The Last List of Miss Judith Kratt

(Paperback, Large Print Edition)

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An amazing novel, one which interrogates, with such controlled and beautiful writing, what it means to be Southern. Utilizing a unique form and a carefully crafted mystery, Bobotis is a writer capable of deep truths, and this novel announces her as a major voice." --Kevin Wilson, author The Family Fang, Perfect Little World, and Baby, You're Gonna Be Mine

Judith inherited all the Kratt family had to offer -- the pie safe, the copper clock, the murder that no one talked about. She's presided over the house quite well, thank you very much, admittedly with some help from her companion, Olva.

But her wayward younger sister suddenly returns home after decades, sparking an inventory of all that belongs to them. Set in the hard-luck cotton town of Bound, South Carolina -- which the Kratts used to rule but which now struggles to contain its worst instincts -- the new household overflows with memories.

Interweaving the present with chilling flashbacks from one fateful evening in 1929, Judith pieces together a list of what matters. Untangling the legacy of the family misfortunes will require help from every one of them, no matter how tight their bond, how long they've called Bound home, or what they own.

Reviews

"The Last List of Miss Judith Kratt adeptly catalogs loss, hope, and redemption." - Booklist
"The well-told tale unfolds like a magnolia, slowly revealing a languid beauty. Mystery fans will also be satisfied." - Publishers Weekly
"As the keeper of the family treasures and the family secrets, Miss Judith Kratt is a Southern eccentric in the tradition of Faulkner's Miss Emily. But Miss Judith does not wallow in the past or embrace the dead. Instead, she works to protect the living. The Last List of Miss Judith Kratt is a universal and timely story that exposes the dangers of nostalgia and the value of assessing both things and people in a clear-eyed, honest way. It's a thoroughly captivating story and it's beautifully told." - Tiffany Quay Tyson, author of Three Rivers and The Past is Never
"Andrea Bobotis has written an amazing novel, one which interrogates, with such controlled and beautiful writing, what it means to be Southern. Utilizing a unique form and a carefully crafted mystery, Bobotis is a writer capable of deep truths, and this novel announces her as a major voice." - Kevin Wilson, author of The Family Fang, Perfect Little World, and Baby, You're Gonna Be Mine
"The droll voice of Andrea Bobotis's heroine, Judith Kratt, might charm you - but don't be fooled into thinking this is simply one woman's trip down memory lane. The Last List of Miss Judith Kratt is a multilayered story about family, race, loss, and loyalty, featuring a complex cast of characters led by a woman who learns it's never too late for growth and change." - Cynthia Swanson, New York Times bestselling author of The Bookseller and The Glass Forest
"Capturing the unique, singular voice of a once-genteel South that hid its deadly secrets and brutal crimes behind facades of grand houses, Andrea Bobotis gently leads you down a garden path of one family's shameful story only to leave you gasping at its devastating, inevitable destination. If William Faulkner were still alive, I'm pretty sure he'd wish he had written this book." - Emily Carpenter, author of Burying the Honeysuckle Girls
"Andrea Bobotis is a new, original voice as Southern as they come! In The Last List of Miss Judith Kratt, she unravels a complicated web of dirty Southern secrets. Using masterful writing and a perfectly calculated reveal of damaged history, she ends up weaving a tapestry that is so much more." - Leah Weiss, bestselling author of If the Creek Don't Rise