Overview

"""This novel is sexy, suspenseful, and boot-spur sharp."" —Eli Cranor, Edgar-Award-winning author of Don't Know Tough  Set in the country music world of 1970s Nashville, a struggling musician writes a hit song that both promises her long-sought-after fame and implicates her in a heinous crime.  Nashville, 1977: A broken heart. A terrible crime. A song the world would sing. When aspiring musician Twyla Finch arrives in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1977, the nineteen-year-old Texan is dazzled by the fringe-and-rhinestones country music scene. Live music flows from bars, open mic nights tempt with the chance of stardom, and record label execs seek the next hot new act. As Twyla finds her way in this vibrant town, she soon falls for Chet Wilton, country music hopeful and son of blue-blooded Nashvillians. When a night out with Chet goes terribly wrong, Twyla finds herself involved in a shocking crime. Hoping to process what happened that fateful night, she composes a haunting ballad that she performs only once in an empty bar. But weeks later, when she turns on the radio, she hears another woman singing her song. Twyla must decide: Should she claim her ballad and secure the fame she’s always wanted Or stay quiet and avoid implicating herself in the terrible crime she’s desperate to put in the past Seductive and bold, tense and unflinching, The Last Verse is the story of a woman’s ambitions, obsessions, and determination to claim her voice."

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9780063265486

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Reviews

"""With Shadows of Pecan Hollow, Caroline Frost delivers a stunner of a debut novel that reads more like the work of an accomplished master. Everything you could want in a novel is here: rich, evocative settings, conflicted loyalties and hearts, and a slow fuse of a plot that throws off plenty of sparks on its way to final ignition. This immersive, full-bodied novel will keep its hooks in you long after the last page is read, and marks the arrival of a tremendously wise and talented writer. I think we can look forward to many more fine books from Caroline Frost."" -- Ben Fountain, New York Times bestselling author of Beautiful Country Burn Again ""Paper Moon meets Badlands in this mesmerizing Texas backroads thriller, a twisty story of a runaway girl who finds a home and a desperate love on the road with an opportunistic criminal, and the long comet's tail of their story. A notable debut, drenched in regional detail and told in a gritty, sensual prose."" -- Janet Fitch, #1 New York Times bestselling author of White Oleander, on Shadows of Pecan Hollow ""How do we let go of a dark, menacing past, especially when a dangerous love still binds us to it? Frost's extraordinary debut is about Kit, a young mother struggling to raise her daughter, and to erase her abduction at 13 by a thief, who coerced her into crime and into his heart. Dazzling, unexpected, and profound, this is a shattering page-turner about how love can twist our lives into something we no longer recognize, and how we might find our way back to our best selves and to the communities that just might save us. In a word: brilliant."" -- Caroline Leavitt, New York Times bestselling author of With or Without You, on Shadows of Pecan Hollow ""Demonstrating a polished sense of setting and characterization, Frost crafts a deftly complex, psychologically astute, and deeply unsettling debut novel."" -- Booklist on Shadows of Pecan Hollow ""Heart-rending... Frost puts her background as a marriage and family therapist to good use in crafting [main character] Kit. Less perceptive writers may have written Kit as a cli-ché, but Frost guides the reader to understand Kit's story and the reasons behind her susceptibility to a charismatic egotist."" -- BookPage on Shadows of Pecan Hollow ""What immense talent flows through this spellbinding story! Everything is here: magnetic characters, fierce momentum, and great authenticity of voice, place, and thought. I was stunned in the best possible way throughout. How does Caroline Frost do it, I marveled; how does she know this? What an amazing, rewarding feat of craftsmanship and love!"" -- Elinor Lipman, author of Ms. Demeanor, on Shadows of Pecan Hollow ""Shadows of Pecan Hollow is a hugely satisfying slow burn of a novel that builds to a wrenching, unforgettable blaze. Frost explores the lives of her complex, arresting characters with nuance, compassion, and an unwavering gaze. Highly recommended."" -- Lou Berney, Edgar-award winning author of November Road ""Caroline Frost's beautiful and clear-eyed debut captures the huge comfort of even deeply flawed love and how our urge for survival can distort our lives as easily as it can straighten them into something true. But it also shows us that with enough patience, for ourselves as well as for others, we all have the capacity to heal even the most stubborn of wounds. These are characters you'll carry with you long after you've read the last page."" -- Stacey Swann, author of Olympus, Texas, on Shadows of Pecan Hollow ""With a strong sense of time and place, Caroline Frost's debut novel weaves an authentic southern tale of need, necessity, survival, and forgiveness, with love as the enduring force that guides."" -- Deb Spera, author of Call Your Daughter Home, on Shadows of Pecan Hollow ""He's a charismatic criminal; she's a dirt-streaked runaway who doesn't feel pain. Their ensuing crime spree sits like a rock in your stomach, and fifteen years later, when he comes back to haunt her, you'll reach for your phone to dial 911. In this gorgeous, completely addictive debut of love gone bad, Caroline Frost churns up an atmosphere sinister and sour as wind whipping off the oil rigs in Galveston--and a heroine so toughened and feral, readers won't want to step out of her brave, quick-witted, leather-bound hide for a single moment."" -- Barbara Bourland, author of Fake Like Me, on Shadows of Pecan Hollow"

