Beyond that, stepmother and stepdaughter are able to maintain anonymity as a firestorm of drama unfolds around the company’s CEO.ĭownplaying the conflict might be a trade-off for the novel’s greater focus on character development and relationships. They primarily encounter friction from authorities, Bailey’s classmates and Owen and Hannah’s friends. The novel’s backdrop is a half-billion-dollar financial disaster, but despite Owen’s high-profile role, there’s no press hounding Hannah and Bailey. Deep-rooted abandonment issues shape her choices in the present, and the attorney she reaches out to for help navigating these treacherous waters is her ex-fiancé. Along the way, her own history also comes into play. As she searches for the truth about her missing husband and contends with the legal troubles caused by his disappearance, she also tries to nurture a stepdaughter who barely wants anything to do with her.Īs these events unfold in the present, flashbacks show how Hannah’s relationships have developed and offer clues about her husband’s story. Hannah desperately wants to fulfill his request, but she also wants answers. And for his bewildered wife, who is Bailey’s stepmother, he leaves a cryptic note with a single directive: “Protect her.”

He leaves behind a suspiciously large duffel bag full of cash for his 16-year-old daughter, Bailey. Hannah Hall’s adoring husband, coding genius Owen Michaels, vanishes on the same day that his company is raided by the FBI for massive securities fraud. Extraordinary circumstances severely test the bonds of one such family in Laura Dave’s The Last Thing He Told Me. So we rounded up a list of similar titles packed with family drama, lies, disappearances, and domestic tension.In this era of domestic thrillers, a novel about a functional, loving family can feel refreshing and downright unexpected. Needless to say, it's getting the full Hollywood treatment.īased off our own post-book mood, we're guessing TLTHTM might have possibly left you with one of the most monstrous book hangovers ever? We figured. The Last Thing He Told Me was a Reese's Book Club pick for the month of May. The series will star Julia Roberts, who will be coproducing alongside Reese Witherspoon's Hello Sunshine company. And it's not just us who thinks so - the novel has already been optioned as a limited series for Apple TV+. Laura Dave's sixth novel and thriller debut, The Last Thing He Told Me, hit bookshelves earlier this month, and by far, it's already one of the most talked about thrillers of 2021.

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The last thing he told me by laura dave