Genre Fiction
![Daisy Alpert Florin - [object Object] author](https://res.cloudinary.com/readsomnia/image/upload/authors/a_B0BSR8FNBK.jpg)
My Last Innocent Year: A Novel
An incisive, deeply resonant debut novel about a nonconsensual sexual encounter that propels one woman's final semester at an elite New England college into controversy and chaos―and into an ill-advised affair with a married professor.
It's 1998 and Isabel Rosen, the only daughter of a Lower East Side appetizing store owner, has one semester left at Wilder College, a prestigious school in New Hampshire. Desperate to shed her working-class roots and still mourning the death of her mother four years earlier, Isabel has always felt like an outsider at Wilder but now, in her final semester, she believes she has found her place―until a nonconsensual sexual encounter with one of the only other Jewish students on campus leaves her reeling.
Enter R. H. Connelly, a once-famous poet and Isabel's writing professor, a man with secrets of his own. Connelly makes Isabel feel seen, beautiful, talented: the woman she longs to become. His belief in her ignites a belief in herself, and the two begin an affair that shakes the foundation of who Isabel thinks she is, for better and worse. As the lives of the adults around her slowly come apart, Isabel discovers that the line between youth and adulthood is less defined than she thought.
A coming-of-age story set against the backdrop of the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal, Daisy Alpert Florin's My Last Innocent Year is a timely and wise portrait of a young woman learning to trust her voice and move toward independence while recognizing the beauty and grit of where she came from.
It's 1998 and Isabel Rosen, the only daughter of a Lower East Side appetizing store owner, has one semester left at Wilder College, a prestigious school in New Hampshire. Desperate to shed her working-class roots and still mourning the death of her mother four years earlier, Isabel has always felt like an outsider at Wilder but now, in her final semester, she believes she has found her place―until a nonconsensual sexual encounter with one of the only other Jewish students on campus leaves her reeling.
Enter R. H. Connelly, a once-famous poet and Isabel's writing professor, a man with secrets of his own. Connelly makes Isabel feel seen, beautiful, talented: the woman she longs to become. His belief in her ignites a belief in herself, and the two begin an affair that shakes the foundation of who Isabel thinks she is, for better and worse. As the lives of the adults around her slowly come apart, Isabel discovers that the line between youth and adulthood is less defined than she thought.
A coming-of-age story set against the backdrop of the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal, Daisy Alpert Florin's My Last Innocent Year is a timely and wise portrait of a young woman learning to trust her voice and move toward independence while recognizing the beauty and grit of where she came from.
Editorial Reviews
A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice
A March Indie Next Pick
A USA Today Must-Read Book
Named a Most Anticipated Book of 2023 by Zibby Owens and LitHub
Named a Most Anticipated Debut Book of 2023 by Debutiful
Named a Must-Read Book of Winter by Entertainment Weekly and Town & Country
"Lands like a refreshing, deep breath... My Last Innocent Year is a heartfelt chronicle of a writer who realizes that her stories about girls with feelings matter every bit as much as the ones written by the guy who annotates The New Yorker."
―Elisabeh Egan, The New York Times Book Review
"This evocative, eloquent campus confidential lays out the complications of the Clinton-Lewinsky era just as you might remember them."
―People Magazine
"There have always been impressionable young people who fall for older men ― teachers and other mentors ― and there have always been older men who have taken advantage of these crushes. But rarely has their story been told as thoughtfully as in Daisy Alpert Florin's intelligent and sensuous debut novel, My Last Innocent Year, a remarkable coming-of-age story that examines sexual politics, power and lust and the sometimes murky nature of romantic encounters."
―Minneapolis Star Tribune
"A deftly written campus coming-of-age debut narrative, My Last Innocent Year is one of those stories that stays with you."
―Zibby Owens, GMA
"A college senior reckons with the aftermath of what might have been sexual assault by a fellow student ― and tumbles into a love affair with her married professor ― against the backdrop of Clinton-Lewinsky-era America in Florin's resonant, coolly composed debut."
―<...
A March Indie Next Pick
A USA Today Must-Read Book
Named a Most Anticipated Book of 2023 by Zibby Owens and LitHub
Named a Most Anticipated Debut Book of 2023 by Debutiful
Named a Must-Read Book of Winter by Entertainment Weekly and Town & Country
"Lands like a refreshing, deep breath... My Last Innocent Year is a heartfelt chronicle of a writer who realizes that her stories about girls with feelings matter every bit as much as the ones written by the guy who annotates The New Yorker."
―Elisabeh Egan, The New York Times Book Review
"This evocative, eloquent campus confidential lays out the complications of the Clinton-Lewinsky era just as you might remember them."
―People Magazine
"There have always been impressionable young people who fall for older men ― teachers and other mentors ― and there have always been older men who have taken advantage of these crushes. But rarely has their story been told as thoughtfully as in Daisy Alpert Florin's intelligent and sensuous debut novel, My Last Innocent Year, a remarkable coming-of-age story that examines sexual politics, power and lust and the sometimes murky nature of romantic encounters."
―Minneapolis Star Tribune
"A deftly written campus coming-of-age debut narrative, My Last Innocent Year is one of those stories that stays with you."
―Zibby Owens, GMA
"A college senior reckons with the aftermath of what might have been sexual assault by a fellow student ― and tumbles into a love affair with her married professor ― against the backdrop of Clinton-Lewinsky-era America in Florin's resonant, coolly composed debut."
―<...
Readers Top Reviews
Carter NealAmberK
Set in the late 90s, My Last Innocent Year is one woman’s reflection on her final semester of college. At the center of the story is an affair with a professor that Isabel commences in the wake of a “nonconsensual sexual encounter” with another student, and this affair is framed within a larger discussion about consent as the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal hits the news. At the same time, Isabel struggles to reconcile her working-class upbringing with the elite institution she now calls home, and she’s yet to decide the career and life she wants when she leaves these hallowed halls. Part coming-of-age and part social commentary, My Last Innocent Year is a lesson on what it looks like to weave together a story of relationships, religion, consent, gender, art, and power. It highlights the ways in which growing up is tangled up in the lives of our past selves, as well as the people around us. As someone who typically avoids media with depictions of sexual assault-often finding them exploitative and gratuitous-I opened this book with trepidation. However, the author navigated this theme with mastery, demonstrating how storytellers can depict experiences of sexual assault without graphic descriptions that trigger and retraumatize readers. (Still, check the trigger warnings, and make the best decision for yourself as to whether or not this book is one safe for your own mental health.) Thank you to Henry Holt & Co. for providing me an ARC of My Last Innocent Year. All opinions expressed here are entirely honest and my own.
MunsonCarter Neal
I couldn’t stop reading. A beautiful meditation on youth, power dynamics, love and loss, friendship and the 90’s. Highly recommend!
Bonnie BerryMunso
Such a beautifully written and rich novel. Cannot wait to see her next creation.
Barbara J. Hokans
The best novel I have ever read! I laughed, cried, and savored every word. Thank you for writing this. Hope you write more!
SuperMom 44Barbar
A friend recommended this book to me and I was hesitant because it wasn't the type of book I normally read. I am so glad I listed to her as I really loved it. It was beautifully written and easy to read.
