The Last to See Me (The Last Ghost #1)

Stunning and provocative. Original and imaginative. M Dressler’s new novel, “The Last to See Me” is a treasure to read! From the opening with “He’s come to clean me out. It’s a simple as that. He’s come to scrape me clean, like a strand of meat clinging to a mussel’s shell” to the final words, Dressler’s writing shines throughout every page. With a ghost as narrator, this story twists inside out and back and forth with characters rich and developed, such as the innocent (we assume) agent, Ellen De Wright, the wearied Mrs. Folde who hurls back in time, to Alice Lambry, the lonely head of Lambry House, to Philip Pratt, the cleaner himself. And then there is the memorable Emma…how I fell in love with this woman. Young, hard-working, she falls for the young Quint Lambry but what follows as the story progresses tugs at the heart. I was not prepared for the ending which is another gem in this novel. I plan on reading everything else by Dressler. She’s a writer to be cherished.

The Last To See Me
By M Dressler

Reviewed by Jay Gilbertson

Who doesnt like a ghost story with a twist? Or, in this particular story, several twists, and some nasty turns, add a tragic love story, a blood-thirsty rose bush and, of course, the ghost. Welcome to Benito, California, home of the renowned Lambry House and where most of our story unfolds. Ellen DeWight, short, firecracker real-estate agent representing the Lambry property, is showing the place when our story begins and Emma Rose Finnis makes her ghostly debut.
He reached out for his wife, his love. But she wasnt there. Because a blackness, a blackness only a ghost can summon, was opening underneath them. His wife was near his feet, being pulled under. Pulling at himHe fell to his knees with her. He felt her wet, sinking cheeks. He reached for her arms. But his hands fluttered, thrashing, in something else. Water, water rising all around them.
Enter Phillip Pratt, ghost exterminator extraordinaire, armed with his magic wrist-thingy, we are literally off and de-haunting! This tale seems to be set in the near future when ghosts are considered something in the realm of a pest to be gotten rid of. Cleaned is the term author Dressler offers and how this is done exactly is slowly revealed as the layers of history behind Emma Roses need to haunt the Lambry House are peeled away.
When Emma Rose was a young nineteen-year-old, she drew the attentions of Quint Lambry. He, belonging to the well-to-do Lambry clan versus Emma, a mere washer-woman of a lowly class, set Quints mothers mind to task. She had to get her sons obvious intentions banished from that wretched Emma. So, off to Lighthouse Point Emma was sent to become housekeeper for the assistant lightkeeper and his growing family.
Though Quint does find his way out to the Point, and visits Emma Rose nearly every week in the beginning of her exile, things soon spin out of control. Youll have to find out for yourself what sends dear Emma to her haunting prison of the undead.
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 loves much darker side.
I wonder if the living understand how ghostly love is, truly, how hard it is to put your finger on itIs it love when your feet move faster and the lane seems suddenly twice as longIs it love when you see the future stretching out in front of you, endless as the sea?
Though I did have to re-read the final chapter in order to grasp all that Pratt had set loose in his haste to exorcise the Lambry House of its ghostly inhabitants, I was happy to learn that in the end, it was Emma Rose who

Youll have to ask Emma
Happy Haunted Halloween!

I decided to read this novel after learning that it had won a contest that looks for novels to turn into movie screenplays (the Book Pipeline contest). And this story could make a good movie. But, as I read the novel, I went back and forth between loving certain parts and then feeling dissapointed in others. I didn’t love the opening pages, but after reading for 3-4 pages, the story picked up and I loved the early chapters, and most of the story after that. But towards the end, the story felt a bit erratic and I found the ending dissapointing. So, I give it 3 stars. A satisfying ending seems tricky for many authors to pull off, but I like to find that in a story, hence my so-so review. Again, I did love many chapters of this novel, but it could have been even better.

I don’t normally get wrapped up in the books that I read but this book really sucked me in right from the start. I really loved that it was told from the point of view of the ghost that was haunting the house. I found that I could relate to many of the characters in the book, even to some who were not so likable. I also loved the way that the author wove the story lines together with everything eventually coming together and culminating in the final climax between the ghost, Emma Rose Finnis, and Phillip Pratt the ghost hunter.

I pride myself with my ability to predict the outcome of a book long before the author makes it obvious. With this book I was able to foresee 3 or 4 possible outcomes, only 2 of which seemed likely. I was wrong on all counts. The ending caught me completely by surprise and I had to reread the last few chapters twice to make sure that I got it right. I don’t know what the author intends to do, but it seems to me that she has left an opening for a follow on story that continues where this one left off.

In summary, this is an excellent book and for me at least, a totally captivating read.

Wickedly well-written! Like a painting with words, Dressler creates a ghost who is in fact deeply human, proud and confident, and capable of making mistakes. A ghost who lurks in mirrors and crystal chandeliers, but also feels pain, betrayal, and yes, uncontrollable anger. The connections between the supernatural and the real continue in the plot line that takes us seamlessly between the past life of Emma Rose Finnis and the present, where she is hunted by Philip Pratt, a strong and dependable man who is ignorant of a ghosts complex desires.

This literary ghost story is unlike anything I have ever read. I found myself eating up the page-turning action while halting to a stop every few paragraphs to reread a particularly beautiful and meaningful passage. The complex layers of gender and class identity reveal the all-too-current struggles of todays marginalized groups, and I was left breathless and shaken at moments: spooked, educated and inspired all at once.

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