Last Night in Montreal

Written by Emily St. John Mandel

Narrated by Alyssa Bresnahan

In this stirring debut novel, Emily St. John Mandel crafts a story of love and obsession. Lilia Albert can’t remember many details from her childhood—she just knows she was always on the move. As an adult, she travels compulsively, leaving behind friends and lovers all over the world. But when one man refuses to let go and follows her to Montreal, Lilia is forced to come to grips with a past filled with more questions than answers.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books Audio
• Release date: Jan 1, 2009
• ISBN: 9781440760341

Emily St. John Mandel

Emily St. John Mandel was born in Canada and studied dance at The School of Toronto Dance Theatre. Her novels are Last Night in Montreal, The Singer’s Gun, The Lola Quartet, Station Eleven and The Glass Hotel. She lives in New York City.

Reviews for Last Night in Montreal

[rdra1962 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Chose this from the library because of the title, but it was a real page turner! on of the best alternating chapter books I have come across in a long time. Read as fast as i could to "solve" the story/mystery. However, it is one of the worst representations of Montreal I have ever read!!! It says the author lived there, but I don't believe it! Mtl. Tourism should sue her!LOL!

[jimelkins · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

This is a partial review because I am mainly interested in how Mandel manages the specialized academic material she brings into her novel. It's a writing problem: I think the material does not do what she hopes it will, which is to help give her love story the grain and texture of reality.* It's tempting, in writing, to choose a body of knowledge to serve as a portable allegory for your story. "Last Night in Montreal" is a story about trauma and repression, and it is ornamented by a body of knowledge: the study of vanishing languages. The principal character, Eli, is writing his thesis (PhD dissertation) on the subject, and he is in love with a woman who has been vanishing her entire life: she was taken by her father from an abusive mother, and the father and daughter traveled for many years. The woman, Lilia, falls in love with Eli and takes a deep interest in his work. The book has many stories about exotic words and unusual languages.It is a very common strategy to choose a corpus of knowledge and mine it for allegories and tropes. But it is seldom done well. In some books Richard Powers pulls it off wonderfully, and in others less so. You don't want to lecture the reader, and you don't want to break the suspension of disbelief by compelling your reader to ask how the author did her research. But above all it's not a good idea to parade facts as ready-made allegories.The following passage has all three faults:"Or the Australian Guugu Yimithir, a language of ferociously absolute positioning, in which there is no way to tell someone, for instance, that Lilia is standing to your left; you'd have to say, instead, 'Lilia is standing to the west of me.'" (p. 44)This pontificates, it raises the specter of Mandel, peering into her book of vanishing languages and copying out the crazy exotic name of the language, and it presents us with yet another ready-made allegory for the difficulty Eli has in keeping, and later locating, Lilia.How to get around this? I can think of two possibilities.1. Do your research. There are a number of popular books on vanishing and dead languages, and Mandel must have some of them. But clearly she has no professional-level literature. Her examples are often commonplace, and have a number of errors corrected in the scholarship. No one could write a PhD thesis listing 3,000 words that do not exist in other languages, because the very idea that the reason to save languages is the uniqueness and untranslatability of particular words has itself been debated in the literature since the 1940s. His topic wouldn't be approved as a thesis, because it's been done many times. Much more interesting things are happening in the field than debates about the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, as it is called. Needless to say it does not matter that a novel misrepresents a specialized field. What counts is that the real subject, comparative linguistics or ethnolinguistics, could have provided Mandel with far more interesting examples. It pays to do serious, concerted research to get inside the academic languages, so they can be brought into the novel from the inside, as they are spoken. Eli could have talked, and thought, in more involved, surprising, and textured ways. And in this case, when the subject is languages, grammars, lexica, and etymologies, rather than simply showcase words, could have been woven into Eli's writing and speaking. That could have made his inner world much more convincing. I would rather have encountered Eli's immersion in his subject (which Mandel describes as an obsessive, long-term fascination) as excerpts of an entirely new way of thinking, rather than as talking points from the popularized literature.(I think the lack of real Chinese references in Canetti's "Auto-da-fe" is one of its faults. It doesn't seem to occur to him that his housekeeper couldn't arrange his library in alphabetical order if she didn't read Chinese. But in that case, what matters is the projection of erudition, so it works from a distance, provided we accept there are artificial boundaries to what we're allowed to ask about Kien's life.)2. Don't be afraid to invent. I can't be absolutely sure Mandel hasn't invented, but I recognize enough of her material to doubt she has. It isn't common to invent science or social science in a novel. Partly that's because it would be perceived as a leap into genre fiction or science fiction, but mainly because it isn't part of the imaginative project of contemporary novels to toy with science in that way. Jeffrey Eugenides said in an interview in the New York Times that he was proud of the science he'd had to learn, and it wouldn't be hard to assemble a number of such examples.But aside from the necessity of avoiding the appearance of having invented the science (which would turn the novel toward science fiction), there is no good reason not to change any of the science or social science that goes into a novel. If everything else in a novel can be changed according to the novelist's wishes, why not the science? If Mandel had invented languages and words her book might have had a different texture, one less like a love story peppered with academic citations.I don't think this is an easy problem, and I don't think these two solutions cover the field. I'm still pondering other ways to work: but either or both of these could have contributed to making "Last Night in Montreal" more compelling.This is another book I read in preparation for the 2016 AWP conference.

