2024 National Indie Excellence Awards Winner in Regional Fiction: Northeast
“... lush, elegiac ... in stunning prose [it] highlights loss, the transience of home, and the impermanence of human affections.”
—Foreword Reviews
“Keating’s characters are engaging and complex, portrayed in a story that is captivating and relatable ... the perfect read for personal enjoyment, as well as for a book club.”
—The Montauk Sun
“In painterly prose, [Keating] wraps a tale of intertwined relationships and the bonds of family and friendship into the landscape of Montauk....[Her novel] shows the human side of the complexities of preserving land and the prospect of coastal retreat.”
—The East End Beacon
“An intelligent, psychologically astute, and beautifully written tale about the relationship of man and nature with not one predictable or cliched sentence or situation in sight.”
—Baum on Books, NPR
“In vivid, memorable prose, Keating evokes the beauty and fragility of Montauk and its residents. The work speaks to the pressing issues of our time, especially the loss of wild places.”
—Tucson Festival of Books
“I can't say enough about how much I enjoyed this book. The characters, the twisty plot, the detailed descriptions, and the setting of Montauk, a place of great natural beauty, all drew me in completely. When I miss being by the ocean—all the time—I will from now on haveThe Stark Beauty of Last Things to turn to for passages that take me there. This is a rare and special book to keep on the bedside table.”
—Alice Elliott Dark, author of Fellowship Point andIn the Gloaming
“Readers will be packing their bags for the Long Island shoreline in this atmospheric tale of love and healing. Keating’s characters prove to be as formidable as the threats to their historic Montauk coastline.”
—Suzanne Simonetti, author of USA Today best-selling The Sound of Wings
“Keating tells an intricately woven tale of the people of a small fishing town beset by land developers and reckoning with its future. Keating tells the story of multiple characters with great sympathy and insight, as they struggle not only with the town’s future but with their own places in the world. A finely written, highly readable book that is vivid and real.”
—Edward J. Delaney, author ofThe Acrobat
“Céline Keating’s deft storytelling, keen ear for dialogue, and evocative descriptions of landscape come together in this suspenseful novel about a fishing village on the brink of irreversible change. Keating has woven together a vibrant tapestry of characters — including Montauk itself — with sensitivity and insight, informed by local history and real concerns about what seems to be in store for this still-magical place.”
—Mia Certic, Executive Director of the Montauk Historical Society
“Deft and wise, evocative and potent, The Stark Beauty of Last Things is one of 2023’s most engaging small-press novels.”
—Indypendent.com
“This novel embraces Montauk is many ways, especially its fragile physical beauty. The characters have to negotiate their relationship to that endangered beauty as well as their own relationships. The author's love for Montauk is evident on the pages readers will turn quickly.”
—Tom Clavin, author of Dark Noon: The Final Voyage of the Fishing Boat Pelican
“The Stark Beauty of Last Things brilliantly explores the symbiotic relationship between nature, the community, and characters driven to exploit or co-exist with each other and the environment. Keating writes about Montauk—the last spit of wild land on Long Island—with great depth of observation and feeling, delivering a cast of characters who spring from the page as vibrant and complex as anyone you might meet in the village itself. In the conflict between land developers and community environmentalists, the novel shows how nature itself—and a little luck—can become the deciding factor. This is a wise and often astonishing debut novel.”
—Robert Eversz, author of the Nina Zero novels
“With lush and sensory prose, this incandescent novel offers a glimpse into a wild place in turmoil. Residents of Keating’s Montauk, both locals and outsiders, face seemingly impossible choices between financial survival and environmental stability of their fragile community. The natural world—its palate, its odors, the rhythms of sunset and daybreak, of storm destruction and delicate growth—is the scaffolding and the heart of this unforgettable story.”
—Ellen Meeropol, author of The Lost Women of Azalea Court
“The Stark Beauty of Last Things is suspenseful and satisfying. Céline Keating is a wonderful storyteller, with a keen sense of place and compassion for the people who inhabit it.”
——Hilma Wolitzer, author of Today a Woman Went Mad in the Supermarket
“In Céline Keating’s deft hands, this parcel also stands as proxy for the bigger questions of what to do about the Earth. And like the Earth, the town is complicated. There’s a mysterious death, a bit of romance, lost souls, missing children, childhood secrets, grown-up secrets, and the requisite outsider to see it all with fresh eyes. ... Outsiders, insiders, art, food, love, beach grass plugs, and seals. It’s all here.”
