Publishers Weekly
07/31/2017
Dressler takes up the perspective of a ghost in this gothic tale with a modern twist. In the book’s alternate universe, ghosts are a known entity but are so unwelcome that professional hunters work around the clock to eradicate them. Emma Rose has inhabited Lambry House ever since her death nearly a century ago. But when a hunter comes after her so that new owners can move in, Emma will have to fight to save herself and what little still exists of the personality she had while alive. Moving seamlessly between the present and Emma’s past, the narrative ratchets up the tension slowly as secrets from the past are revealed and the living come to terms with their own mortality. Dressler makes great use of the tension that arises from characters fighting against the very things they will one day become. The living and dead occupying the same space sparks insightful, but never overbearing, discussions of life and death. In this enjoyably claustrophobic novel set almost completely within Lambry House, Dressler reaches beyond the grave to consider the lengths that people go to in order to leave their mark behind. (Sept.)
From the Publisher
Book Pipeline 2017 Grand Prize Winner
Winner of the Audiofile Magazine 2018 Earphones Award for Fiction
"In this highly atmospheric and beautifully crafted novel, the movements of the ghost Emma Rose are both palpable and fascinating. This latest from Dressler is spellbinding from page one." "—Library Journal, starred review
"Evocative . . . astonishing . . . at once lyrical, and ruthlessly human."—Horror Reviews
"A gorgeous mystery of love that twists into curses." — Kirkus Reviews
"Dressler’s chilly new story is one woman's unforgettable fight for visibility."—Booklist
"Dressler . . . possesses a sublime talent for supernatural fiction—The Last to See Me being her first foray into the genre. Like Alice Lambry’s sea-glass, glimmering and reflecting the light of the golden sun, Dressler’s attention to detail helps capture the ethereal in a flash."— Sublime Horror
"Moving, chilly . . . perfect.""—Book Page
"In this enjoyably claustrophobic novel set almost completely within Lambry House, Dressler reaches beyond the grave to consider the lengths that people go to in order to leave their mark behind." —Publishers Weekly
"Hauntingly original, provocative, and dashed with wit—this literary ghost story changed the way I see the world." —Caroline Leavitt, New York Times bestselling author of Pictures of You and Cruel Beautiful World
“A book that will leave you breathless.”—Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
“For those who need a good scare.”—Telegraph Herald
“Dressler knows how to make worms and flowers seem positively, dreadfully frightening, a talent readers will come to adore.”—Bluffton Today
“Dressler does weave what could be her own version of how love can undo you. How it can become this thing that blinds, that quite literally becomes your ruin, the ghost is ultimately the haunted until set free. The imperfect metaphor for love’s much darker side.”—Chippewa Herald
"This poem of a novel, exquisitely written, introduced me to the inner life of a ghost and held me spellbound throughout. . . . I heard whisperings from the attic, from under the bed. M Dressler has written an extraordinary book, poignant and tragic." —Luanne Rice, New York Times bestselling author of The Beautiful Lost
"M Dressler has created an original world between time and place, but the longings of her characters are very real. She paints exquisite images with her words, each paragraph a revelation. Don’t miss this unusual and wonderful novel." —Carolyn Haines, USA Today bestselling author of the Sarah Booth Delaney mystery series
"Marvelously written . . . A book about how the present and past live in constant tension, how past tragedies still influence our lives today." —Jeff Abbott, New York Times bestselling author of Blame
"The Last to See Me is a riveting supernatural duel that reveals itself one measured and lyrical gut punch at a time. A compelling and beautifully written page-turner."—Scott Hawkins, author of The Library at Mount Char
"Readers will be ensnared and entranced by this story." —Wendy Webb, bestselling author of The Fate of Mercy Alban
"A new way to think about place, alienation, and the yearnings that make ghosts of us all. This is a writer working at the height of her powers." —W. Scott Poole, Bram Stoker Award nominee and author of In the Mountains of Madness: The Life and Extraordinary Afterlife of H. P. Lovecraft
"Dressler weaves a suspenseful ghost story that explores love in many dimensions—both spiritual and of the human heart." —April Smith, author of Home Sweet Home
“Completely captivating, The Last to See Me is the most original take on the ghost story since The Others." —Lauren A. Forry, author of Abigale Hall