[martinhughharvey_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

My second Mandell book, the first "Station Eleven" an ingenuous book about a post apocalyptic Shakespeare touring troupe!The author is Canadian and both of her books I've read feature Canadain scenes. I wanted a swift read and this book at 240 pages fitted the bill. Plus I discovered is a relatively fast read anyway. The story isn't complicated but enough plot lines for so it isn't simple. The language nice and descriptive. The plot, like her other book I read, is unusual. While you think you know the story it's consistently off on a shallow tangent. I've had the pleasure of seeing the pixie-like attractive author on a TV interview and I imagined her speaking t me throughout reading this book./Most enjoyable.

[nicolecervone · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I really enjoyed the storyline in this book, so different from what I have been reading lately. Lilia, was a sad soul always leaving and not feeling like she could settle down anywhere. This one girl affected all those who searched for her and the families of those that searched for her. With a heart wrenching ending, somehow she finds stability.

[evelynbernard · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Seven year old Lilia had not seen her father in years; then one night, he comes to her Montreal home in the dead of night, takes her in his arms and disappears with her. They become wanderers, never staying anywhere for long. In hotel bedside bibles, Lilia writes "I am not missing. Stop searching for me. I wish to remain vanishing. I don't want to go home."Christopher Graydon is the private detective hired by Lilia's mother to find her. He becomes obsessed with the case to the point of ignoring his own daughter, Michaela who is Lilia's age. Eli lives in New York and is working on his graduate thesis; the topic is dying languages. Lilia's latest stop was with Eli. One day, Lilia goes out for the coffee and never returns.Lilia ends up in Montreal and meets Michaela who then sends Eli a postcard to come and get her. But Michaela refuses to tell Eli exactly where Lilia is until he fills in the blanks about her own father and his relationship with Lilia.I really enjoyed this book. The narrative is told from a number of viewpoints - each adding yet another layer to a rich and complex story. The characters felt real - each with their virtues and each with their flaws. Discussion about Eli's graduate thesis - on dying languages was fascinating and made me want to research this topic further. The author nailed the feeling of Montreal in the winter. This is not a long book, but I suspect I will remember it for a long time. I am eager to read other works by this author.

