The Last Thing He Told Me, Laura Dave [graded readers txt] 📗

Marysue Rucci, your thoughtful edits and sage comments have elevated this novel in every way. Thank you for being the best partner a writer could hope for, my dream editor, and a dear friend.

My gratitude to the amazing team at Simon & Schuster: Dana Canedy, Jonathan Karp, Hana Park, Navorn Johnson, Richard Rhorer, Elizabeth Breeden, Zachary Knoll, Jackie Seow, Wendy Sheanin, Maggie Southard, and Julia Prosser; and to Andrea Blatt, Laura Bonner, Anna Dixon, and Gabby Fetters at WME.

Sylvie Rabineau, we’ve been in this thing together since book one, day one. Thank you for being my most trusted advisor, Jacob’s “Sylv,” and one of my favorite people on the planet. I love you.

I am indebted to Katherine Eskovitz and Greg Andres for their legal expertise, to Simone Puglia for being a great Austin guide, and to Niko Canner and Uyen Tieu for the gorgeous woodturned bowl that sits on my desk, and that inspired so much of Hannah.

For reading many drafts (over the last eight years!) and providing other invaluable help and insight, thank you: Allison Winn Scotch, Wendy Merry, Tom McCarthy, Emily Usher, Stephen Usher, Johanna Shargel, Jonathan Tropper, Stephanie Abram, Olivia Hamilton, Damien Chazelle, Shauna Seliy, Dusty Thomason, Heather Thomason, Amanda Brown, Erin Fitchie, Lynsey Rubin, Liz Squadron, Lawrence O’Donnell Jr., Kira Goldberg, Erica Tavera, Lexi Eskovitz, Sasha Forman, Kate Capshaw, James Feldman, Jude Hebert, Kristie Macosko Krieger, Marisa Yeres Gill, Dana Forman, and Allegra Caldera. And a special thank you to Lauren Levy Neustadter, Reese Witherspoon, Sarah Harden, and the incredible team at Hello Sunshine—your belief in this book is nothing short of a dream come true.

My heartfelt gratitude also to the Dave and Singer families and to my wonderful friends for their unwavering love and support. And to the readers, book groups, booksellers, and book lovers whose company I am so grateful to keep.

Finally, my guys.

Josh, I’m not quite sure what to thank you for first. It probably should be something about how this novel wouldn’t exist without you and your faith in me (it wouldn’t), or how I can’t quite believe I get to have a partner who, after thirteen years, I’m still so crazy about. But is it okay if I start with the coffee? I so love the coffee. And I love you beyond all measure.

Jacob, my inimitable, big-hearted, wise, hilarious little man. I was reborn when you entered this world. And now I walk through it grateful and humbled by everything you teach me. What can I say, kid, that I don’t tell you every day? The great blessing of my life is being your mama.

More from the Author

Hello, Sunshine

Eight Hundred Grapes

About the Author

© KATHERINE ESKOVITZ

Laura Dave is the national and international bestselling author of several critically acclaimed novels, including Eight Hundred Grapes and The First Husband. Her work has been published in eighteen countries, and five of her novels, including The Last Thing He Told Me, have been optioned for film and television. She resides in Santa Monica, California.

SimonandSchuster.com

www.SimonandSchuster.com/Authors/Laura-Dave

@simonbooks

Also by Laura Dave

Hello, Sunshine

Eight Hundred Grapes

The First Husband

The Divorce Party

London Is the Best City in America

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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2021 by Laura Dave

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First Simon & Schuster hardcover edition May 2021

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Interior design by Paul Dippolito

Jacket design by Pete Garceau

Front cover photographs by pilesasmiles/Getty Images and ELENAVOLKOVA/iStock/Getty Images

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Dave, Laura, author.

Title: The last thing he told me : a novel / Laura Dave.

Description: First Simon & Shuster hardcover edition. | New York City : Simon & Schuster, 2021. | Summary: “When her husband of a year disappears, Hannah quickly learns he is not who he said he was and is left to sort out the truth with just one ally- her husband’s teenage daughter, who hates her”-- Provided by publisher.

Identifiers: LCCN 2020021203 | ISBN 9781501171345 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781501171369 (ebook)

Classification: LCC PS3604.A938 L37 2021 | DDC 813/.6--dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020021203

ISBN 978-1-5011-7134-5

ISBN 978-1-5011-7136-9 (ebook)