One of the joys of reading outside of your usual genre (in my case thrillers) is the unexpected surprise you can be rewarded with, of a wonderfully written book that gives you a roller coaster of an emotional read.
The Last Goodbye by Fiona Lucas was a stunning novel of loss, grief and the toll it takes to try and move forward without that person in your life. It’s New Year’s Eve and Anna calls her late husband’s phone to hear his voicemail greeting, a stranger picks up; Brody, who has inherited the old number, a friendship slowly develops and Anna grows in confidence but Brody has secrets and struggles of his own that could jeopardise the friendship.
From the beginning I was hooked; I enjoyed the writing style and was engaged totally with the plot and the characters who seemed real and who were full of interest and I really cared about them. I found it hard to put the book down as I wanted to know what happened next to the characters and looked forward to picking up where I left off.
Fiona Lucas has created a stunning novel portraying love and loss, the devastating impact on life and how people react and try to cope, which Fiona Lucas portrays very vividly and with tremendous understanding. Some of the scenes where the two main characters experience great stress in certain situations which would be seen as everyday events is so well depicted that I felt I was actually witnessing the turmoil. 
I thought that the book was very powerful, gripping and full of hope and I loved it. Reading it I cried, I had lumps in my throat, I laughed, smiled and ended up feeling I had read a wonderful novel. I am grateful to the person who said “Do you fancy reading this?” This book is deserving of the praise it has received from readers and critics.
Fiona Lucas is an award winning author of contemporary women’s fiction and has won many awards and accolades writing as Fiona Harper for over a decade.
The Last Goodbye is published by HQ Stories (Harper Collins)
The Last Goodbye by Fiona Lucas was reviewed for Books Up North by Ana Richards
Ana initially trained in textiles and worked in textile conservation, but preferring to engage with people rather than fabric she changed career into community-based roles in both private and public sector. Currently she is involved in a number of community groups as a volunteer publicity officer and also is a committee member of a couple.
Ana has been actively involved in her local book festival carrying out various roles and was thrilled to be a judge for its short story competition. She is a keen and enthusiastic reader of all genres and looks forward to getting immersed into a new and exciting world of each new book. Her interests include family and local history, art, food and a lot of reading of course!
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