[narshkite · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

There is more than one way to be a femme fatale. This is a beautifully atmospheric book, a deconstructed noir, that can be fun to read. The issue for me was that people did all sorts of surprising things, and I had no idea why they were doing any of it. Briefly, the story follows Lilia, a 20-something who grew up on the run with a non-custodial parent who kidnapped her. They were both always mere steps ahead of Christopher, an investigator hired by Lilia's mother to find the child and who left behind his own wife and child to pursue Lilia and her father. As Lilia becomes an adult she has no idea how to just stay, so she bounces from place to place breaking hearts and taking names. When one of those moony left-behind lovers. Eli, follows her "just to make sure she is okay" (Okay, stalker!) the story heats up and eventually we sort of learn why at least one person did what they did, but Christopher's motivations are a complete mystery, Eli's motivations and choices are absent or ring false. Lilia's backstory and life choices are a little too on the nose. And speaking of on the nose, Michaela (Christopher's daughter) and her background an endpoint are like a very special episode of Law & Order.I loved Emily St. John Mandel's last three books, 5-star reads all, and was looking forward to tackling her backlist. This is always dangerous. There are a number of writers whose books I have loved, but when I visited earlier works I could barely find the writer I knew in them. This makes sense. We all develop in our professional lives (or at least those who are good at their professions) and writers are no different. Still i am disappointed when early books disappoint me even though I am also always impressed and thankful that those favorite authors came to be such great authors. That is where we are here. I wavered on whether to give this a 3 or a 4-star. There is some beautiful writing here, we can absolutely see glimpses of the writing prowess we now see in ESJM's work, but that failure to tell me what was driving the characters was too big a hole for me to overlook.

[pdcread · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Lilia is a wanderer. She can remember nothing before the age of seven; her memories exist from the night when her father took from her mother. Her life has been one of perpetual motion ever since, nights spent in anonymous motel rooms and days spent hiding on the back seat of her father’s car, as they travel back and forth across North America. She occasionally leaves cryptic notes in the bibles in the rooms, and has a nagging feeling of being followed, but being the centre of an abduction case makes her and her father very wary. As Lilia got older she stayed longer in places, even collecting friends and lovers, before leaving them hurt and confused as she moves on to the next city.

One morning she does the same to Eli, just popping out to get something before vanishing completely; but he wasn’t ready to let her go yet. Having almost nothing to go on, he starts to dig a little deeper into her background, discovers her location, and slowly starts to uncover her past and why she has this obsession with keeping moving.

This haunting and beautifully written novel is one that is deeply layered with secret after secret. As the narrative switches back and forth these are revealed gradually to you. It is unnerving and disturbing too, as Mandell builds the storyline around events that people would rather not think about, like abduction and stalking. The characters are flawed, not in a sinister way, just more quirky and intriguing by having these untold secrets that affect their relationships as they orbit each others lives. I am not keen on stories that jump back and forth so much, but in this book it works, as she can only reveal a glimpse of where they have been and where they are going. Great stuff.

[avisannschild · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Abducted as a child by her non-custodial father, Lilia, the main character in Last Night in Montreal, has been disappearing for so long that she no longer knows how to stay in one place. Right from the first chapter, in which Lilia slips away quietly from New York and her life with Eli, I knew this was going to be a book I’d want to read slowly, so I could savour every word. In fact, part 1 of the novel, which (like the rest of the book) slips back and forth in time and is told from alternating points of view, reads a bit like linked stories: each chapter can almost be read independently—all the better to savour them. This is my favourite part of the book: mysterious and startling, it drew me into Lilia and Eli’s stories. Mandel’s writing style completely enchanted me.Part of what drew me to this book is that some of it is set in Montreal, my home for the last 20 years. However, the Montreal Mandel describes is a metaphorical city rather than a real one: a city of frozen dreary streets, unfriendly locals, underground malls and sleazy nightclubs. (It also seemed highly unlikely that a student like Eli would stay for weeks in a hotel as luxurious as the Queen Elizabeth.) Not only did I not recognize my home town in Mandel’s portrayal of Montreal, but this part of the story also dragged: like Eli, I grew a bit tired of waiting for something to happen.Despite my grumblings about the Montreal sections of this book, Last Night in Montreal is an absorbing read. Mandel masterfully juggles all the strands of her story and I was impressed by how the pieces fell into place at the end. As long as you promise not to judge Montreal by this book, I recommend it!A slightly different version of this review can be found on my blog, she reads and reads.

