Author: Ladee Hubbard
Rating: 4 stars / 5 stars
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Favorite Quote: “[M]emories mold themselves to the shape of our will.” Hubbard, Ladee. The Last Suspicious Holdout: Stories. E-book ed., Amistad Press, 2022.
Review: Thank you to the publisher, Amisdad Press, and the NetGalley platform for the free e-ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.
As y’all probably know, short story collections aren’t usually a favorite of mine. But I found the premise of these stories compelling enough to give the collection a try, and I am so glad I did. Hubbard’s stories follow a myriad of characters as they experience life in America, throughout generations, as Black folks living in areas and eras of racism and discrimination, both blatant and discreet. Although not being a “linked” collection in the expected use of the term, various characters do appear in different stories, creating the sense that these stories and their characters do not exist in the vacuum of the four corners of the book.
One of the aspects of this book that is working particularly well is that way that Hubbard successfully engages in rich, layered character development, even when the stories themselves are relatively short. These characters come off the page in a way that sometimes authors don’t achieve in longer formats that more easily lend themselves to greater character development. One character, in particular, that I continue to think about long after finishing this collection is Claudette from the titular story, “The Last Suspicious Holdout.” Claudette is torn between allegiance to a community she is actively trying to separate herself from, torn between work and a community that is begging for her help, and at the same time she is balancing her work life with a personal life that she doesn’t seem particularly content in. Claudette is a picture of discontent, and although “The Last Suspicious Holdout” is not ostensibly about her and her own struggles, her struggles are mirrored with the greater conflicts of the story.
This collection also successfully tackles a number of topics while continuing to not be disjointed. As mentioned previously, some of the stories are linked, at least vaguely, but even those that are not, even those that tackle completely disparate topics and are filled with completely disparate characters still seem to fit into a cohesive collection.
My only complaint for this collection is that, like with many story collections I read, I found my attention drifting at times. That might be more of a me problem than a book problem, but I did want to share why this wasn’t quite a 5 star read for me.
About that Quote: So much of this book comes down to memory - it’s what drives many of the characters and makes up a bulk of the narrative. So, this quote just perfectly encapsulates what this collection and what it does. And I also think it makes the reader question the reliability of the narrators throughout the collection, if, after all, memories are shaped to the narrator’s will.
Have you read The Last Suspicious Holdout? Share your thoughts below!
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