Dava Shastri's Last Day
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Narrated by:
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Soneela Nankani
About this listen
In this novel "full of music, magnetism, and familial obligation" (Emma Straub, author of All Adults Here) a dying billionaire matriarch leaks news of her death early so she can examine her legacy—a decision that horrifies her children and inadvertently exposes secrets she has spent a lifetime keeping.
Dava Shastri, one of the world's wealthiest women, has always lived with her sterling reputation in mind. A brain cancer diagnosis at the age of seventy, however, changes everything, and Dava decides to take her death—like all matters of her life—into her own hands.
Summoning her four adult children to her private island, she discloses shocking news: in addition to having a terminal illness, she has arranged for the news of her death to break early, so she can read her obituaries.
As someone who dedicated her life to the arts and the empowerment of women, Dava expects to read articles lauding her philanthropic work. Instead, her "death" reveals two devastating secrets, truths she thought she had buried forever.
And now the whole world knows, including her children.
In the time she has left, Dava must come to terms with the decisions that have led to this moment—and make peace with those closest to her before it's too late. Compassionately written and chock-full of humor and heart, this powerful novel examines public versus private legacy, the complexities of love, and the never-ending joys—and frustrations—of family.
Includes a Reading Group Guide.
A Good Morning America and Lilly Singh's Lilly Library Book Club pick
Most anticipated in fall 2021 by TIME, The Washington Post, Bustle, Goodreads, and Debutiful • An Indie Next Pick • A Publishers Marketplace Buzz Book for Fall/Winter 2021 • Longlisted for the 2021 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize
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Critic reviews
"A rich portrait of a family facing their powerful matriarch's death, Dava Shastri's Last Day is full of music, magnetism, and familial obligation. If Succession were about a multicultural family who actually loved each other, it might look like this." (Emma Straub, author of All Adults Here)
"Kirthana Ramisetti has written a sweeping saga and also a poignant story about sacrifice and the exacting price of secrecy. Cinematic and intimate, Dava Shastri’s Last Day is an intricate story about family and love." (Devi S. Laskar, author of The Atlas of Reds and Blues)
"Dava Shastri's Last Day is a story about ambition and greatness, wealth and family, full of secrets, love, and music, and those eternal pop song complements: heartbreak and hope. It's a gripping, deeply satisfying story about one woman's tremendous life - and the infinitely complicated ways we create our own legacies." (Kate Racculia, author of Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts and Bellweather Rhapsody)
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- Narrated by: Jennifer Ikeda
- Length: 11 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Award-winning poet Marisa de los Santos crafts an irresistibly touching debut novel. Love Walked In is a contemporary tale, steeped in nostalgic, cinematic charm, of love in all its forms. Unapologetically idealistic about love, Cornelia Brown appears to catch the break of a lifetime when the dashing Martin Grace, her own personal Cary Grant, comes strolling into her life. But it is Martin's connection to 11-year-old Clare Hobbes that touches Cornelia's heart in ways she never imagined.
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Dreadful audio quality
- By Marenghi on 09-16-11
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The Life List
- A Novel
- By: Lori Nelson Spielman
- Narrated by: Rebecca Gibel
- Length: 11 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Brett Bohlinger has forgotten all about the list of life goals she’d written as a naïve teenager. In fact, at 34, Brett seems to have it all—a plum job at her family’s multimillion-dollar company and a spacious loft with her irresistibly handsome boyfriend. But when her beloved mother, Elizabeth, passes away, Brett’s world is turned upside down. Rather than simply naming her daughter the new CEO of Bohlinger Cosmetics, Elizabeth’s will comes with one big stipulation: Brett must fulfill the list of childhood dreams she made so long ago.
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Truly Terrible.
- By Cricket on 04-27-14
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She Regrets Nothing
- A Novel
- By: Andrea Dunlop
- Narrated by: Rachel Dulude
- Length: 11 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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When Laila Lawrence becomes an orphan at 23, the sudden loss unexpectedly introduces her to three glamorous cousins from New York who show up unannounced at her mother's funeral. The three siblings are scions of the wealthy family from which Laila's father had been estranged long before his own untimely demise 10 years before. Two years later, Laila has left behind her quiet life in Grosse Point, Michigan to move to New York City, landing her smack in the middle of her cousins' decadent world.
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Good Listen
- By Vallena on 02-19-18
By: Andrea Dunlop
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The Ramblers
- A Novel
- By: Aidan Donnelley Rowley
- Narrated by: Erica Sullivan
- Length: 11 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Set in the most magical parts of Manhattan - the Upper West Side, Central Park, Greenwich Village - The Ramblers explores the lives of three lost souls bound together by friendship and family. During the course of one fateful Thanksgiving week, a time when emotions run high and being with family can be a mixed blessing, Rowley's sharply defined characters explore the moments when decisions are deliberately made, choices accepted, and pasts reconciled.