[porch_reader · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I continue to be a fan of Emily St. John Mandel. I loved Station Eleven, and although Last Night in Montreal was a very different story, it was equally as well written. As a child, Lilia is abducted by her father. As an adult, she still spends little time in one place. After living with Eli in New York City for a few months, she disappears. We gradually learn more about Lilia's childhood as Eli travels to Montreal in search of her.

[mhanlon_19 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I grabbed this book after reading Emily St. John Mandel's amazing "Station Eleven," wanting to read anything and everything she ever wrote.This wasn't "Station Eleven," but, then, this was also her first book. Her writing was really polished, even in this book, and the different narrative threads were handled well. I didn't particularly believe Eli's suddenly urgent need to go to Montreal when he just didn't show that impulse in any of the other things we know about him. He didn't even seem all that close, early in the book, to Lilia, that her departure would warrant him leaving Brooklyn for Montreal to get her back or check on her or whatever it was he was doing. His lengthy stay in Montreal, being stalled by Michaela, the daughter of the private eye who goes off the deep end and dedicates his life to searching for Lilia, the abandoning of the daughter by the former circus performer private eye, all of this just didn't ring true for me, I didn't buy it. I kept questioning the motives of the people acting, as if they were being forced to do the things they were doing by some unseen hand (the author's).I'm still looking forward to her next book, but my expectations, which were sky high after Station Eleven, are a little more tempered now.

[michael8xolotl · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Cute, pat, flat, occasionally interesting, completely forgettable.

[dbsovereign · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

How can we find direction in life when all we do is travel? If all we do is think about life, how can we find the courage to actually live it? These are some of the questions this book asks. An implausible tale, but one that resonates with truth. As the layers get slowly peeled away, this mystery unfolds in a poetically dreamlike fashion.

[voracious_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

When the story opens, we meet Eli, a graduate student in dead languages, who is living with his highly gifted and unpredictable girlfriend, Lila, who unexpectedly abandons Eli and their seemingly happy relationship. As the story progresses, flashbacks of Lila's past reveal that she was kidnapped by her father at a very young age. Their constant movement around the United States for many years is the only life Lila knows. Now as an adult, she is unable to settle down in any one place and feels the need to wander from city to city, taking temporary jobs and leaving stunned lovers in her wake. After Eli receives a strange postcard from Montreal informing him that Lila can be found there, Eli drops everything and travels to Montreal in the hopes of finding Lila and convincing her to give their relationship a try. Other characters are weaved into the story, including Mychaela, the adult daughter of a private detective who had pursued Lila and her father for years. Mychaela was essentially abandoned by both parents and forced to raise herself. Each character struggles with the big questions of their life, including how to live with their feelings of abandonment and whether they should seek something grander for themselves than what they have achieved. A rich, complicated story with excellent writing and fascinating characters. Although the story is somewhat depressing, it was well written and reminiscent (prescient?) of the author's later masterpiece "Station Eleven".

[albertgoldfain · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

An impressive first novel with a subtle but persistent force that drives the action forward. There is a nice parallel between the chronology of each character's self-discovery, the unpacking of memories, and the way both of these tracks unfold for the reader. I liked that the ending only tied up the loose threads of some perspectives. The questions surrounding the ethical/moral implications of a parent abducting a child are, in the end, muted by bigger questions.

[sparemethecensor · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I was shocked that this is a debut novel. It has such polish and poise. We read this for our book club and had such a wonderful discussion. Here were our questions:Considering that Lilia cannot stay in one place, what do you make of the sense of setting in this book? Could it have taken place anywhere, or in a series of anywheres? Is there significance to Montreal being the place where everyone coincides (and where the book is named after)?What is behind Eli’s obsession with Lilia? Is it love? An attraction to the unattainable? Something else?Why do you think Lilia leaves Eli? Is Lilia a callous person, or is she simply a troubled one? Are Lilia's messages left in hotel Bibles authentic - that she does not want to be found - or a cry for help?Emily St. John Mandel never went to regular school - she was homeschooled-slash-unschooled. Does this inform her writing? There are themes of language, communication, and understanding in this novel, yet you could say that the characters do not truly understand one another at any point. Do you agree? Who in the book is the most lost -- geographically or emotionally?Did Lilia's father do the right thing by kidnapping her? Why or why not?Why do you think Lilia's father finally was able to settle down? Why do you think she was not able to do so?The book touches on a number of other themes as well, though in less depth: child abuse, family dynamics, abandonment, obsession, even Canadian language politics. What did you think about these?

