The Last Thing He Told Me Book Club Questions

Welcome to the Buddy Book Club – we have a light-hearted comedic podcast that covers a variety of books. The Last Thing He Told Me is a mystery thriller novel, by Laura Dave. When Hannah’s husband mysteriously leaves her during an embezzlement investigation, Hannah is left to pick up the pieces (those pieces include her terrible step daughter Bailey). Hannah must search for answers as she tracks down her husbands true identity. 

We did a full breakdown of The Last Thing He Told Me on our podcast episode. The Buddies went full scorched earth on this pod, taking on piggy banks, bad parenting, and Reese Witherspoon and everything in-between. We suggest avoiding this episode if you were a big fan of the book.

Our book club questions try to be a little more outside the box/comedic than your typical book club questions – hopefully you enjoy them.

Book Club Questions – The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave

**We were not big fans of this book sorry in advance for these jaded questions.

 

-> Would people actually care about Owen’s job as a coder at a failed startup? It seems like the whole town treats them like pariahs. Can you name one Enron employee? Would your neighbors care if your dad worked at a company that went under?

Growing up I don’t think I knew what half of my parents did for work, let alone the stock prices of their companies. I would not care.

-> We compared the book to National Treasure meets Stepmom, except instead of Knights Templar artifacts, they’re looking for a pub in Texas. Do you agree with that assessment or did you get different vibes? And could Nicolas Cage have saved this book?

In our view, even the amazingly talented Nic Cage could not have revived this book.

-> Owen hides $600K and crucial documents in Bailey’s childhood piggy bank with a steel safe inside. Did Bailey never try to use her own piggy bank? Is this brilliant planning or the dumbest hiding spot ever? Where would you hide illegal money?

I would do things the ol’ fashioned way. Bury it in the woods somewhere and make an intricate, multi-step treasure map, like God/Nic Cage has always intended.

-> Did you catch Hannah’s woodworking monologue at the end? “It all starts with a good piece of wood. I play with a lot of different wood. Good wood is always defined by one thing.” Is this intentional innuendo or accidental comedy gold?

Sorry sometimes my mind is in the gutter, carry on.

-> Hot take but, I feel like Bailey is one of the absolute worst person in any book I’ve ever read. In fact, I think Owen abandoned her because she’s terrible. Does Bailey deserve any sympathy, or is she just a nightmare stepdaughter who ruins everything?

So unlikeable for seemingly no reason at all?

-> Owen seems to have a lot of red flags: no family, no old friends, no connection to Bailey’s mom’s family, and mysterious past. Hannah never questions any of this for 10+ years. At what point would you have Googled your spouse? Is Hannah dangerously trusting or just willfully ignorant?

Also, what made her fall in love with someone that has none of the above and has a terrible daughter?

-> Grady just shows up on Hannah’s porch and says “You must be Hannah.” Then she goes to get coffee with him. Would you A) Call the police, B) Slam the door, or C) Go get coffee with a stranger who’s basically trespassing?

I would choose option a or b. Hannah is just way too trust worthy.

-> The literal last line is Bailey calling Hannah “mom.” Did you react in the same was as we did by throwing the book across the room? Rate this ending on a scale of 1-10, where 1 is “Disney Channel Original Movie” and 10 is “actual literature.”

Zero.

-> Reese Witherspoon put this on her book club list. Someone on the Buddy Book Club podcast may or mayn’t have accused her of “selling out worse than Purdue Pharma”. Should we cancel Reese’s Book Club, or just be more selective about which recommendations we trust?

We’ve since read a few of Reese’s suggestions and they’re very hit or miss. I wouldn’t trust her though.

->What do you think of the casting of the Apple TV Show? Who would you cast differently?

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