On the Occasion of My Last Afternoon

by Kaye Gibbons

Sprawling in its scope but heartbreakingly exact in its depiction of a family torn apart, On the Occasion of My Last Afternoon is a magnificent novel in the great Southern tradition. In the year 1900--on the afternoon she suspects might be the last of her long, eventful life--Emma Garnet Tate Lowell sets down on paper what came before, determined to make an honest account of it. Born to privilege on a James River plantation, she grew up determined to escape the domination of her bullying, self-made father, Samuel P. Tate, and ultimately seceded from his control to marry Quincy Lowell, a surgeon and member of the distinguished Boston family. But then came the Civil War. Working alongside Quincy, assisting him in the treatment of wounded soldiers, she witnessed scenes that would be engraved forever in her memory. And, before beginning the long journey of her own reconstruction, she must face the shame of her relationship to her "servants" and learn the terrible secret that shaped her father's life.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Civil War, Southern, Historical, Book Club, Novels

273 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1998

About the author

Kaye Gibbons is an American novelist. Her first novel, Ellen Foster (1987), received the Sue Kaufman Prize for First Fiction from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, a Special Citation from the Ernest Hemingway Foundation and the Louis D. Rubin, Jr. Prize in Creative Writing from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Gibbons is a member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers and two of her books, Ellen Foster and A Virtuous Woman, were selected for Oprah's Book Club in 1998.
Gibbons was born in Nash County, North Carolina, and went to Rocky Mount Senior High School. She attended North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, studying American and English literature. She has three daughters.
Gibbons has bipolar disorder and notes that she is extremely creative during her manic phases, in which she believes that everything is instrumented by a "real magic". Ellen Foster was written during one such phase.
On November 2, 2008, Gibbons was arrested on prescription drug fraud charges. According to authorities, she was taken into custody while trying to pick up a fraudulent prescription for the painkiller hydrocodone. She was sentenced to a 90-day suspended sentence, 2 years probation, and a $300 fine.

Reviews

[Dennis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a story told in vignettes and memories of episodes of the protagonist's life and I really fell in love with the wistful memories of what was and what could have been, a dreamily-romantic, melancholy journey through time. Who hasn't indulged themselves in something like this? Life, even as you leave it, leaves a lot of loose ends unresolved and questions unanswered but all you can do is love, through all the other crap that life, history and your frigging family throw at you.

(12 / 2020 - I'd completely forgotten reading this book until someone liked my review. This is in the popular category of "old people reaching the end of their lives and looking back." What particularly interested me here was that I hadn't realized that I'd read a book by Kaye Gibbons when I have her most popular novel, "Ellen Foster," cued up and ready to read. Kaye Gibbons comes under the category of "whatever happened to..." Well, she's bi-polar and admits to only writing well when she's on a euphoric high. She had some legal problems for trying to buy prescription drugs with a false prescription, if I remember and after a prolific start, has't published since 2005. Hopefully, one day, she's fine now and maybe she'll be back if she can find the right combination.)

[Sally · Rating 4 out of 5]

My heart is heavy upon finishing this book, but more from solemnity than sorrow. Reviewing a lifetime will do that to you, even if it isn't your own life being reviewed. The protagonist is an old woman in the South, looking back over her many years and recounting her memories. While this book is powerful for many reasons (a consideration of race relations in the antebellum South, of how social hierarchy can bring out the worst in some people, of the deprivation and difficulty of the Civil War on civilians), the most wonderful aspect is the lovely writing style. Here, the narrator describes the post-war climate: "My home is adrift now amongst vengeful men who think that the only way to make the South part of the Union again is to tear it completely apart, foundation and all, especially the foundation, and build it back up while beating it into submission. You can't accomplish both ends at once." The whole book is written in such beautiful, thoughtful words.

[Julie · Rating 2 out of 5]

We read this one for book club and everyone was excited because they have really liked the author in the past. I found the book to have a very strange style of writing. It was very unclear… sort of a cross between stream of consciousness and flashback. It is about a Southern plantation girl who marries a Northern doctor and their experiences during the Civil War. Most of the story is her battle with her ignorant, self made father. I found some of the book interesting and it did get better toward the end but I didn’t like the writing style. I don’t think I would recommend this book to anyone. I would especially not encourage a high school student to read it because it was so hard to understand. Maybe a Civil War buff would enjoy the historical aspects but it was not thoroughly engaging.