“The Last to See Me is the most original ghost story I've read in years. It's both a thrilling tale and a bold condemnation of moral tyranny—a tyranny that fires the spirit of a brave, vulnerable young woman even after death. I couldn't stop reading until I turned the last shocking page. Exquisite and terrifying." —Laura Benedict, Edgar-nominated author of the Bliss House novels
“Love, longing, fear, hope—the common threads of mortal experience weave themselves through Dressler's exquisite story of an ordinary life that reaches extraordinary proportions. The Last to See Me is a ghost story that's deeply human, rich with wonder at all that makes even the most invisible life profound." —Margo Catts, author of Among the Lesser Gods
Praise for M Dressler's writing:
"A natural-born storyteller." —Library Journal
"Splendid." —The New York Times
"Elegantly imagined, original, finely tuned work." —The Miami Herald
"Captures both heartbreak and hope, wrapped in careful language that is crystalline in its clarity." —The Denver Post
"Dressler signals that she sets out to write, not just to tell, a story." —The Houston Chronicle
Library Journal
★ 09/01/2017
In a picturesque village along the coast of Northern California, mysterious events are occurring, and a professional ghost hunter is called in to purge the old Lambry estate of malevolent spirits and help secure the sale of the cliffside property. But the ghost of Emma Rose Finnis, strong and relentless, has been lurking for more than 100 years and is not ready to give up her secrets. As a child, Emma was a humble servant at the estate. When she and one of the young Lambry men fell in love, the family saw to it that their relationship was crushed. Now the ghost hunter and the real estate agent must work together to expose Emma Rose, but as they do, their own life stories begin to unravel. VERDICT In this highly atmospheric and beautifully crafted novel, the movements of the ghost of Emma Rose are both palpable and fascinating. This latest from Dressler (The Deadwood Beetle) is spellbinding from page one.—Susanne Wells, Indianapolis P.L.
FEBRUARY 2018 - AudioFile
Irish maid Emma Rose—who has been dead for a century—is mostly content to stay on the sidelines, quietly haunting the Lambry mansion in the town of Benito, California. But lately, the foibles of human nature have been making her angry—and she’s ready to tell her story. Narrator Lauren Ezzo embodies Emma Rose with a light brogue, as gossamer as the spirit herself and a strong contrast to the reserved, low tones of her nemesis, ghost hunter Phillip Pratt. Ezzo also makes Ellen, a real estate agent, sound refreshingly chipper, a voice of reason caught in a battle between the here and the hereafter. Emma Rose may be dead, but Ezzo’s masterful narration—buoyed by Dressler’s lyrical writing—makes her as real as the living. E.E. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
2017-07-17
One hundred years after her death, Emma Rose Finnis still haunts Lambry House, nestled along the harsh coast of northern California. When the last of the Lambrys dies however, Emma must match wits with a ghost hunter who's come to cleanse the estate of her spirit.Dressler (The Deadwood Beetle, 2001, etc.) conjures a bewitching seacoast village swathed in fog and rimmed by fierce, cold, crashing waves. It's a strange parallel world in which ghost hunters have rid most towns of all ghosts, revenants unconvinced of their own deaths. Clever and careful, Emma has avoided complete obliteration from the hunters' strange weapons, yet the arrival of the Danes, who hope to renovate the historic estate, provokes her. Able to manipulate the physical world, Emma locks them in a pantry, bewilders them into thinking they're drowning, and then kicks them roughly into the hallway. The realtor, Ellen, is astonished when, instead of fleeing the premises, Mr. Dane immediately signs a contract for the house, vowing to rid the place of its ghost. Pratt, the hunter, is a cruelly calculating man, but Emma may well prove his match. Dressler's tale compellingly shifts and slips between Emma's long-buried life story and her increasingly eerie cat-and-mouse game with Pratt. A century ago, riven with loss—of her mother to childbirth, of her father to a horrific shipping accident—Emma gamely accepts Mrs. Augustus Lambry's lucrative offer to work for the new family up at the lighthouse, an offer she knows is intended to keep her awayfrom Quint, the family's eldest son. Mrs. Lambry's ploy, however, sets into motion a series of disasters. Quint, utterly besotted, follows Emma to her new post, but his parents' opposition frustrates him. Meanwhile the lighthouse keeper has noticed Emma's beauty. As the veil lifts on Emma's star-crossed fate, more secrets come to light, and Pratt's relentless pursuit coils into dangerous waters. A gorgeous mystery of love that twists into curses.
