The Last Thing He Told Me

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2021

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Character Analysis

Hannah Hall

Hannah is the first-person limited narrator, and it is Hannah’s emotions, interpretations, and biases that determine how the reader receives the events in the story. Hannah had a traumatic childhood as a result of her negligent, self-absorbed parents who, by the time she was six years old, had fully abandoned her to the care of her grandfather. Hannah’s life was shaped by the gentle guidance of her grandfather who not only provided a stable home for her, but also introduced her to her future woodworking career.

Hannah grew up in Franklin, TN and Peekskill, NY, where she and her grandfather moved when she was a teen. Hannah is a loyal friend to Jules, whom she met at age 15 and with whom she shares most of the details of her life. Hannah’s success as a furniture maker came when her work was featured in a magazine and, much to Hannah’s surprise, caught the eye of high-dollar clients. She was engaged to Manhattan lawyer Jake Anderson but called off the wedding and soon after met her future husband, Owen, when she was 38.

Hannah prides herself on being an excellent judge of character, able to size up others rapidly and accurately. She is also empathetic and, when it comes to stepdaughter Bailey, extraordinarily self-sacrificing and tolerant. Despite her childhood traumas and betrayals, Hannah is slow to anger and willing to tolerate flaws in the people she loves. She desperately wants a relationship with Bailey, although she is willing to be patient in the hopes that the relationship will organically develop.

Hannah prides herself on being a keen observer of others and her belief in Owen rarely wavers—even in the face of facts disputing what she believes about him. Hannah is vindicated in her belief that Owen is motivated only by his desire to protect Bailey, but she also comes to see that Owen, like everyone, has serious flaws. Nevertheless, she loves him. Hannah’s reward for believing in Owen is her warm relationship with Bailey for whom she can provide the loving, stable relationship that Hannah personally had with her grandfather.

Owen Michaels/Ethan Young

The mystery man at the center of the novel, Owen Michaels/Ethan Young, is driven by one thing: love for his daughter Bailey. This is an admirable quality, and unfortunately necessitates thousands of lies on Owen’s part—even to his wife Hannah, who he seems to truly love.

The reader comes to know Owen only through Hannah’s memories and what others say about him. According to those memories and anecdotes, Owen is quick-witted, affectionate, highly intelligent, and a loyal friend. Beyond that, much of what the reader knows about Owen is disputed by different versions of his past actions. Both Charlie Smith and Nicholas Bell tell Hannah Owen is not the upstanding citizen she thinks he is, and even Grady Bradford indicates there are some dark parts of Owen’s past.

Hannah makes it clear that Owen is in control of his emotions, recalling the few uncharacteristic times when Owen allowed himself to show anger, which makes sense in light of the rage Owen felt when Kate was killed—rage that drove him to double-cross his father-in-law and take on the crime syndicate. Owen would need to control his emotions after that, for fear that losing control would allow the truth about his past to slip out. When Owen vanishes, his note to Hannah is another indicator of how much he works to control his emotions, since it is clear that Owen truly loved Hannah, but his only words to her as he disappears are about Bailey: “Protect her” (8).

Ultimately, Owen has done what he set out to do by providing for Bailey as he intended, leaving money, a will, and a stepmother who is willing to step in and act as her parent.

Bailey Michaels

Bailey is, at the outset of the novel, a fairly bratty 16-year-old, complete with eye rolls and disdain for her new stepmother, Hannah. Bailey has an older boyfriend, Bobby, and is an avid theater buff who also acts in school performances. Having spent the majority of her life alone with her father after her mother’s death, Bailey resents Hannah’s appearance in her life and rebuffs all of Hannah’s friendly overtures.

However, after Owen’s disappearance, Bailey quickly matures, realizing Hannah only wants the best for her and is willing to make sacrifices to protect her. Bailey becomes increasingly willing to work with Hannah to solve the mystery of her father’s disappearance and displays a very mature and nuanced response to the things she discovers about her father; she seems to understand that all people—even parents—are fallible, flawed creatures.

Bailey exhibits the most obvious growth arc over the course of the novel as she moves from a bratty teen to a mature young woman. As Bailey’s relationship with Hannah moves from contentious to loving, Bailey learns to appreciate the sacrifices that Hannah (and Owen) make on her behalf. As the novel ends, Bailey and Hannah enjoy a warm relationship and Bailey calls Hannah “Mom.”

Nicholas Bell

Although Bell only appears as the story resolves and the mystery of Owen’s disappearance nears a solution, Bell has an outsized influence on events because without him, none of the events in the book would have taken place.

Bell began his life as an earnest, well-intentioned defense lawyer who gained acclaim for his hard work on behalf of his clients. Wooed by a crime syndicate, however, Bell turned to work defending people he knew were drug traffickers and criminals—which made him quite wealthy.

Initially resentful of Owen (Ethan), Bell grew to trust his son-in-law, although it is not clear whether that trust grew mostly out of affection and personal interaction or was more a matter of necessity arising from Bell’s need for Owen’s encryption system. Either way, it is clear that Bell did care about Owen, which made Owen’s betrayal of him horribly painful. Furthermore, it is obvious Bell loved his daughter Kate and was devastated by her death. When Owen took Bailey (Kristin) and vanished, the pain Bell felt was immeasurable.

It would be easy for Hannah to simply see Bell as a monster, but in the same way she comes to a more nuanced view of her husband, Hannah allows herself to see that Bell is, like everyone, a mixture of good and bad. She witnesses Bell’s tenderness towards Charlie and sees how badly Bell wants a relationship with Bailey. Because she is able to understand the dual nature of Bell, Hannah clears the way for him to restore his relationship with his granddaughter.