[mephistia · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A friend lent this to me through the Nook Lending system, and I was pleasantly surprised. I had not expected to enjoy it, because I tend toward these genres:

1. Dystopian YA
2. Historical Fiction
3. Suburban Fantasy
4. Classic Literature
5. Historical non-fiction
6. Biographies

To my surprise and delight, however, I really enjoyed this book. The author had a dreamlike, atmospheric voice that really caught me. When I put it down, it was with great regret -- I just wanted more. The pacing, the character development, the depth -- everything about this book was just amazing. After finishing it, my mind was just awhirl with philosophical and moral conundrums.

[mawls · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I was intrigued throughout the entire book and found the writing and attention to details satisfying. Part mystery, part relationships, the story weaves through different paths that all lead to the same place.

[bettyandboo · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I owe a bunch of people a bunch of thanks for introducing me to this book. I'm not sure exactly who, because this has been on blogs everywhere, but ... oh wow. This is, quite simply, a spectacular debut novel by 30 year old Emily St. John Mandel.

Last Night in Montreal is the story of Lilia, whose father has been a fleeting presence in her life - until she is 7. It is then that he abducts her and the once distant father and daughter become, by necessity, inseparable. For years, the two remain on the run - eating in diners, sleeping in motels, changing names and stories as quickly as they change lanes on the country's highways.

Lilia (love that name!) doesn't know exactly why she was abducted, just that it had something to do with her mother and an incident on the evening of Lilia's disappearance. What Lilia does know is that she doesn't want to be found ... and that she doesn't know what it means to stay in one place.

This becomes painfully clear when Lilia leaves her boyfriend Eli. Heartbroken, he pursues her from New York (where the couple were living for several months) to Montreal.

Last Night in Montreal is told from various point of views - Eli's, Lilia's, and that of Christopher Grayson, a private investigator literally on the trail of Lilia and her father. A former circus performer with a failed marriage who gradually neglects his daughter Michaela (who is the same age as Lilia), Christopher becomes obsessed with Lilia's case, spending years keeping them just within his grasp. Meanwhile, Michaela - with her father's circus genes in her blood - perfects the art of tightrope walking, both literally (she has a penchant and skill for walking an actual tightrope across alleyways) and figuratively, mentally unbalanced and walking precariously on the edge of life.

Emily St. John Mandel weaves a smooth, original plot that has the reader following her characters' every move across the pages. How and why these two families' lives intersect is absolutely fascinating, and flawlessly presented with finesse that surpasses the abilities of many an author dominating bestseller lists.

Last Night in Montreal is also layered with many compelling themes, particularly the issue of the father-daughter relationship. In one case (Lilia's), there is the once distant father that becomes his daughter's only ally in life; in Christopher and Michaela's, there's the once close father who disappears for years while trying (supposedly) to solve a disappearance.

Although some might find the multiple points of view and the switch in time confusing, I didn't (and believe me, I would be the first to say so as that usually drives me nuts. Not so this time.) The chapters are short ones, sometimes only a few paragraphs, which works very well; it keeps the reader engaged and turning the pages. (It's pretty easy to justify staying up late to read "just a few more chapters" when they are only a couple pages long - not to mention the superb sense of accomplishment of plowing through multiple chapters in one setting.)

The storylines are different (but similar in some respects), but that didn't stop Last Night in Montreal from reminding me of one of my favorite movies, the 1988 film "Running on Empty" starring Judd Hirsch, Christine Lahti, and the late River Phoenix.

