Reviews
"[A] slyly delivered version of a novel of women's self-actualization . . . Fraught relationships between mothers and daughters, grandmothers and grandchildren, and men and women are explored and detailed against the backdrop of usually perfect scenery . . . Replete with references to Greek mythology, Freed's modern retelling of a timeless tale of self-fulfillment wanders into surprising territory along the way." -- Kirkus "I devoured The Last Laugh in one delightful sitting. With fine style, a true heart, and coruscating wit, Freed simultaneously skewers and celebrates old age, friendship, family, romance, and work, and into the bargain delivers the most brilliant clich-busting riff ever written." --Ann Patty, author of Living with a Dead Language "Hilarious and wise, this sublime novel shows us how the familiar is transformed by explosive events, in a world where bonds are deepened and lifelong mistakes are redeemed. The Last Laugh is a delight." --Maria Flook, author of Mothers and Lovers and the New York Times bestseller Invisible Eden, Praise for House of Women "Reading Lynn Freed's House of Women , I was subject to feelings I remember from first reading the classics when I was young: sensations of familiarity and strangeness conjoined. Like certain classics, Freed's novel is surprising and inevitable, often in the same sentence. It illuminates and, at the same time, deepens the human mystery. I don't ask for more from a book." -Michael Cunningham, PRAISE FOR THE LAST LAUGH "Beautifully paced . . . If on it's surface The Last Laugh is a warts-and-all repudiation of the late-in-life female empowerment yarn as typified by the movie Enchanted April . . .the gimlet-eyed Freed is intent on something deeper and more unsettling . . . Freed's candor works to lift the veil off the misperception that life after 60 consists mostly of conversations about sciatica or ceaseless and slightly abject devotion to a tiny, shivery dog." --Henry Alford, The New York Times Book Review "Smart and sprightly in style . . . Hilarious . . . a Campari spritzer of a novel: bubbly and colorful, but with a underlying note of bitterness to add satisfying complexity." --Maureen Corrigan, NPR "Fast-moving and laced with salty wit, this is a smart, funny summer read" -- People "Superb . . . Freed nimbly dramatizes the strengths and flaws of the women as they discover freedom from work and family." -- San Francisco Chronicle "[A] perfect summer read for anyone who loved Delia Ephron's Siracusa or Emma Straub's The Vacationers . Freed's narrative style is delightful . . . And the characters are relatable, bickering and compromising and loving each other all the same. Sun-dappled and sea-splashed, this is the best type of escapism." -- Booklist "[A] slyly delivered version of a novel of women's self-actualization . . . Fraught relationships between mothers and daughters, grandmothers and grandchildren, and men and women are explored and detailed against the backdrop of usually perfect scenery . . . Replete with references to Greek mythology, Freed's modern retelling of a timeless tale of self-fulfillment wanders into surprising territory along the way." -- Kirkus "Drily whimsical." -- Publishers Weekly "I devoured The Last Laugh in one delightful sitting. With fine style, a true heart, and coruscating wit, Freed simultaneously skewers and celebrates old age, friendship, family, romance, and work, and into the bargain delivers the most brilliant cliché-busting riff ever written." --Ann Patty, author of Living with a Dead Language "Hilarious and wise, this sublime novel shows us how the familiar is transformed by explosive events, in a world where bonds are deepened and lifelong mistakes are redeemed. The Last Laugh is a delight." --Maria Flook, author of Mothers and Lovers and the New York Times bestseller Invisible Eden PRAISE FOR LYNN FREED "Like any successful star, [Freed] knows her strengths and how to employ them." --Claire Messud, The New York Times Book Review "[Freed] wonderfully carries off that hardest of all literary effects--it feels effortless and therefore absolutely real." --Elaina Richardson, Elle "Lynn Freed is a beautiful writer, dead-on brilliant, rich in humor, possessing a dark and comforting wisdom." --Anne Lamott, PRAISE FOR THE LAST LAUGH "Beautifully paced . . . If on it's surface The Last Laugh is a warts-and-all repudiation of the late-in-life female empowerment yarn as typified by the movie Enchanted April . . .the gimlet-eyed Freed is intent on something deeper and more unsettling . . . Freed's candor works to lift the veil off the misperception that life after 60 consists mostly of conversations about sciatica or ceaseless and slightly abject devotion to a tiny, shivery dog." --Henry Alford, The New York Times Book Review "Smart and sprightly in style . . . Hilarious . . . a Campari spritzer of a novel: bubbly and colorful, but with a underlying note of bitterness to add satisfying complexity." --Maureen Corrigan, NPR "Fast-moving and laced with salty wit, this is a smart, funny summer read" -- People "[A] perfect summer read for anyone who