3.5 stars

I really liked the premise of "The Last Hours" but none of the characters were really developed enough to make me care about their fates.

Thaddaeus, one of the protagonists, is rather unlikable and his refusal to communicate with his companions is rather frustrating. Lady Anne is more likable but the storyline dealing with her and her daughter's relationship feels rather exaggerated. None of the other characters are really fleshed out and every member of the ruling class, except for Lady Anne, is portrayed as almost cartoonishly evil.

The plot is interesting enough but none of the conflicts are really explored. The ending was rather frustrating as well because it's just there. There is no real climax, the cliffhanger that is set up in the last five pages is resolved on the last half-page and then it just ends with "to be continued". As a result, the ending falls rather flat.

Overall, this novel deals with an interesting point in history but doesn't really do it justice.

I enjoyed the glimpse of history Walters gives us in these books - with the added touches of gruesome detail of victims of both the Black Death and villany which you'd expect from the author of numerous crime thrillers - and I enjoyed the way that she has thought about the attitudes to gender, class and religion of the times. While the Black Death obviously didn't do away with the power of the church or medieval attitudes to women and the labouring classes I find it easy to believe that some people began to question the status quo. My only quibble would be that I think the pacing of the two books was a bit uneven - lots of discussions of Church versus faith, whether women having any power is a sign of witchcraft or heresy etc mixed in with the more dramatic scenes - but I'm not sure I could identify which scenes could be cut. Maybe instead of a two book series it should have been spread out over three slightly less weighty tomes - but then, of course, I'd have to have waited longer for the satisfying conclusion to the story of Lady Anne and Thaddeus Thurkell, and the other inhabitants of Develish.

I really enjoyed this book. I haven't read any other works by Minette Walters so this was a bit of a leap of faith, it turned out to be a leap well worth making. The story starts just as the Black Death arrives in Dorset and follows the inhabitants of a manor (demesne), serfs and nobles alike, as they fight to stay alive. You follow the story of Sir Richard, his wife Lady Anne, their daughter Lady Eleanor, their steward and their serfs. As the story progresses you follow them as the plague strikes, forcing them to make hard decisions driven by the need to survive. This needs unmasks all for who they really are, it strips away pretence.

Mrs Walters has drawn some wonderful characters, even those who you come to loathe for their lack of humanity and self-centred bigotry, come to life on the page. The story she weaves is engaging and compelling, you can't help wondering what happens next.

Although I love well written historical novels, I am wary because there are so many poor ones. I am so glad I took a chance on this book and I am looking forward to reading the next one in the series to find out what happens next.

I found it difficult to rate this book as I am very split. I enjoyed the story, it was compelling and interesting. There was, on the one hand, a certain reality about the period and the detail of the black death. Although I found this to be a little superficial with more description than depth. On the other hand I found the story itself - young men go off on a quest, was perhaps more at home in a fantasy book albeit an original twist on one. So for me it was a very enjoyable light read and nothing more. I was irritated to find that this was not a standalone book. I would like to know this before I start reading

I wasn't sure if I would enjoy this book, I was proved wrong and found it a complete page turner. Brilliantly set in the time of a plague with well drawn characters, you really wanted to find out what would happen next.

A well written and engaging story. I enjoy novels set in this time period and felt that Minette Walters managed to capture a flavour of the era. It kept my interest.

Furnished with exacting description and filled with historical fact, Minette Walters’ The Last Hours is both ambitious in scope and impressively well-researched, but ultimately this epic tale of medieval tragedy fails to do justice to its wide cast.

Located deep in the medieval countryside and seemingly blessed with green, fertile land, life in the small demesne of Develish would seem almost idyllic, if it were not for the cruel and tyrannical lord who rules there. But it is on his journey south to find a suitable husband for his equally heartless daughter that he, and almost all his men, succumb to a mysterious disease that turns the fingers black, covers the body with strange lumps, and eventually kills the afflicted. Faced with the pitiless spread of this fatal disease, and with the entire social order threatened by the resulting turmoil, the Lord’s wife Lady Anne and her loyal servant Thaddeus must save the entire community of Develish from disease, disaster, and death itself…

With a keen eye for factual detail, Walters’ first foray into historical fiction serves both as a dexterous display of her skill for description, and as a dynamic example of her strength for background research. The fact that neither the novel’s country setting, nor the able depiction of the medieval landscape contained therein, ever feel out of place is testament to her storytelling ability. At the same time, her focus on different medieval attitudes both intrigues and interests a contemporary reader, leaving us impatient to discover more about this world so distant from our own.

But for all the novel’s interest in historical accuracy, it often feels as if Walters wants to have it both ways: her characters are both backwards in attitude and blessed with impossible foresight. Our protagonist Lady Anne is, for example, so prescient as to seem like a modern woman transplanted into a medieval serfdom, complete with an anachronistic understanding of medicine and a desire to reform Develish into some democratic utopia. Compared to the resourceful Thaddeus and loyal steward Gyles Startout, Lady Anne sticks out: simply put, Walters’ description of her is so thoroughly modern as to undermine any credibility the character might once have had.