It's been 20 years since I saw "Running on Empty" for the first time, but to this day I cannot hear the first line of James Taylor's "Fire and Rain" without thinking of the last scene of this movie. (Sing it with me, won't you? Just yesterday morning, they let me know you were gone. Suzanne, the plans they made put an end to you ... ) If Last Night in Montreal ever becomes a movie (which could actually work) that should be on the soundtrack.

In the meantime, Last Night in Montreal stands as a truly impressive debut by an author well worth watching in the future.

[arrwa_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book is fabulously written that the pages turn effortlessly. The story follows the lives of four individuals who lives are effected by each other. The main character: Lilia, who seems to affect all who's path she crosses, is extremely well crafted. I love the way not even the narrator, who seems to watch Lilia from afar, knows exactly what Lilia is thinking. I must admit that although the ending was very well crafted, it wasn't what I was hoping for.

[smits_52 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

deeply, iinteresting characters. the story moves back and forth in time and between the characters while keeping suspense high. a young girl is abducted by her father and spends 0 years travelling and hiding with him. There is a secret there that does not come out until the end of the novel. Intertwined in this story is the story of the detective following the father and daughter and the detective's daughter Michaela whose life is so deeply affected by a father who disappears too.

[patrick311_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The best debut novel I've read in years. Mandel writes with confidence and creates compelling characters around dark secrets and half-forgotten memories. This is the kind of book that stays with you long after it's over.

[lynnb_64 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Wow! A haunting story of a young woman, Lilia, kidnapped by her non-custodial father at age 7. She spends the next 10 years on the road with him, constantly moving from place to place. Now an adult, she doesn't know how to stop disappearing -- how to be in the world rather than skimming its surface.This is also the story of the daughter, Michaela, of the private detective who becomes obsessed with Lilia's story as his own marriage falls apart.The writing is sparse, yet conveys sharp images in few words. The characters are at once surreal, yet strangely believable. The writing style conveys the strangeness of these characters in its tone -- this is really masterful writing.Deeply drawn characters, great writing and a page-turning plot. Who could ask for more? (Well, I can...has Ms. Mandel written anything else? I'm off to find out!)

[ridgewaygirl · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Lilia was abducted by her father from her mother's Quebec house in the middle of a winter night when she was seven. Since then, she and her father lived on the road, never staying long in any one place. Eventually, he settles down in a small town in New Mexico, but Lilia keeps traveling. Her longest stay was in Brooklyn, where she met Eli, moved in with him and then left one morning.Michaela's father was a private detective hired by Lilia's mother to find her. He tracked her movements across the US, even as his daughter and wife disappeared from his life. Michaela contacts Eli, telling him that Lilia is in Montreal and that he should meet her there.Eli has been working on his dissertation for so long that he suspects that he'll never finish. When Lilia walks out, he is unable to move on. When he receives the message from Michaela, he drops everything and goes to Montreal to find Lilia.This is a book more concerned with style than realism. Neither of the female characters ever seem particularly real, coated as they are with the many layers of their colorful pasts. This doesn't make the story any less interesting, but it did mean that I had to adjust my expectations of what would happen. I'm left with more questions than answers, but the book was a pleasant read that evoked the odd geography of Montreal in winter.

[lhossler_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A story about a girl with a tramatic past that doesn't have a breakdown or play the victim card. I especially enjoyed the information about dying languages, particurarly French-Canadian. Well worth the time to read.

[bookmagic_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Eli doesn't realize that when Lilia leaves his Brooklyn apartment to go get the paper, she has left for good. Not until several hours later when he looks up from his graduate thesis and realizes she has disappeared. Something Lilia has been doing since she was seven years old.Lilia had not seen her father for years until one night, when she is seven, he tosses ice at her window and her home in Montreal. She immediately goes outside into his arms and they leave forever. They never stay anywhere longer than a couple of days, traveling around the US. Lilia writes in each bedside motel bible, unknown to her father variations of this: "I am not missing. Stop searching for me. I wish to remain vanishing. I don't want to go home."Christopher Graydon is the private detective who becomes obsessed with finding her while neglecting his own daughter, Michaela.Lilia ends up in Montreal after leaving Eli and meets up with Michaela who then sends Eli a postcard to come get her. But she refuses to tell Eli where she is until her own agenda is met.my review: I LOVED this book. I thought it was meaningful and compelling. Lilia is a mysterious, tragic figure as is Michaela. Eli is caught up by both of their stories and this makes for a brilliant debut novel.I also found the discussion of Eli's thesis on endangered languages to be very interesting, enough so that I am looking for a book to read more about this. I also found the language laws of Quebec to be fascinating as I was unaware of this. I also love reading books that lead me to other books or interests.But Lilia's story is the driving force that kept me hooked: why did she leave with her father, why did he come get her, why even as an adult can Lilia not stop vanishing?This is another fairly short novel that tells an amazing story in less than 300 pages. Run out and buy this book, I highly recommend it!my rating 5/5