[Sherri · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this book up 2nd hand. I have read Kaye's books before and I thought it sounded like an interesting story. After reading some of the reviews here I was worried but I really did enjoy this book. I always enjoy reading about people who lived through difficulties but come out better for them and I think this is one of those type books. If you want everything to be sunshine and roses then do not read this book. The graphic descriptions of the civil war experience could also bother some but I felt it gave a good feeling of what life was like for those living near the fighting. If I learn something new or come to a better understanding of something then I feel the book was worth at least a 3. If I kept wanting to find time to read it gets a 4. I reserve 5's for books that I will never forget and this wasn't quite that inspiring but still worth my time.

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first Kaye Gibbons novel I have read. I found the narration of human complexity with a Father that embodied all that was wrong with the South and a husband who eschewed all that was right with the North to whet my appetite to check other novels that she has written - don't authors do their best story in a first novel rather than this, her sixth? Gibbons tells the heroine, Emma Garnet's, well heeled saga as an aged and mellow woman. Her childhood, marriage, and the Civil War plus her love for blacks and whites from the Flats are told with joy and pain. A good read.

[Karen Marcum · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

On the Occasion of My Last Afternoon has sat on my to-read pile for a while. Our library has an adult summer reading program, and one of the "rewards" we can earn is a free book. A summer or so ago, I was browsing the offerings and not finding anything that really rang my bell. Daughter #1 came across this one, suggested it might be good, and handed it to me. Just recently I did read it, and I'm glad I did. I found it to be wonderful!

As the book opens, our narrator, Emma, is a child who is traumatized by her father's assertion that he did not kill one of the family's slaves who just died on their southern plantation. But he did kill him, and that's just one of the hardships he causes his family. We learn later the reasons why he might have been such a ... well, such a big jerk, but still -- he is the "bad guy" throughout the book.

Emma's mother, on the other hand, is a wonderful influence who keeps herself on the down-low so as to survive life with her husband. She minimizes her own struggles: "When daughters are on the way from home, be it for the afternoon or for a lifetime, a loving mother will disguise her agony with trifles."

Happily, Emma marries Quincy, a guy who seems almost too good to be true. He loves talking with Emma and hearing her thoughts on issues. "Go out and be what you are. I'll be watching from the window. I love watching you. I love my life with you." Wow -- good to know such men exist (well, maybe. This book is fiction!).

Emma's life, like most of ours, is filled with struggles. Besides her overbearing father, she suffers the loss of her closest friend, her oldest brother. He dies young and in a tragic way. "Without my brother, I would not have known to use books as a haven, a place to go when pain has invaded my citadel."

The book covers Emma's entire life, part of which encompasses the Civil War. Husband Quincy is a doctor, and the family tends to many horrifically-wounded soldiers. They have three daughters and Emma is sorry for the years that the war robs of them as a family. "We knew the sort of family we wanted to have, and so we spent much time and will and care raising the girls to be true to their hearts." I like that and can relate to it.

Emma writes this book on what is presumably her final afternoon (as the title suggests), in 1900. The title is really the only thing I don't like about the book; it's really a small thing in the scope of the book. The writing style is literary and lovely. Author Kaye Gibbons did a wonderful job creating a world and vivid characters here. Recommended!

[Martha · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting read. The premise is a woman who is about to die is writing down what happened in her life as it comes to her. In that respect, this is a brilliant book. As you're reading it, it is very much the flow and ebb of the disordered thoughts of memory that hold a common thread and do tell the story, in a round about way. Personally, I wasn't the greatest fan of a book written this way (thus the rating). It didn't feel quite like a polished finished book; but that was also it's purpose! So I am caught: between the beauty of an accomplished purpose and the way that it just isn't quite my cup of tea.
The subject matter is a difficult subject to write about. I do think though that there was enough horror in the base subject of the Civil War that a specific detail of her father's past wasn't needed. I suppose I didn't like it because it seemed to want to more symapthetically explain her father's horrible and terrible attitude and actions. To me, the part of his past that was revealed early on in the book already accomplished this and this new detail, saved til almost the very end, was just unnecessary. Well, that is my problem and should not sway any possible readers of this review from reading this book.
This heroine is beautiful and worth the read to get to know. I would encourage you to read this just to meet her. You won't regret making her acquaintance.

