The Last Noel [Paperback]

Michael Malone (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2003

Award-winning author Michael Malones The Last Noel is a beautiful gift to American fiction. In a deeply touching tale, The Last Noel captures the exuberance and poignance of a lasting friendship between a man and a woman from very different backgrounds. Noni Tilden and Kaye King grow up and grow close as their lives come dramatically together through four decades of tumultuous change in a small southern town.

The story begins in 1963 when Kaye first meets Noni on the eve of their seventh birthdays. On that Christmas Eve, Kaye climbs through her bedroom window to invite her to come sledding with him in a rare southern snowfall. Over the next thirty years on twelve days of Christmas, they meet to share the passion, the sacrifice and the romance of a lifetime. At once exquisitely written and tearfully joyful, The Last Noel is one of the great love stories of our time.

A Book Sense 76 Top 10 Selection

"Malones latest novel reaffirms his brilliance in crafting carefully plotted fiction with a literary burnish, most often through Southern manners and intrigue."
-Denver Post

"A warm, engaging love story."
-Booklist

"Malone writes with such quiet authority and clear understanding of the world his characters inhabit that the story strikes deep emotional chords."-Washington Post Book World

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Michael Malone is the author of nine novels, one collection of short stories and two works of nonfiction. Educated at Carolina and at Harvard, he has taught at Yale, the University of Pennsylvania and Swarthmore. Among his prizes are the Edgar, the O. Henry, the Writers Guild Award and the Emmy. He lives in Hillsborough, North Carolina, with his wife, Maureen Quilligan, chair of the English department at Duke University.

Product Details

• Paperback: 292 pages
• Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark (October 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1402201478
• ISBN-13: 978-1402201479
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #800,666 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars OK for a Christmas novelty book, November 4, 2005

By 

Francesca "Francesca" (Hyattsville, MD USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Last Noel (Paperback)

I admit to a mad passion for MOST of the work of Michael Malone, and was so sad to see he had succumbed to the temptation to write a "christmas book". I was so shocked I did not buy it- the only available Malone I don't own. Still, when my curiosity got the best of me in the library one day, I took it home and read it. And true to Malone's talent, it was readable and interesting and I got engaged by the characters and the perfect writing. Still, it isn't up to the standards of his best work (Try Foolscap or the Times Witness/Uncivil Seasons mysteries, for example) and I regret he didn't save the story for a deeper and less overtly commercial book. He's too good to be on a shelf with the likes of "The Christmas Gift".

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Last Noel - Alison Owens, December 31, 2004

By 

Alison S. Owens "not a real reviewer" (St. Louis, Mo) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Last Noel (Paperback)

My best friend and I have a book exchange in that we take turns choosing a book to read each month. For December I picked this book and my friend was unimpressed. I procrastinated the book because of his bad reviews until yesterday. I wasn't supposed to like it and therefore didn't for the first few pages. After that, I got hooked and read it in a day. I even stayed up this morning til 2:30 to finish it. I cried for a good hour (maybe two - I'm trying not to exaggerate) of my reading. I particularly loved the gift exchange between the two best friends. Malone captured a great deal of their love for each other in the gifts they gave. The most memorable part for me was the end, when he walked into the hall closet to get the sled and told his son "It was your mother's first gift to me....and she gave me so many". I have thought about the book all day today and grieved for Kaye, Noni, Amma and Johnny.

My husband is a professional musician and he sometimes makes fun of my choices in music. They are not musically sophisiticated enough for him. Just yesterday I heard Whitney Houston's "I will always love you" and he said he thought it had been butchered by too many singers for him to like it. The song strikes deep emotional chords for me, despite my husband's critique of it.

This book does the same despite my best friend's critique. I think when I see it on my book shelf, I will get a feeling like I do when I hear Whitney sing "I will always love you".

5.0 out of 5 stars A Wonderful Christmas Book, November 28, 2010

By 

E. Riego (Miami, Florida) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Last Noel (Paperback)

Amid the presents, Christmas lights, hot chocolate and the smell of Christmas trees comes a story about a friendship that defies the racial norms in Moors, North Carolina in 1963. Kaye King first met Noelle Tilden on Christmas Eve, the night before her seventh birthday and Christmas. A perchance sleigh ride on the first night of snow, turns into an interracial relationship that spans thirty years. Never able to express their love for each in a racially divided world, Noni and Kaye live their separate lives while vowing to meet every Christmas Eve for a sleigh ride at Noni's family farm. Through the many twists and turns of life, their friendship stays strong and their love for each other endures. Noni and Kaye's story teaches us that the meaning of Christmas has nothing to do with physical gifts or differences, but is about the love that surrounds us--a love that outlives any obstacles.