The Last of The Crazy People

The Last of the Crazy People is the first novel of Canadian author Timothy Findley. It was published in 1967, in Britain, and later on in Canada, and was one of the first novels ever to be labelled as Southern Ontario Gothic.

The novel tells the story of a well-to-do Ontarian family in the 1960s, whose future becomes uncertain when Jessica (the wife/mother) gives birth to a stillborn and returns home only to become hostile to the rest of the family, and to imprison herself in her own room.

The family is put under even more stress as Gilbert, the elder son, begins to act out in drunken outbursts and questionable behavior in public. The yelling and arguing in the house only helps to reinforce the family's reputation as 'crazy'.

As the few fine threads holding the family together quickly deteriorate over the summer, Hooker is left mostly in the dark as to why this is happening to them. Left to mostly his own devices, he must come to his own terrifying conclusion as to what must be done about it.