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting and realistic quick read, but really sad. I think every single character died, and died painfully, except the protagonist (who is in her last afternoon).

I thought it was interesting how the protagonist seems so competent, but then feels totally helpless without her slaves, especially Clarice. She finds it very hard to learn to cook, remember to eat, manage the house, etc. without a slave. People today go through this struggle on a daily basis, but it's taken for granted that you manage it all, so it makes me feel better that any single person now can accomplish tasks that most civil war women had a ton of constant help with.

[Cynthia Egbert · Rating 3 out of 5]

As usual, Kaye Gibbons writing was beautiful but I think I need to put aside books about war for a time. This was just too dark and hopeless for my taste. I do have a few quotes that I must share.

"Children see into the dark recesses of the soul. They are rarely fooled, seldom duped save at rummy and shell games."

"Without my brother, I would not have known to use books as a haven, a place to go when pain has invaded my citadel."

"Horace spoke that the end of literature is to instruct the mind and delight the spirit - my brother left my mind to receive bith initiatives in full measure."

[Susan Keene · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kaye Gibbons creates this piece of historical fiction that tells the story of the Tate family, who due to a privileged background live on a thriving plantation in the South. Of the six children born to the Tate family, Emma Garnet is the oldest of the six, and this is her story. Emma was a young woman of means , but she was not the daughter her father had wished for. Nor were any of her younger siblings. Much to her father’s disappointment, she is a caring young woman who realizes from early on that their prosperity is due to the slave population controlled by her father on their land. Her mother, unlike her father manages to see the children are educated and thoughtful individuals. What happens in Emma’s life is a major disappointment to her father, as she meets and marries an educated young man from Boston. It is the eve of the Civil War, and she and her husband, Quincy, move to Raleigh NC, which suits her father just fine as Quincy is totally opposed to his view of slavery and the impending war. Emma’s husband is a caring man and has made a career for himself as a surgeon. Emma’s life takes a turn when she learns to assist her husband in working with the wounded and dying soldiers, be they from the North or the South. The lives of her siblings all take their own paths in life, as do the lives of some of the slaves. I leave those revelations for the reader to discover. The author does a splendid job of taking the reader from the beginning to the end of these characters significance in Emma’s life, through Emma sharing her own story. There was joy and sadness, there was spite and goodwill, there was hateful anger and empathetic care, there was birth and death; and lastly, there was love and understanding. I had a difficult time getting in to this book, but it wasn’t long, as the story progressed, that all changed for me. I highly recommend.

[Kristine Morris · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was just okay. I will say that all my criticisms of the book are about things that are perhaps intentional by the author. The timeline was very difficult to follow at times. Not sure if it was purposely structured this way, since the character is sort of (but not really) retelling the story on her last day. It doesn't feel like the occasion of her last afternoon because the book rarely focuses on the present day - it's almost a bit of afterthought at the end or beginning of the chapter. You have no sense of who the character is today. Again, maybe this was intentional since she lives her life in the past. The style of the writing is very ephemeral and in a way I guess it works... it does feel like someone is telling a story about things and people that happened long ago and her memory focuses only on what she remembers....so it feels distant, loose and admitedly unanimated. Near the end, she does remind us, that even though she was educated and opinionated she was typical of other wealthy woman of her time - totally dependent on everyone around her (she says she was unable to find her way to the hospital on her own one day - to which she had been chauffered to for years). And that reminder puts some of this novel in context.

[Francie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a 3 at the beginning and a 4 at the end -- so a solid 3.5 stars. Kaye Gibbons knows how to use words. And the premise of an elderly woman remembering her life, telling her story, on the occasion of her last afternoon gives a feeling of reconciliation or perhaps acceptance of what was in many ways a beautiful, difficult life. And isn't that what life is like for all of us -- there are always going to be difficulties, but if we are lucky enough to see it, there will also be beauty. This book is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit, the power of love, and the joy of positive uplifting relationships. All of which are displayed in a contrasting backdrop of a traumatic childhood, and the horrors of a civil war era hospital. It's not a cheery read at all, but through all the grimness was a feeling of hope and an illustration of a life of integrity -- not perfection, but of people trying their best with the cards they have been dealt.

