The Last Life tells the story of the teenage Sagesse LaBasse and her family, French Algerian emigrants haunted by their history, brought to the brink of destruction by a single reckless act. Observed with a fifteen-year-olds ruthless regard for truth, it is a novel about secrets and ghosts, love and honour, the stories we tell ourselves and the lies to which we cling. It is a work of stunning emotional power, written in prose of matchless iridescence and grace. Powerful, Gripping, dark at its heart, this is an almost faultless novel Evening Standard A joy to read. Messuds prose is lush, incantatory . . . her observations are funnily astute, brimming with wit and imagination . . . as elegant and precise as geometry Independent Mesmerizing . . . Ms Messud has written a large and resonant novel that is as artful as it is affecting New York Times