The Last List of Mabel Beaumont

Mabel agrees to Julie’s suggestion of a ballroom-dancing class. After they fail to find Dot online, they attend the class. The teacher is Patty, a glamorous American woman in her early seventies. Mabel dislikes this nickname and declares that she will only address Patty as “Patricia.” When Mabel dances with Julie, memories of dancing with Arthur, Dot, and her brother, Bill, become overwhelming.

After class, they sit in a café, where Patty shares that she used to model before moving to England. Julie explains their search for Dot, and Patty suggests that they visit Dot’s old house on Manor Lane—something that Mabel is surprised she hadn’t thought of herself. That night, Mabel dreams that Arthur stands by her bed and smiles before vanishing.

Mabel adds helping her new friends to her list: helping Julie reconcile with Martin and figuring out why Patty is alone. When Mabel probes, Patty confides that she feels lonely since her daughter, Sarah, and granddaughters moved away to be with Sarah’s new romantic partner.

Together, Mabel, Julie, and Patty walk to Dot’s former house on Manor Lane. The current owners do not know Dot but call the previous owner, Trisha, who once researched the house’s history. Trisha’s research only goes back 30 years, providing no new information. Dejected, Mabel remembers writing to Dot at a London address; her old address book might be in the house. Seeing that Mabel is tired, Patty suggests that Kirsty could walk Olly. Before leaving, Julie makes Mabel a fish pie—a somewhat involved dish that Mabel would never make for herself.

When Patty returns with, Kirsty, Olly shows immediate affection for Kirsty—something the dog has never displayed toward Mabel. Mabel asks if Kirsty would adopt Olly, but Kirsty proposes a trial of walks first.

Mabel explains the search for Dot and shows Kirsty the 1957 photograph of herself with Dot, Bill, and Arthur. Kirsty turns the photo over and finds an inscription in Mabel’s mother’s handwriting that Mabel has never noticed; the handwriting makes Mabel remember her mother’s perfume.

While Kirsty and Patty take Olly for a walk, Mabel realizes that she enjoys their company after so much isolation. When Kirsty returns, she hugs Mabel and agrees to walk Olly regularly.

The friends gather at Mabel’s house. Kirsty offers to create an online dating profile for Julie. When they try to choose a photo and find one of Julie with another woman, Julie reacts sharply but doesn’t explain her negative response. Then, she apologizes and selects a different picture. Patty mentions that her daughter has relationship troubles as the women share tasks and stories.

Later, after a walk with Olly, Kirsty confides to Mabel that she is estranged from her family, who has never met her partner, Ben, or their baby daughter, Dotty. Concerned that Ben might be abusive, Mabel updates her list with the goal of ensuring that Kirsty is safe.

Mabel searches Arthur’s belongings for Dot’s address and finds Bill’s notebook. Inside is a written exchange between Bill and Arthur about proposing to Dot and Mabel. Arthur’s words confide his longing for Mabel and his hopes that she would accept him: He was so in love with her that for him, “[t]here’s no one else” (111). However, Mabel’s self-doubt makes her misread Arthur’s declaration as a negative statement; she feels like he chose her only because no one else was available.

She then finds her old address book, which contains Dot’s last known address in Hammersmith, London. In a flashback, Mabel recalls Arthur discouraging her from a similar for Dot search years ago.

In the present, Julie and Kirsty pull up the Hammersmith address online. With their encouragement, Mabel agrees to travel to London the following week.

Mabel, Julie, and Patty take the train to London. During the journey, Patty explains that she was a model and later raised her daughter alone after an affair with a married, famous man who wanted nothing to do with the child he fathered. The women navigate the Underground to Hammersmith and arrive at Dot’s old address, only to find that a cake shop now occupies the site.

The owner has only been there for three years and cannot help. With no new lead, the women buy cakes and sit in a nearby park. Mabel notes how time has changed everything and steadies herself for the return trip.

On the train home, Mabel tells her friends that Arthur had three affairs. He never tried hard to hide them, and when she found about his lovers, he said that he did it to provoke her jealousy. Patty and Julie react with shock. Patty then shares that she was in love with Sarah’s father. She shows photos of her granddaughters and admits that she misses them.

Feeling like the search for Dot may be impossible, Mabel grows emotional, but Julie urges her not to give up. Mabel suggests that Julie consider reconnecting with Martin instead of using dating apps.

A few days later, Mabel advises Erin to tell her religious parents the truth about her sexuality. Mabel imagines that while Erin’s parents disapprove of her sexuality in the abstract, they will make peace with it because they love her. Then, while waiting outside the supermarket, Mabel overhears Martin making plans to be at the Carpenters pub on Friday. Seizing the opportunity, Mabel proposes a group night out to Julie.

Later, Trisha, the former owner of Dot’s house, calls with new information. Trisha recommends contacting Reg Bishop, a local historian. Mabel recognizes the name with discomfort, remembering something unsettling that Reg said at Bill’s funeral. That evening, Mabel speaks to a vision of Arthur and assures him that she will contact Reg only to advance the search for Dot.

Mabel arranges a group outing to the Carpenters. The women are excited about the evening out, and Julie gets a new, stylish haircut and “an animal-print dress Kirsty helped her choose that really shows off her curves” (141). As planned, Julie runs into Martin there, and the two spend the evening talking. Meanwhile, when the other women’s conversation turns to a discussion of siblings, both Kirsty and Julie shut the topic down. Mabel shares that Bill died from an undiagnosed heart condition at 25.

Outside the pub, Martin orders a taxi for the women. Back at her house, Mabel studies her list. She changes her goal from ensuring that Kirsty is safe to reuniting Kirsty with her family and stays up late forming a plan.