"""With Shadows of Pecan Hollow, Caroline Frost delivers a stunner of a debut novel that reads more like the work of an accomplished master. Everything you could want in a novel is here: rich, evocative settings, conflicted loyalties and hearts, and a slow fuse of a plot that throws off plenty of sparks on its way to final ignition. This immersive, full-bodied novel will keep its hooks in you long after the last page is read, and marks the arrival of a tremendously wise and talented writer. I think we can look forward to many more fine books from Caroline Frost."" — Ben Fountain, New York Times bestselling author of Beautiful Country Burn Again “Paper Moon meets Badlands in this mesmerizing Texas backroads thriller, a twisty story of a runaway girl who finds a home and a desperate love on the road with an opportunistic criminal, and the long comet’s tail of their story. A notable debut, drenched in regional detail and told in a gritty, sensual prose.” — Janet Fitch, #1 New York Times bestselling author of White Oleander, on Shadows of Pecan Hollow “How do we let go of a dark, menacing past, especially when a dangerous love still binds us to it? Frost’s extraordinary debut is about Kit, a young mother struggling to raise her daughter, and to erase her abduction at 13 by a thief, who coerced her into crime and into his heart. Dazzling, unexpected, and profound, this is a shattering page-turner about how love can twist our lives into something we no longer recognize, and how we might find our way back to our best selves and to the communities that just might save us. In a word: brilliant.”  — Caroline Leavitt, New York Times bestselling author of With or Without You, on Shadows of Pecan Hollow “Demonstrating a polished sense of setting and characterization, Frost crafts a deftly complex, psychologically astute, and deeply unsettling debut novel.” — Booklist on Shadows of Pecan Hollow “Heart-rending… Frost puts her background as a marriage and family therapist to good use in crafting [main character] Kit. Less perceptive writers may have written Kit as a cli­ché, but Frost guides the reader to understand Kit’s story and the reasons behind her susceptibility to a charismatic egotist.” — BookPage on Shadows of Pecan Hollow “What immense talent flows through this spellbinding story! Everything is here: magnetic characters, fierce momentum, and great authenticity of voice, place, and thought. I was stunned in the best possible way throughout. How does Caroline Frost do it, I marveled; how does she know this? What an amazing, rewarding feat of craftsmanship and love!”  — Elinor Lipman, author of Ms. Demeanor, on Shadows of Pecan Hollow “Shadows of Pecan Hollow is a hugely satisfying slow burn of a novel that builds to a wrenching, unforgettable blaze. Frost explores the lives of her complex, arresting characters with nuance, compassion, and an unwavering gaze. Highly recommended.” — Lou Berney, Edgar-award winning author of November Road “Caroline Frost's beautiful and clear-eyed debut captures the huge comfort of even deeply flawed love and how our urge for survival can distort our lives as easily as it can straighten them into something true. But it also shows us that with enough patience, for ourselves as well as for others, we all have the capacity to heal even the most stubborn of wounds. These are characters you'll carry with you long after you've read the last page.” — Stacey Swann, author of Olympus, Texas, on Shadows of Pecan Hollow “With a strong sense of time and place, Caroline Frost's debut novel weaves an authentic southern tale of need, necessity, survival, and forgiveness, with love as the enduring force that guides.” — Deb Spera, author of Call Your Daughter Home, on Shadows of Pecan Hollow ""He’s a charismatic criminal; she’s a dirt-streaked runaway who doesn’t feel pain. Their ensuing crime spree sits like a rock in your stomach, and fifteen years later, when he comes back to haunt her, you'll reach for your phone to dial 911. In this gorgeous, completely addictive debut of love gone bad, Caroline Frost churns up an atmosphere sinister and sour as wind whipping off the oil rigs in Galveston—and a heroine so toughened and feral, readers won't want to step out of her brave, quick-witted, leather-bound hide for a single moment."" — Barbara Bourland, author of Fake Like Me, on Shadows of Pecan Hollow"

Author Information

Caroline Frost has a Master of Professional Writing degree from the University of Southern California and is a practicing Marriage and Family Therapist. Although she currently resides in Pasadena, California, with her husband and three small children, her East Texas roots run deep. Shadows of Pecan Hollow is her first novel.

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