—Ecolit Books
“Keating balances the reality of Montauk life's darkness with its light. She deftly and beautifully winds history and vivid, loving descriptions of the people, the culture, the ocean, and the land into her tale.”
—The East Hampton Star
“As delicately as Keating weaves climate issues and activism into the novel, it is her expert unfurling of the interior thoughts and motivations of these complex Montauk residents that brings the story to life.”
—Story Circle
Past Praise for Author:
For Play For Me:
“With a background as a music reviewer, Keating combines the soul-searching of Eat, Pray, Love with the rock ’n’ roll fable of Almost Famous to create a novel of midlife crisis with music at its core.”
—Booklist
“I was so moved by Play For Me. Lily is thrown off kilter by loss when her son goes off to college, and seeks a remedy by reliving her own youth when she becomes involved with a touring rock band. Though the story revolves around issues of morality and fidelity—what do we owe ourselves versus what do we owe our loved ones—I cared about each character and hoped he or she would find happiness. The two men, JJ and Stephen, represent different paths, both appealing, and the twists and turns that Lily goes through in her attraction to each of them had me wondering right up until the end what she was going to decide. This is a page turner in the best sense. Céline Keating is a wonderful wise author who offers her readers the deep satisfaction of a smart story told beautifully.”
—Alice Elliott Dark, author of Think of England and In the Gloaming
“Evocative, philosophical, and downright entertaining, Play for Me had me turning pages as if to discover the fate not only of its winning heroine, but of myself.”
—AliceAlethea Black, author of I Knew You'd Be Lovely
“Music pours out of this wonderful novel. Play for Me exquisitely captures the lure of the songs that define us—and of those who sing them—and how they posit the dubious possibility of endlessly transforming and transcending routine existence. In Lily, Keating has created an unforgettable character whose depth, wit, and passion sparkle on every page, and whose quest to redefine herself in the second half of her life is at once painfully and joyously familiar.”
—Susan Segal, author of Aria
For Layla:
A Huffington Post Featured Title: “On Our Radar: Best Books Just Out Or Coming Soon We Thought You Should Know About: Layla, a debut novel by Céline Keating”
A Poets & Writers Magazine “More Great Summer Fiction Debuts” selection: Layla, by Celine Keating
“Layla is a poignant read about making sense of it all and the weight of reality.”
—Midwest Book Review
“A wrenching look at the human costs of activism and the resiliency of love.”
—Helen Schulman, author of A Day at the Beach
“Céline Keating's deftly plotted novel takes readers on a gripping journey along the underground railroad of post-'60s radicalism. . . . Every adult has to reinterpret the story of her childhood. Keating beautifully demonstrates the courage it takes for each of us to face that bittersweet truth.”
—Larry Dark, Director of The Story Prize
“A beautiful book—at once nostalgic and fresh—that will go straight to your heart and lodge there.”
—Alethea Black, author of I Knew You'd Be Lovely
“[An] emotional page-turner. Layla's coming to terms with her parents' dangerous activism is heart wrenching due to Keating's delightfully drawn characters. This novel also serves as a compelling lesson in our values and how drastically they've changed. It serves as a better history than any essay or screed.”
—Susan Braudy, author of Family Circle
“As Layla James drives cross-country, following the cryptic directions of her late mother, she meets a wide and sharply drawn group of veteran radicals who all play a part in the search for her mysterious father. . . . Keating keeps the pace fast and the suspense high . . . You’ll want to ride with her every mile of the way!”
—Robert Hershon, editor of Hanging Loose Press
“A fast-moving story of family secrets, political intrigue, and a young woman's coming of age. Layla is a rare combination of a novel that is both suspenseful and insightful, narrated by a character who is charming, intelligent, appealing, and most importantly, honest. . . . a gripping tale and a memorable read.”
—Con Lehane, author of Death at the Old Hotel
“A triumph of political literature . . . as informative as it is impossible to put down.”
— Marnie Mueller, author of My Mother's Island
“Evoked in beautiful prose and telling details . . . [Layla] brings to life the complexity of family dynamics, with all its conflicts, dangers and rewards.”
—Nahid Rachlin, author of Persian Girls: A Memoir
“Unfolds like a finely calibrated psychological mystery. . . . In Layla, Céline Keating has created an unforgettable character who is by turns exasperating, funny, courageous and fiercely loyal. Layla's journey toward understanding of her past and present evokes both the idealism and danger of the '60s, which resonate to this day.”
—Susan Segal, author of Aria