[Mandy Keim · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a fictional autobiography of a southern woman, growing up on a plantation before the Civil War, and her marriage to a Yankee Doctor. Often, when reading old books, I find myself confused about why a character is so upset, or what on earth they are talking about, simply because the language and culture of the era in which it was written is so different from my own. This book succeeded (sometimes) in making me feel that way, which was very appropriate considering its antebellum voice. I even had to google a couple of things to figure out what she was talking about. On the other hand, it also frequently felt self-indulgent, as our heroine was a bit too capable, a bit too wealthy, a bit too lucky, a bit too removed from her own culture. It seemed as though the main character should not have been able to have the foresight that she did. For a southern woman of the era to have such progressive views on slavery, marriage, domestic violence, social justice and war-time economics would have taken a truly visionary person. Yet, this same character "forgot" to rescue her beloved mother (as promised) from her hellish marriage for a dozen years, simply because she was too happy to think about it??
All in all, an engaging book, but it was difficult to suspend disbelief.

[Angie Gazdziak · Rating 1 out of 5]

I tried, I really tried with this one. I love Kaye Gibbons, and I thought this might merit a re-read after a few years away. Honestly? It doesn't. It reads like a fifth-grade understanding of the Civil War. The narrator and her husband are 20th century profiles in a 19th century world, which makes for some confusing character development.

The novel opens with a murder, and there's no payoff. It serves only to shock you into reading further, and ultimately, the murderer doesn't grow or change, there's no explanation for it other than, "he felt like it." As for the remainder of the novel, there's no denouement. Nothing that redeems characters or ties the story together. It's a bit like sitting with your elderly great-aunt, listening to her tell the disjointed story of her life, only there's no affection for the narrator.

[Addie Watkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

This isn’t one of her best. I enjoyed the writing in the beginning and the ending paragraph is particularly poignant, but it is not structured well when our narrator begins recounting deaths. Also, there is one particular point that Gibbons seems to gloss over - the fact that our righteous heroine doesn’t tell her servants they are free. It is dealt with in too quick a fashion and it does not fit well with a character that has presented herself as morally superior to a fair number of other characters.

[Sonya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maybe I've just been in a literary desert recently, but I loved this book. I generally love Kaye Gibbons and this story was beautifully written. This is a story of one woman's life from childhood, through the Civil War, and beyond. The author draws you in with beauty, brutality, heartache and the unyielding love Emma Garnet has for her family. I rarely re-read a book, but I could see myself picking this up again in a few years. I am definitely motivated to read more of Gibbons' work.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was Gibbon's first historical fiction about the South during the Civil War. The story, told by a 70-year-old woman looking back at herself when she was a girl of 12, living on a plantation ruled by her bitterly angry father. It starts out when he "accidently" kills one of his slaves in anger. Short and poignant.

[Book Concierge · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gibbons grabs you at the first sentence: "I did not mean to kill the nigger!"
Here she tells the tale of the daughter of a plantation owner from the Civil war to early 20th century.

Gibbons captures the reader, who lets go ever so reluctantly at the end of each novel. Her writing is to be treasured. Read ALL you can of her!

[Trudy Ackerblade · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to my sister, who reminded me about On the Occasion of my Last Afternoon, which led me to read it a second time. This book is a treasure as is Kaye Gibbons. I may be re-reading more of her books.

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my top 10 favorite books! Following a second read…still five stars and in my top 10!

[Regina Belmer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. The characters were well developed, and there were some insights into their lives that added greatly to the story. For example, finding out the reason that the father is such a violent man is that he was forced by his violent father to murder his mother as a child. Obvious other examples are the insights into racism and how slavery was such a norm it was considered odd to think about or care for black people in any way - they were simply property. To have a main character (and her brother, who she tragically lost after he was sent away by the violent father) care for, have empathy for, and even admire the black community and the slaves they grew up with provides a unique perspective, as she can see from the inside out the violence and racism around her. The slave characters in the book are presented with pride, and there is even some insight into slaves owning slaves, which is a seldom talked about subject.

I had an array of emotions listening to this book, from anger to sadness to joy, and I would recommend others read it.