loved Delia Ephron's Siracusa or Emma Straub's The Vacationers . Freed's narrative style is delightful . . . And the characters are relatable, bickering and compromising and loving each other all the same. Sun-dappled and sea-splashed, this is the best type of escapism." -- Booklist "[A] slyly delivered version of a novel of women's self-actualization . . . Fraught relationships between mothers and daughters, grandmothers and grandchildren, and men and women are explored and detailed against the backdrop of usually perfect scenery . . . Replete with references to Greek mythology, Freed's modern retelling of a timeless tale of self-fulfillment wanders into surprising territory along the way." -- Kirkus "Drily whimsical." -- Publishers Weekly "I devoured The Last Laugh in one delightful sitting. With fine style, a true heart, and coruscating wit, Freed simultaneously skewers and celebrates old age, friendship, family, romance, and work, and into the bargain delivers the most brilliant clich-busting riff ever written." --Ann Patty, author of Living with a Dead Language "Hilarious and wise, this sublime novel shows us how the familiar is transformed by explosive events, in a world where bonds are deepened and lifelong mistakes are redeemed. The Last Laugh is a delight." --Maria Flook, author of Mothers and Lovers and the New York Times bestseller Invisible Eden PRAISE FOR LYNN FREED "Like any successful star, [Freed] knows her strengths and how to employ them." --Claire Messud, The New York Times Book Review "[Freed] wonderfully carries off that hardest of all literary effects--it feels effortless and therefore absolutely real." --Elaina Richardson, Elle "Lynn Freed is a beautiful writer, dead-on brilliant, rich in humor, possessing a dark and comforting wisdom." --Anne Lamott, "[A] slyly delivered version of a novel of women's self-actualization . . . Fraught relationships between mothers and daughters, grandmothers and grandchildren, and men and women are explored and detailed against the backdrop of usually perfect scenery . . . Replete with references to Greek mythology, Freed's modern retelling of a timeless tale of self-fulfillment wanders into surprising territory along the way." -- Kirkus "I devoured The Last Laugh in one delightful sitting. With fine style, a true heart, and coruscating wit, Freed simultaneously skewers and celebrates old age, friendship, family, romance, and work, and into the bargain delivers the most brilliant clich-busting riff ever written." --Ann Patty, author of Living with a Dead Language " The Last Laugh is a delight. Lynn Freed escapes to a paradise where three old friends unite despite their separate lives and differences. Brimming with secrets and compulsions, their sisterhood is tested when old lovers and grown children arrive to interfere with the day-to-day tasks of their complicated friendship. Hilarious and wise, this sublime novel shows us how the familiar is transformed by explosive events, in a world where bonds are deepened and lifelong mistakes are redeemed and forgiven." --Maria Flook, author of Mothers and Lovers and the New York Times bestseller Invisible Eden, "I devoured The Last Laugh in one delightful sitting. With fine style, a true heart, and coruscating wit, Freed simultaneously skewers and celebrates old age, friendship, family, romance, and work, and into the bargain delivers the most brilliant clich-busting riff ever written." --Ann Patty, author of Living with a Dead Language " The Last Laugh is a delight. Lynn Freed escapes to a paradise where three old friends unite despite their separate lives and differences. Brimming with secrets and compulsions, their sisterhood is tested when old lovers and grown children arrive to interfere with the day-to-day tasks of their complicated friendship. Hilarious and wise, this sublime novel shows us how the familiar is transformed by explosive events, in a world where bonds are deepened and lifelong mistakes are redeemed and forgiven." --Maria Flook, author of Mothers and Lovers and the New York Times bestseller Invisible Eden, "[A] perfect summer read for anyone who loved Delia Ephron's Siracusa or Emma Straub's The Vacationers . Freed's narrative style is delightful . . . And the characters are relatable, bickering and compromising and loving each other all the same. Sun-dappled and sea-splashed, this is the best type of escapism." -- Booklist "[A] slyly delivered version of a novel of women's self-actualization . . . Fraught relationships between mothers and daughters, grandmothers and grandchildren, and men and women are explored and detailed against the backdrop of usually perfect scenery . . . Replete with references to Greek mythology, Freed's modern retelling of a timeless tale of self-fulfillment wanders into surprising territory along the way." -- Kirkus "Drily whimsical." -- Publishers Weekly "I devoured The Last Laugh in one delightful sitting. With fine style, a true heart, and coruscating wit, Freed simultaneously skewers and celebrates old age, friendship, family, romance, and work, and into the bargain delivers the most brilliant