The Last Housewife

A Novel

By: Ashley Winstead

Narrated by: Alexis Van Aiken

From the author of the acclaimed In My Dreams I Hold a Knife comes a pitch-black thriller about a woman determined to destroy a powerful cult and avenge the deaths of the women taken in by it, no matter the cost.

While in college in upstate New York, Shay Evans and her best friends met a captivating man who seduced them with a web of lies about the way the world works, bringing them under his thrall. By senior year, Shay and her friend Laurel were the only ones who managed to escape. Now, eight years later, Shay’s built a new life in a tony Texas suburb. But when she hears the horrifying news of Laurel’s death―delivered, of all ways, by her favorite true-crime podcast crusader―she begins to suspect that the past she thought she buried is still very much alive, and the predators more dangerous than ever.

Recruiting the help of the podcast host, Shay goes back to the place she vowed never to return to in search of answers. As she follows the threads of her friend’s life, she’s pulled into a dark, seductive world, where wealth and privilege shield brutal philosophies that feel all too familiar. When Shay’s obsession with uncovering the truth becomes so consuming she can no longer separate her desire for justice from darker desires newly reawakened, she must confront the depths of her own complicity and conditioning. But in a world built for men to rule it—both inside the cult and outside of it—is justice even possible, and if so, how far will Shay go to get it?

©2022 Ashley Winstead (P)2022 Blackstone Publishing

Critic reviews

2022, LibraryReads

3.5 stars

Rated it a four overall but, for me, it’s more 3.5.
The performance is fantastic but I found myself wanting to book to be over. I think others will love it, I just found it too slow.
I will say, the subject matter is scary as a woman, especially in todays world. I wouldn’t recommend for anyone who has been sexually assaulted.

Wow!! Loved it!

well done great done unfortunately the story is probably a lot more real than anybody even knows . Great narration well put together makes you want more of the story. Definitely worth the credit.

Such a ridiculous stretch

Wow. I found this so hokey and I could not find myself invested in any character. So far fetched and the story line relies on so many women repeatedly making obvious poor decisions. Really very inane and too over the top to the point of, “who really cares anymore?”

Good story

A story of how men can dominate women. And how a woman can be so damaged inside as to seek it. Not really my cup of tea but it was well told and well narrated.

Great book

I enjoyed listening to the narrator, the attention to detail in building the characters and the story. I’m usually able to anticipate what is going to happen, but was not able to this time.

Great twists and turns

Very good performance. Loves the story line. Kept me engaged and was a fast listen.

Murder Mystery Meets Smut

Just when I thought I knew what was going to happen next, I was proven wrong. This was a great vacation read for me! There should likely be some trigger warnings.

Whoa

There is a lot to unpack in this layered and deep novel. First, let me state, there is a disturbing amount of ugliness and trauma in the book, but it is not glamorized or dramatized. The author takes on a difficult subject by objectivity staring it in the face. None of it was gratuitous. This is a difficult topic that is examined by many many angles. While I do agree that there should be some sort of trigger warning in the description,
I do not agree that survivors of sexual trauma would want to steer clear of The Last Housewife.

This book examines the perceived and real power and control mechanisms between men and women. From the physical, mental, emotional, and probably most disturbing, deep social norms and expectations.

While attempting to uncover what happened to two of her college friends, our often very unlikable, but somehow also relatable, heroine slowly reveals her past via interviews with a childhood friend who runs a very successful podcast. Readers are left wondering not only what happened to the girls, but often sitting on the edge of their seat trying to decide who and what kind of person our protagonist is.

Windstead’s storytelling mechanism provides an almost kaleidoscope of shifting views from chapter to chapter allowing readers to constantly challenge their own views about men, women, sexuality, and their roles and expected behaviors.

I won’t reveal any more, other than to say I highly highly recommend this book. It will leave you reeling and with many thoughts, from disgust and disbelief at the character’s ability to fall prey to a cult, to a concerning realization that maybe it isn’t that unbelievable.

just .. wow!

I'm pleasantly surprised! that was soo good! I really am at a loss got words

People need to know how to pronounce words.

Pater is not pot-air as the narrator says. It is Pay-ter. It’s father in German and goes along with the women being called Daughters. Paters and Daughters. Fathers and Daughters.