The Last Thing He Told Me

In the wake of Owen’s disappearance, Hannah wrestles with what she knows—or thinks she knows—about her husband. Could the same kind, affectionate, loving husband and devoted father be the man involved in financial fraud? Or the same man who ripped his daughter away from the only family she knew and created new identities for both of them?

This question about whether it is right to love someone who is deeply flawed and who occasionally evidences poor judgment relates not only to Owen Michaels, but also to Hannah’s mother, to Carl Conrad, to Jake Anderson, and to Nicholas Bell.

When Hannah was young, her father constantly traveled for work, and eventually left her mother for a relationship with his assistant. Hannah’s mother then abandoned Hannah to pursue and win back her husband. The pain of this abandonment stayed with Hannah throughout her lifetime, despite the loving care and stable home provided by her grandfather. Given this, Hannah wrestles with whether she can, or should, understand her mother’s actions and forgive her.

Carl Conrad was Owen’s first friend in Sausalito, but is also a philandering husband whose affair with a coworker is a poorly kept secret. Hannah is uncomfortable with Carl because she knows about his affair.