The Last Town on Earth: A Novel

“The Last Town on Earth” by Thomas Mullen is historical fiction based upon the 1918 Influenza Pandemic (Spanish Flu) and the efforts of one town to protect its inhabitants by a self-imposed and self-enforced quarantine. The quarantine was enforced by armed men who used deadly force to keep others out of their town.I decided to read the novel because I was aware of the high death rate from the 1918 Influenza Pandemic, but I didn’t know much about it. It’s still a wonder to me that so little is known about the Spanish flu. Given its high death rate, one would think that it would be one of the most studied and researched flu epidemic in order to avoid a similar outbreak.“The Last Town on Earth” isn’t a great novel, but the storyline is interesting. I almost gave up on the book, but I forced myself to finish it. The first 2/3 of the novel was somewhat mundane. The last 1/3 of the novel was the best part.Would I re-read “The Last Town on Earth” again in 10-15 years? I would say NO.

This is great historical fiction! I was aware of each thing on an individual level, but not of them hitting at the same time. Over 100 million people all over the world died during the 1918 flu epidemic in one year! This flue most likely had some affect on how the war ended. This community tried to protect themselves by not letting anyone in and by keeping the residents in the community. This community was developed when one of the members of the leading family wanted out of the community he was living in feeling his family did not treat workers well. He thought he could start a sawmill in a new community and pay his workers a living wage and because of loyalty, he would do well. This was also the period of strong unions, feminists, anti war people and socialists. But with that, you also had those fighting the unions, women, very pro-war and right wing politics. In this story, characters take on the flavor of these forces. The struggle is rough and it does not end on a rosy note. But what they each went through affected them deeply. I feel like we may go through a period something like that again and wonder how we will come out on the other end.

Mullen captures and articulates beautifully the complexities of the characters struggling with moral ambiguity, fear, and rage. They are three-dimensional and authentic representations of those who must have endured similar dilemmas during the Great War. As a Washingtonian, I appreciate the local history and the fact that Mullen doesn’t preach, but lets the reader draw his own conclusions.

When this was announced as my book club's February selection, and I read the first chapter during the flu season, my first thoughts were "Yuck!" It became so much more than a novel about a town attempting to protect itself from the ravages of the 1918 Spanish Influenza epidemic by quarantine from its neighboring communities. It was a novel about love, the protection of family, about honor and community, patriotism and about dealing with the potential loss of those things through your decisions, actions, and even inaction. I look forward to discussing this novel with my book club group.

Published 14 years before the quarantine of 2020, this novel chronicles the terror laden time in our nation's past of a similar virus and it's impact on a small, progressive Pacific Northwest town. Characters are built through backstories that set the stage for the climactic ending.

The story is a good one and timely given what is going on in our world with Covid 19. It was surreal at times to hear the story (on Audible) and keep "today" and the story separate.recommended

I loved this book and didn't judge it as a first novel - I liked the story and the different choices made. It made me wonder how we would react to a situation like that today - especially in light of the culture we're living in where there is not much in the way of "community". Searching your own heart, how hard would that decision be - protect you and your family only? Or how about us as a country?

the book is about a town that quarantines itself against the 1918 flu. good well-meaning people turn ugly when supplies run short. the flu 'sneaks in anyway. a terrifying example of where we are now