Evidently the believability of the principal characters in The Last Hours is a weak point in the novel, but it is far from the only problem to affect the main cast. Although Gyles Startout may be slightly more credible than the woman he serves, he too has become dull by the novel’s conclusion; like Lady Anne, he appears more like a cardboard cut-out version of a medieval peasant than a fully-developed, well-rounded character.

His stereotype of a character is well demonstrated in Walters’ constant eagerness to play the English peasants of her novel off against their French occupiers; and while for a more adept author this conflict would provide the apple of discord at the heart of the story, The Last Hours squanders such dramatic potential. In Walters’ novel, Englishmen can only be heroes, and Normans only villains.

It is a dichotomy present too in her depiction of the relationship between Lady Anne and her bitter, hateful daughter Eleanor. Walters seems to subscribe so wholly to the popular understanding of the Madonna-whore complex, with Lady Anne a mild-mannered saint in comparison with her sexually promiscuous, angry teenage daughter, that the reader wonders to what end she made two of her main characters female, if their only purpose is to contrast each other in an archaic, and frankly insulting, fashion.

Although The Last Hours does begins with an interesting premise, and at times does fulfil the nightmarish quality expected in a novel about the most horrific of diseases, such dystopian potential is a rare occurrence in a story hindered by its sheer length and lack of editing. In its strongest moments, The Last Hours considers the very human fear of not only dying from the plague, but also of being entirely forgotten by history, of being lost to the sands of time. But as the reader’s own enthusiasm for Walters’ protagonist wanes, and we lose interest in her story as a whole, we begin to wonder if forgetting the novel’s characters is really such a loss.

(Thank you so much to Atlantic Books and Allen & Unwin for offering me the chance to review this book; I received a free copy through NetGalley for an honest review).

This is set in June 1348 and The Black Death has arrived, killing many thousands of souls.

On the estate of Develish, Lady Anne tries to help control of her people's future.

This feels like an authentic atmosphere of the time and is a riveting read and well written by Minette Walters, but I found it a bit of a disappointing end albeit with some excellent characters.

I appreciate there is a follow up to this book but ‘to be continued ‘ left me frustrated. That being said it’s still an excellent read.

I would like to thank the Author/the Publishers/NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a fair and honest review

A stunning novel. Thank you to Netgalley for providing a copy.

The Last Hours is a wonderful book. I can't recommend it enough. It's been some time since something has hooked me so entirely and I was thoroughly engrossed by the characters, time period and the portrayal of the Black Death and its devastating consequences. The fact that I now want to research the time period more, is a sure sign that the novel has well and truly drawn me in.

Social upheaval lies at the heart of The Last Hours, with the juxtaposition of the 'status quo' of the Norman 'overlords' against the perceived possibilities of a future for the serfs of Develish, where they've paid their way out of their serfdom, which gains momentum when the implications of the devastation to the population of Dorsetshire starts to be understood and comprehended by those in isolation. Coupled with the influence of the Church, as directed by the Papacy, and a more enlightened Christian doctrine as understood by Lady Anne, raised in a nunnery, social strife is inevitable in the confined space of the seclusion on the moated manor house of Lady Anne's dead husband.

This is a novel that weaves many threads, and while the images of the devastated villages might be the most haunting, with unburied bodies and an explosion of the rat population, it is the combination of all the stories, that makes this such a rich tapestry. I am only pleased that I have Book 2 to read immediately!

The Last Hours is a story set in medieval England, the year 1348, the Black Death is destroying villages and huge amounts of people. The novel centres on Lady Anne and her steward Thaddeus who quarantine their estate by bringing the serfs into the moated manor house. Isolated from the outside world, conflict arises, the possibility of rupturing the existing social order as well as the fear of what is also happening elsewhere. A consuming and powerful novel. I look forward to reading the sequel.

Loved this book! A new view of the black death and the issues affecting ordinary people. A touch too 21st century at times, but not necessarily beyond believable and I'm sure the author did her research!

1346 – all hell breaks loose – enthralling novel

Known for her thrillers, Minette Walters has written an enthralling novel about how the Black Death affects a small community in Dorset. There are many contrasting and interesting characters from Lords to serfs, all well-developed and contributing to the plot. This develops very nicely with intrigues, murder, lies and suspicion. There is plenty to enjoy and it is definitely a page-turner.