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Lovely Portrait of The City
- By Dingo27 on 02-19-16
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The Other Mother
- By: Rachel Harper
- Narrated by: January LaVoy, William DeMeritt
- Length: 14 hrs
- Unabridged
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Jenry Castillo is a musical prodigy, raised by a single mother in Miami, who arrives at Brown University on a scholarship—but also to learn more about his late father, Jasper Patterson, a famous ballet dancer who died tragically when Jenry was two. On his search, he meets his estranged grandfather, Winston Patterson, a legendary professor of African American history and a fixture at the Ivy League school, who explodes his world with one question: Why is Jenry so focused on Jasper, when it was Winston’s daughter, Juliet, who was Jenry’s mother’s lover?
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Very good.
- By Roland Harper on 05-22-22
By: Rachel Harper
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The Finishing School
- A Novel
- By: Joanna Goodman
- Narrated by: Andi Arndt
- Length: 8 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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One spring night in 1998, the beautiful Cressida Strauss plunges from a fourth-floor balcony at the Lycée Internationale Suisse with catastrophic consequences. Loath to draw negative publicity to the school, a bastion of European wealth and glamour, officials quickly dismiss the incident as an accident, but questions remain. Was it a suicide attempt? Or was Cressida pushed? It was no secret that she had a selfish streak and had earned as many enemies as allies in her tenure at the school.
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this book was just ok
- By Josh Fields on 02-26-20
By: Joanna Goodman
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The Actor and the Housewife
- By: Shannon Hale
- Narrated by: Christina Moore
- Length: 14 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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When Becky, a housewife with screenwriting dreams, attracts the interest of Felix, a Hollywood star, the two quickly become friends. Though the sexual tension is obvious, Becky has no intention of cheating on her husband - but would Felix cheat on his wife? As their friendship blossoms, rumors and suspicion threaten to derail their platonic love.
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Thought Provoking
- By sts2000 on 09-14-09
By: Shannon Hale
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The World We Found
- By: Thrity Umrigar
- Narrated by: Soneela Nankani
- Length: 10 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Best-selling author and PEN and Beyond Margins Award finalist Thrity Umrigar’s acclaimed novels “resonate with rich prose and vibrant depictions of India” ( Booklist). In The World We Found, Armaiti, Laleh, Kavita, and Nishta - once friends at the University of Bombay - reconnect 30 years later when Armaiti is diagnosed with cancer. Coming together, all four women are forced to reexamine their lives.
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Good story but performance not so much!
- By Alisha on 09-13-15
By: Thrity Umrigar
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Nearly Normal
- Surviving the Wilderness, My Family and Myself
- By: Cea Sunrise Person
- Narrated by: Cea Sunrise Person
- Length: 9 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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In her best-selling memoir North of Normal, Cea wrote with grace about her unconventional childhood - her early years living in a tipi in Alberta with her pot-smoking, free-loving counterculture family. But her struggles do not end when she leaves her family at the age of 13 to become a model. Honest and daring, Nearly Normal reveals the many ways that Cea's unconventional childhood continues to reverberate through the years.
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This one is just not for me
- By Pamela Plimpton on 03-15-19
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Some Women
- By: Emily Liebert
- Narrated by: Andi Arndt
- Length: 8 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Annabel Ford has everything under control, devoting her time to her twin boys and keeping her household running smoothly. But when her husband of a decade announces that he's leaving, she's blindsided. And suddenly her world begins to unravel. Piper Whitley has always done her best to balance it all - raising her daughter, Fern, by herself while advancing her career as a crime reporter. Only now that she's finally met the man of her dreams, Fern's absentee father shows up, throwing everything into a tailspin.
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Great Book!!
- By femmefatale on 01-12-23
By: Emily Liebert
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Dancing on Broken Glass
- By: Ka Hancock
- Narrated by: Amy Landon, Zach Villa
- Length: 13 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Lucy Houston and Mickey Chandler probably shouldn't have fallen in love, let alone gotten married. They're both plagued with faulty genes - he has bipolar disorder and she has a ravaging family history of breast cancer. But when their paths cross on the night of Lucy's 21st birthday, sparks fly, and there's no denying their chemistry. Cautious every step of the way, they are determined to make their relationship work-and they put it all in writing. Mickey promises to take his medication. Lucy promises not to blame him for what is beyond his control. He promises honesty.
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wow is all I can say.
