced with drama. The characters’ emotions are mirrored in the play that binds them together. Higginson has an artlessness so studied that it can only be contrived. In one scene, we have Lucy, full of theatrical self-importance, saying that there was nobody on the river. ‘Only the ferry operator.’ The other characters follow suit.
I should have liked this book better. Something jarred. Perhaps it was Thomas himself, so lacking in charm, and so pathetic with unrequited love. Perhaps it was his contrived opinions of what happened when he wasn’t in a scene. The only interesting thing about him was his epilepsy.
I imagine that theatre lovers will enjoy the allusions to the plays and to the legendary actors of that world. I was simply annoyed with Thomas posing as one of Shakespeare’s ghosts, reflecting on philosophical matters. This interfered with the flow of the story. Last Summer is a touch too clever at times.
February 4, 2010
A wonderful story of love and tragedy. Perfectly compiled its lyricism, eccentricity and energetic attachment to life. But it seems to fall short as you come to the end. A disapointing novel but shoots through the roof with wonderful writing!
May 26, 2020
Another gem from this guy
May 11, 2010
This is a brilliant novel by one of the leading young South African playwrights. I recommend it to all range of people - not just those interested in theatre and Stratford. It's about love, the obstacles to love and the routes to it. What gets in the way of our ability to have successful relationships? This novel explores this, and many more things. A gripping story with memorable characters, written in Higginson's simple, beautiful and ironic style. Very recommended!
June 15, 2012
Wonderful.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews