The Stark Beauty of Last Things
In Céline Keating’s timely and engrossing new novel, THE STARK BEAUTY OF LAST THINGS, a small web of people wrestle over the fate of the last undeveloped stretch of wild land in Montauk, a town on the far reaches of Long Island at risk from climate change.
Clancy is a thirty-six year old insurance adjuster who visits Montauk hoping to reconnect with the Big Brother who meant the most to him during his time in foster care. But when that man dies and leaves his ownership vote for the undeveloped parcel to Clancy, Clancy finds himself in a tense, possibly hostile, position - right when he believes he has finally found a place to belong. Everyone has a stake in the outcome of the vote: Julienne, an artist and hotel owner fighting to save her business and the land she adores; Theresa, a bartender whose trailer park home is threatened by coastal erosion; and Molly and Billy, a young couple being pressured to sell.
In this beautifully written novel told in multiple voices, and in which the land itself becomes a character, Keating writes movingly of our bonds to nature and our bonds to each other, and her deft, surprising, and even ingenious ending offers unexpected hope for our time.
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Praise for "The Stark Beauty of Last Things"
“In Céline Keating’s deft hands, this parcel also stands as proxy for the bigger questions of what to do about the Earth. And like the Earth, the town is complicated. There’s a mysterious death, a bit of romance, lost souls, missing children, childhood secrets, grown-up secrets, and the requisite outsider to see it all with fresh eyes. ...Outsiders, insiders, art, food, love, beach grass plugs, and seals. It’s all here.”
"Keating balances the reality of Montauk life's darkness with its light. She deftly and beautifully winds history and vivid, loving descriptions of the people, the culture, the ocean, and the land into her tale."
"As delicately as Keating weaves climate issues and activism into the novel, it is her expert unfurling of the interior thoughts and motivations of these complex Montauk residents that brings the story to life."
“Deft and wise, evocative and potent, The Stark Beauty of Last Things is one of 2023’s most engaging small-press novels.”
“In painterly prose, [Keating] wraps a tale of intertwined relationships and the bonds of family and friendship into the landscape of Montauk....[Her novel] shows the human side of the complexities of preserving land and the prospect of coastal retreat.”
“. . . an intelligent, psychologically astute, and beautifully written tale about the relationship of man and nature with not one predictable or cliched sentiment or situation in sight.”
—Joan Baum, Baum On Books, WHSU
"Keating’s characters are engaging and complex, portrayed in a story that is captivating and relatable....the perfect read for personal enjoyment, as well as for a book club."
—From The Montauk Sun
"...lush, elegiac....in stunning prose [it] highlights loss, the transience of home, and the impermanence of human affections."
—From Foreword Reviews
“I can't say enough about how much I enjoyed this book. The characters, the twisty plot, the detailed descriptions, and the setting of Montauk, a place of great natural beauty, all drew me in completely. When I miss being by the ocean―all the time―I will from now on have The Stark Beauty of Last Things to turn to for passages that take me there. This is a rare and special book to keep on the bedside table.”
―ALICE ELLIOTT DARK, author of Fellowship Point and In the Gloaming
“Readers will be packing their bags for the Long Island shoreline in this atmospheric tale of love and healing. Keating’s characters prove to be as formidable as the threats to their historic Montauk coastline.”
―SUZANNE SIMONETTI, author of USA Today best-selling The Sound of Wings
“…an intricately woven tale of the people of a small fishing town beset by land developers and reckoning with its future. Keating tells the story of multiple characters with great sympathy and insight, as they struggle not only with the town’s future but with their own places in the world. A finely written, highly readable book that is vivid and real.”
―EDWARD J. DELANEY, author of The Acrobat
“…suspenseful and satisfying. Céline Keating is a wonderful storyteller, with a keen sense of place and compassion for the people who inhabit it.”
―HILMA WOLITZER, author of Today a Woman Went Mad in the Supermarket
“Céline Keating’s deft storytelling, keen ear for dialogue, and evocative descriptions of landscape come together in this suspenseful novel about a fishing village on the brink of irreversible change. Keating has woven together a vibrant tapestry of characters ― including Montauk itself ― with sensitivity and insight, informed by local history and real concerns about what seems to be in store for this still magical place.”
―MIA CERTIC, Executive Director of the Montauk Historical Society
“This novel embraces Montauk in many ways, especially its fragile physical beauty. The characters have to negotiate their relationship to that endangered beauty as well as their own relationships. The author's love for Montauk is evident on the pages readers will turn quickly.”
―TOM CLAVIN, author of Dark Noon: The Final Voyage of the Fishing Boat Pelican
“The Stark Beauty of Last Things brilliantly explores the symbiotic relationship between nature, the community, and characters driven to exploit or co-exist with each other and the environment. Keating writes about Montauk―the last spit of wild land on Long Island―with great depth of observation and feeling, delivering a cast of characters who spring from the page as vibrant and complex as anyone you might meet in the village itself. In the conflict between land developers and community environmentalists, the novel shows how nature itself―and a little luck―can become the deciding factor. This is a wise and often astonishing novel.”
―ROBERT EVERSZ, author of the Nina Zero novels
“With lush and sensory prose, this incandescent novel offers a glimpse into a wild place in turmoil. Residents of Keating’s Montauk, both locals and outsiders, face seemingly impossible choices between financial survival and environmental stability of their fragile community. The natural world―its palate, its odors, the rhythms of sunset and daybreak, of storm destruction and delicate growth―is the scaffolding and the heart of this unforgettable story.”
―ELLEN MEEROPOL, author of The Lost Women of Azalea Court
“Céline Keating’s deft storytelling, keen ear for dialogue, and evocative descriptions of landscape come together in this suspenseful novel about a fishing village on the brink of irreversible change. Keating has woven together a vibrant tapestry of characters — including Montauk itself — with sensitivity and insight, informed by local history and real concerns about what seems to be in store for this still-magical place.”
— Mia Certic, Executive Director of the Montauk Historical Society
“In vivid, memorable prose, Keating evokes the beauty and fragility of Montauk and its residents. The work speaks to the pressing issues of our time, especially the loss of wild places.”
—Tucson Festival of Books, in an award citation for the first chapter
"...lush, elegiac....in stunning prose [it] highlights loss, the transience of home, and the impermanence of human affections."