- By karen on 10-25-18
By: Ka Hancock
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Lies and Other Acts of Love
- By: Kristy Woodson Harvey
- Narrated by: Janet Metzger
- Length: 10 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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After 60 years of marriage and five daughters, Lynn "Lovey" White knows that all of us, from time to time, need to use our little white lies. Her granddaughter Annabelle, on the other hand, is as truthful as they come. She always does the right thing - that is until she dumps her hedge fund manager fiance and marries a musician she has known for three days. After all, her grandparents fell in love at first sight....
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One big giant cheese ball
- By Book.Lover 1350 on 06-16-19
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Veil of Roses
- By: Laura Fitzgerald
- Narrated by: Angela Dawe
- Length: 8 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Tamila Soroush wanted it all. But in the Islamic Republic of Iran, dreams are a dangerous thing for a girl. Tami abandons them…until her twenty-seventh birthday, when her parents give her a one-way ticket to America, hoping she will “go and wake up her luck.” If they have their way, Tami will never return to Iran…which means she has three months to find a husband in America.
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Rooting for freedom
- By Newman on 07-10-13
By: Laura Fitzgerald
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The One That Got Away
- By: Bethany Chase
- Narrated by: Loretta Rawlins
- Length: 11 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Sarina Mahler thinks she has her life all nailed down: a growing architecture practice in Austin, Texas, and an any-day-now proposal from her loving boyfriend, Noah. She's well on her way to having the family she's hoped for since her mother's death 10 years ago. But with Noah on a temporary assignment abroad and retired Olympic swimmer - and former flame - Eamon Roy back in town asking her to renovate his new fixer-upper, Sarina's life takes an unexpected turn
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painful to listen by the end
- By Pratheba Orth on 02-28-19
By: Bethany Chase
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Save Me
- By: Kristyn Kusek Lewis
- Narrated by: Nan McNamara
- Length: 9 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Daphne Mitchell has always believed in cause and effect, right and wrong, good and bad. The good: her dream job as a doctor; Owen, her childhood sweetheart and now husband; the beautiful farmhouse they're restoring together. In fact most of her life has been good - until the day Owen comes home early from work to tell her he's fallen head over heels for someone else.
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story
- By ngoza on 08-10-15
What listeners say about Dava Shastri's Last Day
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- cindy Ullman
- 03-30-22
takes you on a journey
This amazing journey is so heartfelt and reaches so many different kinds of emotions. I bet everyone can find someone in the story that they can relate to. generational love generational miscommunication generational pressure generational hope.
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- Nehahaha
- 02-09-22
Makes you think
It took some time to get into the book, but when I did, I loved to learn about each of the characters, the secrets that unfolded, and the relationship repairing that was necessary for the protagonist to actually leave an impactful legacy. Loved the writing and got to the point where I couldn’t put it down. You know it’s a good book when you are done and you are still thinking about it!
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- Dee
- 12-30-21
Engaging!
It has been many books since I could really immerse myself in the story as if a friend was sitting next to me telling it. This character and her story really engulfed me. Thank you for this
enjoyable experience.
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- Oxana
- 12-12-22
A captivating and very well written story
I have thoroughly enjoyed this book. it’s a great story, well written and performed. Some of the reviews I have read compared this book to the tv show Succession and, well, I strongly disagree; this book goes much deeper emotionally, and is far less foul-mouthed. I gladly recommend it.
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- JagMama
- 06-04-24
Slow burn
This one was tough to get off the ground for me. I doggedly kept on thinking it HAS to get better, right? It did. Dave finally stopped being so secretive and we finally learn about her history and her kids redeem themselves.
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- Elizabeth
- 01-01-22
Love the complexity of the main character
As a parent, I can appreciate the contradictions of why you do things as a parent, what you hope it inspires in your kids, and the perception of why by your children. Great story of a strong woman.
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- veena
- 02-23-22
Get the book
Overall story line was interesting. Doesn’t really transport you into a different world. Clever in how it is set to use current decade in it. Performance though made me stop and read some reviews , glad I finished it. The voice always sounds exasperated in multiple characters! I see sick people all the time as my job, they don’t go around sounding exasperated all the time. Give it a try though
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- Lance Peterson
- 04-13-22
past present and future
The narrator does a lovely job of giving each character their own voice. Enjoyable.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Melanie
- 06-05-23
Interesting but..
I couldn’t get behind Dava’s extreme narcissistic behaviors but loved the sibling bonding. It was just ok for me
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- Mz Bull
- 12-23-21
Average
Interesting concept infused with usual dysfunctional family. It was enough to keep my interest to finish.
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1 person found this helpful