The Last Time They Met question

"The Last Time They Met" by Shreve... the ending was shocking but somehow, made everything fall into place. Thomas's first love fueled his imagination and longing - longing enough to last his unfulfilled lifetime. It reminded me of how the passion of a first love can haunt one 'forever'. Shreve articulated that passion through the poetic voice of Thomas and his yearning to 'make real' the soul mate he lost at the beginning of his young life.

No. I thought it was inane. I'm generally fine with being deceived by the storyline, but there was nothing that tied all of the "memories" together. I don't remember a lot of the details, but, for instance

SPOILER ALERT

the "affair" that he had with her in Africa, the one that caused him to divorce his first wife, obviously didn't happen. So, what caused the divorce? We know that he was married once, and then married a second wife, as that was also in the other book, The Weight of Water, which was a far better book in my opinion.

There were other things that really bothered me when I was done reading this, but thankfully I've blanked it all out.

I agree JKWD. I thought the ending was a perfect representation of the haunting of first love. To me the ending this was perfect and it's one of my favorite Shreve books.

I guess I have to afree with all of you, I liked the book but felt that it was improbable that this was all made up by Thomas. I did read The Weight of Water and thought it was better.

Anita Shreve knows what she's doing. Every moment in her books are so well thought out. I liked the ending, but then...I do in all of her books.

I thought that the ending was brilliant! It is my absolute favorite Shreve novel.

One of the greatest love stories ever written. Shreve's best. The ending is perfect.

I liked the ending. It was shocking, but I liked it. So few books today can deliver an ending that make you want to reread the book to catch the clues you missed the first time around.

Thomas is a gifted and famous author. He was using his talent to imagine a vivid lifetime of moments with Linda.

I was shocked by the ending. Not sure what I missed to understand this was all in his imagination.