I had read the three books of the Darktown series -- brilliant -- and wanted something more by Thomas Mullen. The Last Town on Earth was his first novel, in 2006. It's very different but, in its own way, just as good. It's set during the ('Spanish') 'flu epidemic of 1918-1919 and depicts the efforts of a remote town in the northwest US to quarantine itself and all that flows from that decision. Bear in mind the publication date -- 2006. Very, very few at that time, except specialist scientists, had given much thought to how such an epidemic might unfold, or its implications for ordinary people, or the effects it would have on the relationships between such people. But Thomas Mullen had, and there's the story.The lumber-processing town of Commonwealth, out in the snowy forests 50 or 100 miles northeast of Seattle, is a commune based on principles of democracy and equality of treatment and rights for all. In that it is a reaction to the poverty and labour strife of larger places such as Seattle and Everett -- all this historically documented and verifiable. Commonwealth decides to shut itself off from the rest of the world -- not very difficult, they thought -- posting armed men at the few entrances to the town with orders to shoot if turn-back orders were refused. An incoming transient does indeed refuse and is shot dead. A second is more successful, facing down the youthful defender and breaking the quarantine. And the main body of the tale is the swathe that the terrible disease cuts through the Commonwealth community.The characters are memorable: the youthful Philip; the older and tougher Graham, determined to keep intruders out; Doc Banes, a medical doctor educated at the junction of belief in the miasma and germ theories of disease -- and out of his depth; the various characters from nearby Timber Falls, determined to puncture the isolation of Commonwealth. All this is against the backdrop of US involvement in the Great War, and the surprising levels of propaganda and coercion deployed by the US Government.The tale is so topical now, and it's a wonder that all the dilemmas and conundrums are depicted that we have so recently had to re-learn -- how close do I get?; is the risk that of me infecting them or them infecting me?; is 48 hours really the incubation period?; why not 47 or 49 or 168?; surely one little breach of the quarantine won't hurt?; but what about 10,000 such breaches? And so on.It's brilliant, brilliantly written, a tale for the times, and has an excellent resolution. Recommended.

I sometimes wonder if the reviewers who write the reviews which appear on the covers of books have actually read the book at all. For example, on this book the New York Times Reviewer has written "Mullen's suspenseful storytelling pulls us forward. Time and again his imagery is devastatingly right"; and although, I agree, that the first 100 pages or so is undoubtedly very readable and the story starts off very nicely and quite promising, the next 283 meander along, never really getting to the point of anything and ending in a disappointing and, to my mind, what seemed a hurried fashion, as if the author had got as sick of his tale as I had by the end of it and just wanted to be done with it. (Perhaps the reviewer only read the first 100 pages?)I also agree that some of the imagery and, in particular, the language used in the book is a real strength. However, overall, the characters were lacklustre, the story was at times confusing and my general impression was that it could just have been so much better if it had been more tightly crafted and edited to a higher standard. In the end, I came to the conclusion, that the author wasn't really sure what type of book it was that he was writing. Is it a historical novel? Because a gripping story about the flu epidemic of 1918 would have made for a great read. Or is it a political diatribe? I'd prefer the former over the latter; but this seemed to be a bit of both.Even the cover of the book didn't make that much sense to me after reading the novel. The wording is "As a deadly epidemic threatens their town, two men must decide its fate." And that's the way it seems to be when the first soldier arrives to intrude upon the town's self-imposed quarantine. But then another soldier turns up and another man intervenes. So it's, "As a deadly epidemic threatens their town, THREE men must decide its fate." But then if you consider that around seven men end up breaking the quarantine which brings the flu into town in the first place, then it's "SEVEN* (*approx) men must decide its fate" And if you consider that the entire town is involved in the decision making process to close off the town, it just becomes a nonsense, as then it's TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY men must decide its fate."My verdict: I was disappointed. I had been prepared for a real chiller of a historical novel but sadly, I was left wanting.

This is a thrilling debut. Set in the small American mill-town of Commonwealth, founded by Charles Worthy, a philanthropic mill-owner who wants to offer a fair deal for his workers. All seems to be going well at the tail end of the Great War, with American now involved in the combat when a more catastrophic event (in terms of American lives lost) occurs – a Flu epidemic . Commonwealth decides to go into quarantine and post guards to prevent entry from potentially flu-ridden outsiders. One of the guards is Philip, the Worthy’s adopted teenage son. Whilst on duty he has to make a decision which has a tremendous effect on the town. Mullen has produced a balanced, rich tale with great moral implications and depth, very good characterisation and the plot is engrossing, tense and unpredictable. I loved it.

all you'd expect from Mullen

Very pleased with book