If I had a gripe, it is the words To Be Continued at the end although it works easily as a stand-alone book. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Minette Walters has branched out into the genre of historical fiction, setting her latest novel in the Dorset of 1348 where the Black Death is decimating villages, invoking terror and inciting lawlessness. However, the serfs of Develish have been blessed by sympathetic, wise Lady Anne who rules over them, now that her corrupt husband Sir Richard has succumbed to the plague. She is that rare (unknown?) example of democracy amongst the aristocracy who believes that her serfs are as entitled to justice, good health, food and housing – and even their freedom – as she is. Indeed, she appears a little too contemporary for medieval life! Working with her steward Thaddeus Thurkell, Lady Anne ensures that her villagers are protected from the plague through thorough attention to hygiene, the encouragement of democracy and careful planning.
So where is the tension, other than the ever-present threat of death, necessary to draw the reader into a historical tome such as this? It comes in the person of Anne’s daughter, fourteen-year-old Eleanor who is extraordinarily cruel, wilful and insensitive, creating huge problems for the people of her demesne.
The author has clearly researched her subject matter meticulously and she regularly reminds the reader not just about the tough existence of life on the land in fourteenth century England but also spares no details of the horrors of the plague. From suppurating boils to the stench of rotting corpses we are given a (more than!) warts and all picture of the destruction of feudal life in 1348 and asked to imaging how different life will be when much of the labouring population has been decimated.
Walters paints a very vivid picture of this troubled time and her central characters’ interplay is also interesting. In particular, I enjoyed reading how the relationship between Thaddeus and the adolescent boys develops as they leave the shelter of Develish, and the description of the Dorset countryside as they travel into unknown territory is also vivid. However, there are too many unnecessary passages describing the minutiae of hunting, mending and making do to give the narrative the pace it requires to keep this reader interested throughout. Let’s hope this mistake has been rectified in the sequel.
My thanks to NetGalley and Allen and Unwin for a copy of this novel in exchange for a fair review.

My thanks to Allen & Unwin and Netgalley for the copy of this ebook in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.
A couple of points to note:
1) I do not do spoilers or dwell on the plot and story. If you want these I suggest you read the publisher's blurb and other reviews - my interest is in the author and her/his craft.
Minette Walters has been one of my favourite authors for a long time and usually she holds me gripped and turning pages long after I should have turned out the light.
This time I have been disappointed maybe it is just the genre - certainly her writing is up to par and her structuring as good as always. It is just a problem I have with accepting her lead characters and the basic concept of the novel. I am aware that at Eyam in Derbyshire the villages refused entry to others once the plague had come to their village and at the cost of some of their their own lives to keep others safe. But to high jack this act of profound sacrifice and hang on it a historical romantic and somewhat fanciful book sits uncomfortably with my experience of the author's previous works. The main characters are too good, too many mores of the period are overturned and this just ends up distorting history even if this tale if fictional.
The splitting of the whole story over two volumes also has attracted negative comments for some readers. Given my copy was in e-book format (and free) it would be discourteous for me to carp but I do think the publisher should have made this clear in a preface or at least on the jacket cover.
I obviously am not going to have a hissy and abandon my reading of Minette Walters future works but I will steer clear of any historical fiction.

Excellent! If you love a sweeping epic, this is perfect for you!

Set in a time we have few records about and when entire communities disappeared, this novel gives insight into some of the thinking of the times and how it might have been for those struggling to comprehend such destruction and death.

I am a fan of Minette Walters books. I did not feel that this book is as good as some of her others. I thought it was too descriptive and I felt that it was heavy going in places. I am very interested in history which is why I kept reading but the writing style made it hard to keep going.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

Minette Walters' first book in 1o years is part 1 of a trilogy about the spread of the Black Death through Dorsetshire in 1348.

Lady Anne is an educated woman who understands that the Black Death is caused by poor hygiene and dirty conditions, not sin, as taught by the church. She turns the manor house into a fortress, even refusing entry to her diseased husband, thereby saving the lives of those safely isolated within its moat and walls. When they start to run out of food, someone has to journey beyond the protective confines of the manor….. What will they find on entering the outside world?

The book highlights not only the horrors of the plague but also the unjust feudal system of the time, the way women were seen as property, 'owned' regardless of class and gives a realistic flavour of what life was like at that time.

I found the book a little long and slow paced at times, and had I not known it was part of a trilogy, I would have been rather exasperated by the "to be continued' at the end. However, I am looking forward to reading the remaining books in the series.

Many thanks to the author, publishers and NetGalley for this ARC in advance of the sequel, The Turn of Midnight, to be published in October.

An exciting first half of a tale set during the Black Plague in England during the fourteenth century. Can’t wait to read Book Two. For full review please see https://joebloggshere.tumblr.com/post/178011187851/the-last-hours-by-minette-walters-this-is-my-first

This book was not to my taste; I am a fan of Kate Mosse which this novel was compared to hence my request but I found it very slow and it did not capture my attention, so unfortunately I did not finish it at 28%.

A most interesting story of how a village community survives the Black Death. When the Lord of the Manor while on his travels dies of the Black Death results in the Lady of the manor to be left in charge. She decides to rally the people around her within the moat that surrounds the manor so as to be isolated from the disease. In her way she has been managing the fiefdom on liberal principles reminiscent of the Bounrville village project of more modern times. How she copes with the tensions that can arise from within and the dangers from without makes the story until the last hours before food runs out and starvation is the last challenge. A fascinating slice of social history that ends with a promise of more to follow.