The Last Time I Saw You

As onetime classmates meet over the course of a weekend for their high school's fortieth reunion, they discover things that will irrevocably affect the rest of their lives. For newly divorced Dorothy Shauman, it is the possibility to finally attract the attention of the class heartthrob, Pete Decker. For the ever self-reliant, ever left-out Mary Alice Mayhew, it's a chance to re-examine a painful past. For Lester Heseenpfeffer, a veterinarian and widower, it is the hope of talking shop with a fellow vet - or at least that's what he tells himself. For Candy Armstrong, the class beauty, it's the hope of finding friendship before it is too late. As Dorothy, Mary Alice, Lester, Candy, and the other classmates converge for the reunion dinner, four decades melt away: Desires and personalities from their youth re-emerge, and new discoveries are made. For so much has happened to them all. And so much can still happen.

When Olivia Berrington gets the call to tell her that her best friend from college has been killed in a car crash in New York, her life is turned upside down. Her relationship with Sally was an exhilarating roller coaster, until a shocking betrayal drove them apart. But if Sally really had turned her back, why is her little girl named after Olivia? As questions mount about the fatal accident, Olivia is forced to go back and unravel their tangled history. But as Sally's secrets start to spill out, Olivia's left asking herself if the past is best kept buried.

"My mother never writes. So when the mail arrived that day, I was not expecting to find a letter from her. There was no warning." Between generations of women, there are always secrets--relationships kept hidden, past events obscured, true feelings not spoken. But sometimes the truth is so primal it must be told. Now, with haunting lyricism and emotional clarity, Arlene Chai has written an exquisite novel about a family of women who break their silence. At the center of The Last Time I Saw Mother is the singular story of a woman who suddenly learns she is not who she thinks she is. Caridad is a wife and mother, a native of the Philippines living in Sydney, Australia. Out of the blue Caridad's mother summons her home. Although she is not ill, Thelma needs to talk to her daughter -- to reveal a secret that has been weighing heavily on her for years. It is a tale that Caridad in no way suspects. She stopped asking questions about the past long ago; her mother's constant reluctance to answer finally subdued her curiosity. Now, it is through the words of Thelma, her aunt Emma, and her cousin Ligaya, that Caridad will learn the startling truth and attempt to recapture what has been lost to her. Arlene Chai tells their versions of the story in their own voices, each one distinct, moving, and magical. As each woman tells her part of their family's hidden history, Caridad hears at last the unspoken stories--the joys and sorrows that her parents kept to themselves, and the never forgotten tragedy of the war years, when Japan's brutal occupation and civilian deprivations helped destroy a country and its history. The Last Time I Saw Mother is about mothers and daughters. It is about a cultural identity born of Spanish, Chinese, and Filipino influence. And it is about the healing power of truth. Arlene Chai is one of the most stunning new novelists in years. She takes us to a place we have never been before.

Audrey is a journalist living in London. Anonymous in the city she has left her troubled past far behind in Canada. A passionate affair with Jack, and an intense new friendship with Shereen bring uncertainties and confusion and Audrey finds herself drawn into the dramatic story of James Douglas,19th Century pioneer and the first mixed race Governor of British Columbia. As she digs deeper into his life she is forced to confront her own past, her high school friendship with Jane and the affair they had with a teacher. Spanning two centuries The Last Time I Saw Jane is a powerful novel of love and betrayal, race and sex, and the magnetic pull of the past on the present. Praise for The Last Time I Saw Jane: “A thought-provoking and entertaining addition to the genre of exile” Observer “Sensually exquisite” The Times

THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER AND DECEMBER PICK FOR REESE WITHERSPOON'S HELLO SUNSHINE BOOK CLUB Featuring a sneak peek at Liv Constantine’s second novel, THE LAST TIME I SAW YOU "Filled with envy, deception, and power, it’s a great reading escape. And there is a thrilling twist at the end!!" —Reese Witherspoon “Will keep you up. In a ‘can’t put it down’ way. It’s ‘The Talented Mr. Ripley’ with XX chromosomes.”—The Skimm “Deliciously duplicitous. . . . equally as twisty, spellbinding, and addictive as Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl or Paula Hawkins’s The Girl on the Train.”—Library Journal (starred review) Amber Patterson is fed up. She’s tired of being a nobody: a plain, invisible woman who blends into the background. She deserves more—a life of money and power like the one blond-haired, blue-eyed goddess Daphne Parrish takes for granted. To everyone in the exclusive town of Bishops Harbor, Connecticut, Daphne—a socialite and philanthropist—and her real-estate mogul husband, Jackson, are a couple straight out of a fairy tale. Amber’s envy could eat her alive . . . if she didn't have a plan. Amber uses Daphne’s compassion and caring to insinuate herself into the family’s life—the first step in a meticulous scheme to undermine her. Before long, Amber is Daphne’s closest confidante, traveling to Europe with the Parrishes and their lovely young daughters, and growing closer to Jackson. But a skeleton from her past may undermine everything that Amber has worked towards, and if it is discovered, her well-laid plan may fall to pieces. With shocking turns and dark secrets that will keep you guessing until the very end, The Last Mrs. Parrish is a fresh, juicy, and utterly addictive thriller from a diabolically imaginative talent.

A stunning debut novel of a young American woman who becomes a spy in Paris during World War II. May 1940: Fleeing a glamorous Manhattan life built on lies, Claire Harris arrives in Paris with a romantic vision of starting anew. But she didn't anticipate the sight of Nazi soldiers marching under the Arc de Triomphe. Her plans smashed by the German occupation, the once-privileged socialite's only option is to take a job in a flower shop under the tutelage of a sophisticated Parisian florist. In exchange for false identity papers, Claire agrees to aid the French Resistance. Despite the ever-present danger, she comes to love the enduring beauty of the City of Light, exploring it in the company of Thomas Grey, a mysterious Englishman working with the Resistance. Claire's bravery and intelligence make her a talented operative, and slowly her values shift as she witnesses the courageous spirit of the Parisians. But deception and betrayal force her to flee once more--this time to fight for the man she loves and what she knows is right. Claire just prays she has the heart and determination to survive long enough to one day see Paris again...

Elliot Paul, an American journalist, first walked into rue de la Huchette in the summer of 1923. "There", he wrote, "I found Paris." His biography of the street brings to life a cast of characters, from the stately M. de Malancourt to l'Hibou the tramp, from the culturally precocious Hyacinthe to a flock of prostitutes. Their friendships and enmities, culture and way of life, are woven into a tapestry as compelling as a novel. Yet as the threat of the Second World War grows it endows their quiet, heroic lives with tragic poignancy.

"Originally published in Great Britain in 2021 by Penguin Random House UK"--Copyright page.