[suballa · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

When Lilia’s father abducts her in the middle of the night, the 7 year old willingly goes with him. Some might say she was rescued, not kidnapped. From that night on, Lilia and her father move across the United States, never staying in one place for more than a few months. Now, as an adult, Lilia doesn’t know how to stay anywhere for very long. She has become quite adept at leaving people behind, and most people have easily let her go. That is, until Eli. Eli’s life seemed so much better with Lilia in it that he cannot bear to think of his life without her. This is a story of obsession and the effect it has on everyone involved. From Lilia who is obsessed with moving on, to Eli who travels to another country to find her. From Christopher, the detective hired years ago to find Lilia, to Michaela, his daughter who he abandoned in his effort to find the missing girl. Michaela is the greatest victim here. Her wounds are so deep and her pain so obvious, it is heartbreaking to know that it was all caused by her father’s obsession to search for someone who did not want or need to be found.

[manderiffic · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

When Lilia says she is stepping out for coffee and never returns, Eli does not imagine the past he will uncover when he searches for her. A mysterious postcard from Montreal sends Eli on a wild goose chase that introduces him to a strange girl named Michaela and a few stories neither of them are ready to hear. Filled with a broken past, lost loves, and crazy moments at every turn, Last Night In Montreal is a wild ride with an amazing twist.I absolutely adored this book. This is Emily St. John Mandel's first novel and it was stellar. The writing was intelligent and masterful. The plot was new and exciting. I loved the structure of the story and how Mandel presented both the present and the past. I was drawn into this story almost immediately and could not tear myself away from it. I love that the pain and the hurt are so real in this book, but they are not overwhelming to the point of disbelief. Though you do not get a lot about herself from Lilia's point of view, I felt that I learned so much about her from the other characters. Eli was an amazing character and I really loved everything about him. He is incredibly brilliant and some of the discussions he has about the artistic world are just amazing. The references to linguistics and dialects have me wanting to research these topics after reading about them. Mandel did an amazing job with this novel and I can not wait to read more of what she writes in the future.Review originally posted on my blog Draw A Blank.Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Unbridled Books. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

[imbookingit · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was a beautiful book that pulled me into the lives of the characters.I was fascinated by Lilia's childhood on the run, in seeing the effect on her as an adult, and puzzling the reasons behind what had happened to her.I was hooked on this book when Eli explained his interest in dead and dying languages. Eli's character was lost-- not sure where he was going with his own life. When Lilia steps into his life, then back out again, he wants to help her, and to make sure she is OK. He pursues her for that reason.Michaela was even more interesting than the two main characters. Her father had left her alone as a teenager (her mother left earlier) in order to pursue Lilia and the father that abducted her. Michaela forges a link between herself and the person she holds responsible for stealing her father away-- Lilia.The complex relationships in the book are well portrayed.

[buddysmom78 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The book was very good . I loved the twists and the flow and how the book didnt end with any ?s unanswered. well worth the read.

[gaijinsue_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Lovely and heartbreaking. St. John Mandel has a quirky and delicate voice, which is put to good use in this story of a girl-gone-missing and those who follow her. Each page contains at least one surprising image - a young woman walking on a tightrope in mid-winter Montreal, a woman whose house is painted like the sea, a word that means "the smell of rain." This book was a pleasure to read.