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Table of Contents
About The Book
“An astounding achievement.” —Megha Majumdar (bestselling author of A Burning) * “Her best book yet.” —Paul Yoon (award-winning author of Run Me to Earth)
Set in midcentury America, At Last explores a rich family saga centered on two fierce and competitive matriarchs whose intertwined lives reflect the complexities of family, tradition, and personal ambition. “Whole lives course down the decades, and every minute is conveyed with Silver’s signature combination of toughness and grace” (Laird Hunt, bestselling author of Zorrie).
Helene Simonauer and Evelyn Turner are two formidable women whose paths cross when their children marry. Both women are sharp, cunning, and unwavering in their conflicting beliefs about marriage, responsibility, and family and, most pressingly, their efforts to vie for the love of their shared granddaughter.
At Last paints a vivid portrait of the American Midwest, capturing the essence of a time and place where societal norms and personal aspirations often clashed. Marisa Silver’s narrative weaves together the lives of Helene and Evelyn, from their vastly different childhoods through the pivotal events that define them. Both intimate and expansive, and capturing the complexities of ambition and love with humor and insight, At Last is a testament to what happens when an unintended, even unwanted relationship turns out to be a central one that defines a life.
Set in midcentury America, At Last explores a rich family saga centered on two fierce and competitive matriarchs whose intertwined lives reflect the complexities of family, tradition, and personal ambition. “Whole lives course down the decades, and every minute is conveyed with Silver’s signature combination of toughness and grace” (Laird Hunt, bestselling author of Zorrie).
Helene Simonauer and Evelyn Turner are two formidable women whose paths cross when their children marry. Both women are sharp, cunning, and unwavering in their conflicting beliefs about marriage, responsibility, and family and, most pressingly, their efforts to vie for the love of their shared granddaughter.
At Last paints a vivid portrait of the American Midwest, capturing the essence of a time and place where societal norms and personal aspirations often clashed. Marisa Silver’s narrative weaves together the lives of Helene and Evelyn, from their vastly different childhoods through the pivotal events that define them. Both intimate and expansive, and capturing the complexities of ambition and love with humor and insight, At Last is a testament to what happens when an unintended, even unwanted relationship turns out to be a central one that defines a life.
Reading Group Guide
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Why do Evelyn and Helene take such an immediate dislike to one another? How do you think their rivalry suggests deeper aspects of each one’s character?
Do you feel that the women change over the course of the novel? How? Can you pinpoint moments in the novel when their attitudes shift?
What does the novel have to say about the lives of women at different points during the 20th century?
Does Ruth’s story suggest a different way in which women began to think about their lives and identities and possibilities? Contrast Evelyn and Helene’s developing sense of self with Ruth’s.
Why is Helene so threatened by Ruth? What does Ruth’s life have to say about the ways in which Helene accepted certain limitations in ways that Ruth does not?
The novel touches on different attitudes toward psychiatry and psychological awareness over time. Discuss how Evelyn and Ruth handled the loss of a husband and father versus how Francie’s psychological issues are handled.
What is the nature of female friendship as we age?
What does the title of the novel mean to you?
Do you feel that the women change over the course of the novel? How? Can you pinpoint moments in the novel when their attitudes shift?
What does the novel have to say about the lives of women at different points during the 20th century?
Does Ruth’s story suggest a different way in which women began to think about their lives and identities and possibilities? Contrast Evelyn and Helene’s developing sense of self with Ruth’s.
Why is Helene so threatened by Ruth? What does Ruth’s life have to say about the ways in which Helene accepted certain limitations in ways that Ruth does not?
The novel touches on different attitudes toward psychiatry and psychological awareness over time. Discuss how Evelyn and Ruth handled the loss of a husband and father versus how Francie’s psychological issues are handled.
What is the nature of female friendship as we age?
What does the title of the novel mean to you?
About The Author
Romy Reiner
Marisa Silver is the author of the novels The Mysteries; Little Nothing; Mary Coin, a New York Times bestseller and winner of the Southern California Independent Bookseller’s Award; The God of War, a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Fiction; and No Direction Home. Her first collection of short stories, Babe in Paradise was named a New York Times Notable Book of the Year and was a Los Angeles Times Best Book of the Year. When her second collection, Alone with You was published, The New York Times called her “one of California’s most celebrated contemporary writers.” Her fiction has been included in The Best American Short Stories, the O. Henry Prize Stories, as well as other anthologies. She is a recipient of fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the Cullman Center for Scholars and writers. She lives in Los Angeles. At Last is her most recent novel. For more, visit MarisaSilver.com.
Product Details
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster (September 2, 2025)
- Length: 288 pages
- ISBN13: 9781668213957
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Raves and Reviews
"When Tom and Ruth marry in 1971, little do they consider that they are initiating a connection between their mothers that will deeply affect each other over the decades. I will never forget this smart, wry, gorgeous novel."
—ALICE ELLIOTT DARK, author of Fellowship Point
"No one else working today puts as much human complexity onto the page with such marvelous clarity as Marisa Silver. Whole lives course down the decades in her latest, and every minute of them is conveyed with Silver's signature combination of toughness and grace. The bar is very high, but I think At Last is her finest novel yet."
—LAIRD HUNT, author of Zorrie
"There’s great pleasure in following the breadth of these women’s lives, and the fascinating extended family they come to share. The reader's allegiance shifts with the years; our hearts are opened by tiny moments of bravery, and broken by quiet betrayals. Marisa Silver has built a fictional world I was happy to live inside."
—ANN NAPOLITANO, author of Hello Beautiful
"Here’s the magic of Marisa Silver’s books: they capture, beautifully, not only entire lives but the complex histories that pulse through our country. At Last, which is both a vast and soulfully intimate chronicle of the ties that bind family—and the power of all the decisions one makes across the years—is, quite simply, her best book yet. I was enthralled by its pure grace, by how truthfully it reveals to us our great longings and regrets, and I can’t wait for you to love it as much as I do."
—PAUL YOON, author of The Hive and the Honey
"Alive to what soars within so-called ordinary life, and told in prose which exhilaratingly pursues and seizes the truths of marriage and family, At Last is an astounding achievement."
—MEGHA MAJUMDAR, author of A Burning
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