At Last: A Novel
by Edward St. Aubyn
Buy on AmazonFriends, relatives, and foes trickle in to pay final respects to Patrick's mother, Eleanor. An American heiress, Eleanor married into the British aristocracy, giving up the grandeur of her upbringing for "good works" freely bestowed on everyone but her own son, who finds himself questioning whether his transition to a life without parents will indeed be the liberation he had so long imagined.
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"This novel is the fifth and last in the brilliant series by Edward St. Aubyn. They are all astonishing in their wit and honesty and virtuosity. As St. Aubyn moves Patrick Melrose, his main character, through life, taking him from boyhood to manhood, a lot of ground is covered, including childhood abuse and neglect, drug addiction and life with small children. At Last, in which Patrick attends his selfish and deluded mother’s funeral, is hilarious, melancholy and even, in the end, redemptive. Some books from December 2012 were published too late to make it on last year’s roundups; they were considered as candidates this year."
NPR Books We Love — 2013 · apps.npr.org