Author: Laura Pearson
The Last List of Mabel Beaumont is one of the books that Amazon’s algorithm recommended. I was not intrigued by the title, but I took the book because these recommendations have so far been good. I had the book on my Kindle Unlimited for ages and only read it now to clear my backlog because I can’t download more books until I return some (and I keep piling up books on myself, as per usual) 😊
It was a remarkable decision to read this book because I truly enjoyed it. It is the type of book I normally like to read, and at the same time, it is also not a book I normally read. The book is very compellingly written and centres on friendships and communities (which is what I like to read), but also on grief and self-discovery (which I do not commonly read).
Mabel Beaumont tells the story of her life, so this is the character’s point-of-view story. She tells us immediately how she struggles with saying what she really thinks, and pretty much goes through her life by barely surviving and going along with things. She is married to Arthur, who is a nice man and loves her, but we know from the start that she does not love him in the same way that he loves her. In a way, her life passes, and she is now in her 80s, wondering how she spent her life and questioning whether marrying Arthur was not just a mistake but also cruel towards him, since she could never love him the way he loved her. Then Arthur suddenly dies, and Mabel finds herself alone without her usual routine with Arthur and starts realizing that they had a good life and that Arthur was a good man who did not deserve coldness. She never wanted children and was not into having friends, and has no family left. But, as luck would have it, Arthur knew her better than she knew herself, and since he also deeply loved her, he looked after her and paid in advance for a carer to come for a few months after his death and look after her. Along comes Julie, a newly separated woman who grieves the loss of her husband, who left her for another woman, and who becomes Mabel’s friend and starts doing more for Mabel than what she was paid for, including taking her to dance classes organized by Patty, an American who has lived in the UK for a long time. Kirsty, Patty’s neighbour, also comes to the group and walks Arthur’s dog, who has never taken up to Mabel. We learn stories of these women and also about Mabel’s self-discovery and her own surprise at her sociability with other women, as well as her continuous struggles in expressing herself due to 62 years of silence and indifference during her marriage with Arthur.
The interesting part is also that Mabel found a list by Arthur (he loved making lists) saying ‘find D’, which Mabel interprets as finding her old friend Dot, who mysteriously left their hometown and moved to London 62 years ago, refusing contact with Mabel, never returning her letters, and simply cutting off contact. New friends help Mabel look for Dot, and we slowly learn their history and friendship. Then, towards the end, an amazing twist in the details of that relationship and the ultimate explanation as to why Mabel spent her life indifferent and why she let life pass her by. I do not want to say anything, but this story is deeply sad and beautiful at the same time.
The Last List of Mabel Beaumont is a story of sadness, grief, missed opportunities, but also a story of self-discovery and realization that it is never too late to change things, and even if one is in their 80s, that does not mean they cannot find new happiness, create a new life, and spend their last years happy and fulfilled. Whilst this book is, in some ways, similar to other books of a similar topic, the writing style is totally different, with the character’s point-of-view writing, and the writing is generally very compelling. When I finished the book yesterday, I was sleepy but wanted to see how it ended, so I walked around the house to wake up because I could not let the story go lol. I will look for other books by Laura Pearson, no question about it.
Thank you for reading!