[Kathie Kuehl · Rating 4 out of 5]

The central character in this book is Emma Tate Lowell whose life story is told in the pages.of this book. The book is set in the South in the years before, during and after the Civil War. Emma lives a privileged life on the her family’s plantation; however her father, Samuel Tate, is an overbearing, obnoxious and mean man. His horrible personality is the exact opposite of that of the man Emma married and deeply loved - Dr. Quincy Lowell. Together, they worked hard attending to the wounded during the Civil War. Emma also had the responsibility of running her household and parenting her daughters by herself because her husband was constantly needed at the hospital. This book gives the reader an excellent view of how difficult life was in the south during the Civil War era. Emma faced almost overwhelming suffering and struggles during her life but she managed to survive; strengthend always by the love she and her husband shared. To me, the text/writing style was somewhat stiff; very unlike the other books I have read by Kaye Gibbons.

[Kim R. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a bit difficult to read at first until you get into the rhythm of the writing style. Time lines were hard to contain, but soon became more in line. The father character was abusive and it annoyed me that the rest of the family put up with his rants and ravings. The civil war narrative was interesting and "exhausted" me reading it. I felt like I was there with all the blood, disease and death.
I had to keep reminding myself that this was Emma reminiscing about her last day alive. I thought it was a unique way to present the story, but I kept forgetting this form, and just thought it was a "story" and not a "narrative."
I would recommend this book if you like southern civil war stories complete with North/South rivalries, slave issues, downtrodden people and those with money to help them.

[Debra · Rating 4 out of 5]

"If we could not escape from horror into the realm of the bizarre, we would drown."

Gibbons' narrator, Emma Garnet, could not escape the realm of horror. Her harsh upbringing in the years prior to the Civil War were presided over by her tyrant and irrational father. She escapes by marrying her soul mate, a Northern educated doctor.

She sees those she loves most taken by death or war or both.

Ultimately, she does triumph by focusing on her good works.

Sometimes I felt that Emma was a bit insipid in her narration but you hear and see her perspective change, especially as she spends her final days writing and continuing her philanthropic work from her desk.

I'm not sure this is the classic that I was lead to believe, but I would recommend it to others.

[Sarah Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

First-person narrative of pre civil war to reconstruction of a woman who survives a dreadful father who turns out to have had a much crueler father himself, as is sometimes the case. She escapes the house at eighteen by marrying an excellent northern doctor who chooses to work in the south. They love each other very much, and work together through intense hardship throughout the war. The woman who holds her up, a free Black woman, dies in her sixties of pneumonia, revealing to the other three house servants who thought she owned them (this lie having been something to secure the white peoples' social comfort more than anything else) that they had indeed been free all along. It does not make them feel happy.

[Ginny Thurston · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a beautifully-written and well-researched book; the author has an exquisite style of writing, and her descriptions are realistic and elegant at the same time. That said, she does not delve enough into the inner workings of many of her most interesting characters...only her wounded and disgusting father. The themes are powerful, and she strips away any glamour that one would associate with war...especially our very uncivil Civil War. The stream of consciousness style and flashback point of view took away much of the immediacy for me, but it was well worth the effort to get to the poignant ending.

[Annie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book affected me more than I expected it to. I think because of this summer of Black Lives Matter it was especially meaningful. This is the history of the South before, during and after the Civil War and the horrific story of enslavement that was the foundation of the wealth of the south. The narrator, now an old woman at the end of her long life, looks back with clear and honest eyes at her life and the cruelty of slavery. Ironically, the most important person in her life, besides her beloved mother and husband, is the slave who took care of her, a privileged white woman in the South. Immensely readable and well worth the effort.

[Janet Chapman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing that a novel set in the mid 1800s can be so apropos to the times we live in today. Gibbons heroine, Emma Lowell, and Clarice, the free Negro woman who works for the family, are both shining examples of the kind of people who could make a difference in race relations today. The insights into day to day life of the time period and varied consciences of the characters reveals a South that is not that characteristically portrayed in romantic antebellum times. The ugly side of life in the south is not hidden, nor are the efforts of virtuous southerners who see the futility of slavery and war. This is a frank revelation that gives us heroines well worth emulating.

[Cheryl Licata · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 rating U. S. history textbooks recount the stories of the men during the Civil War, but what about the women? This historical novel, written in the first person by fictional Emma, tells the story of slavery as explained to her by Clarice one of Emma's prosperous family's servants. Emma married Dr Lowell, from Boston, who worked day and night to save confederate soldiers' lives at the same time personally wanting to abolish slavery. As the war and the deaths dragged on, Emma thought -- "Some days I believed things would soon return to normal and on other days I realized I had forgotten what normal was. I forgot the way to be."