The Only One Left
In 1983, home-health aide Kit McDeere arrives at Hope's End, a crumbling mansion perched on the Maine coast. Her new patient is Lenora Hope, who, as a teenager in 1929, was suspected of murdering her entire family but never convicted. Now confined to a wheelchair and unable to speak, Lenora communicates only by typewriter. As Kit begins to uncover the truth about that infamous night, she realizes the secrets of Hope's End are far from buried - and someone will do anything to keep them hidden.
- Kit - Home-health aide
- Lenora - Paralyzed old woman
- Virginia - Lenora's sister
- Winston - Virginia and Lenora's father
- Evangeline - Virginia and Lenora's mother
- Ricky - Virginia's lover
- Kit McDeere takes a job at Hope's End caring for Lenora.
- Lenora, communicates with Kit through a typewriter, recounting the infamous 1929 Hope family murders.
- In 1929 family tensions had been escalating - Virginia was in a forbidden romance with Ricky and became pregnant.
- Virginia's baby was secretly taken away by her father to protect the family's reputation, devastating her.
- On the night of the murders, Evangeline killed Winston, Ricky killed Evangeline, and Virginia cast Ricky out over his actions.
- Distraught by her lost loved ones, Virginia tried to hang herself, but Lenora cut her down and saved her.
- The real Lenora escaped abroad to Europe after the murders, while Virginia assumed her identity as the mute, paralyzed survivor.
- In old age, the real Lenora quietly returned to Hope's End disguised as a servant and spent her later years caring for Virginia, who everyone believed was Lenora.
- Kit begins to uncover more of the past and learns that Ricky - Virginia's forbidden lover - is also her father, tying her directly to the Hope family tragedy.
- During a storm, Hope's End begins to crumble; in the collapse, both Ricky and the real Lenora are killed while Virginia survives.
- Virginia leaves to travel the world with her newly discovered granddaughter, Jessie, and dies at age 101.
- Kit - Alive - Stays friends with Virginia until her death
- Lenora - Dead - Dies in the collapse of Hope's End
- Virginia - Dead - Dies of old age
- Winston - Dead - Killed by Evangeline
- Evangeline - Dead - Killed by Ricky
- Ricky - Dead - Dies in the collapse of Hope's End
- Jessie - Alive - Travels the world with her grandmother, Virginia
- Murder
- Suicide
- Death of parent
- Pregnancy
- Sexual content
- Homophobia
- Infertility
Bittersweet
Publisher: Dutton
ISBN: 9780593183229
Publish Date: June 20, 2023
Note: Details are for the original edition. Other formats, editions, and audiobook versions may be available.