clich-busting riff ever written." --Ann Patty, author of Living with a Dead Language "Hilarious and wise, this sublime novel shows us how the familiar is transformed by explosive events, in a world where bonds are deepened and lifelong mistakes are redeemed. The Last Laugh is a delight." --Maria Flook, author of Mothers and Lovers and the New York Times bestseller Invisible Eden, PRAISE FOR THE LAST LAUGH "Beautifully paced . . . If on it's surface The Last Laugh is a warts-and-all repudiation of the late-in-life female empowerment yarn as typified by the movie Enchanted April . . .the gimlet-eyed Freed is intent on something deeper and more unsettling . . . Freed's candor works to lift the veil off the misperception that life after 60 consists mostly of conversations about sciatica or ceaseless and slightly abject devotion to a tiny, shivery dog." --Henry Alford, The New York Times Book Review "Smart and sprightly in style . . . Hilarious . . . a Campari spritzer of a novel: bubbly and colorful, but with a underlying note of bitterness to add satisfying complexity." --Maureen Corrigan, NPR "Fast-moving and laced with salty wit, this is a smart, funny summer read" -- People "Superb . . . Freed nimbly dramatizes the strengths and flaws of the women as they discover freedom from work and family." -- San Francisco Chronicle "[A] perfect summer read for anyone who loved Delia Ephron's Siracusa or Emma Straub's The Vacationers . Freed's narrative style is delightful . . . And the characters are relatable, bickering and compromising and loving each other all the same. Sun-dappled and sea-splashed, this is the best type of escapism." -- Booklist "[A] slyly delivered version of a novel of women's self-actualization . . . Fraught relationships between mothers and daughters, grandmothers and grandchildren, and men and women are explored and detailed against the backdrop of usually perfect scenery . . . Replete with references to Greek mythology, Freed's modern retelling of a timeless tale of self-fulfillment wanders into surprising territory along the way." -- Kirkus "Drily whimsical." -- Publishers Weekly "I devoured The Last Laugh in one delightful sitting. With fine style, a true heart, and coruscating wit, Freed simultaneously skewers and celebrates old age, friendship, family, romance, and work, and into the bargain delivers the most brilliant clich-busting riff ever written." --Ann Patty, author of Living with a Dead Language "Hilarious and wise, this sublime novel shows us how the familiar is transformed by explosive events, in a world where bonds are deepened and lifelong mistakes are redeemed. The Last Laugh is a delight." --Maria Flook, author of Mothers and Lovers and the New York Times bestseller Invisible Eden PRAISE FOR LYNN FREED "Like any successful star, [Freed] knows her strengths and how to employ them." --Claire Messud, The New York Times Book Review "[Freed] wonderfully carries off that hardest of all literary effects--it feels effortless and therefore absolutely real." --Elaina Richardson, Elle "Lynn Freed is a beautiful writer, dead-on brilliant, rich in humor, possessing a dark and comforting wisdom." --Anne Lamott, PRAISE FOR THE LAST LAUGH "Fast-moving and laced with salty wit, this is a smart, funny summer read" -- People "[A] perfect summer read for anyone who loved Delia Ephron's Siracusa or Emma Straub's The Vacationers . Freed's narrative style is delightful . . . And the characters are relatable, bickering and compromising and loving each other all the same. Sun-dappled and sea-splashed, this is the best type of escapism." -- Booklist "[A] slyly delivered version of a novel of women's self-actualization . . . Fraught relationships between mothers and daughters, grandmothers and grandchildren, and men and women are explored and detailed against the backdrop of usually perfect scenery . . . Replete with references to Greek mythology, Freed's modern retelling of a timeless tale of self-fulfillment wanders into surprising territory along the way." -- Kirkus "Drily whimsical." -- Publishers Weekly "I devoured The Last Laugh in one delightful sitting. With fine style, a true heart, and coruscating wit, Freed simultaneously skewers and celebrates old age, friendship, family, romance, and work, and into the bargain delivers the most brilliant clich-busting riff ever written." --Ann Patty, author of Living with a Dead Language "Hilarious and wise, this sublime novel shows us how the familiar is transformed by explosive events, in a world where bonds are deepened and lifelong mistakes are redeemed. The Last Laugh is a delight." --Maria Flook, author of Mothers and Lovers and the New York Times bestseller Invisible Eden PRAISE FOR LYNN FREED "Like any successful star, [Freed] knows her strengths and how to employ them." --Claire Messud, The New York Times Book Review "[Freed] wonderfully carries off that hardest of all literary effects--it feels effortless and therefore absolutely real." --Elaina Richardson, Elle "Lynn Freed is a beautiful writer, dead-on brilliant, rich in humor, possessing a dark and comforting wisdom." --Anne Lamott
