The Last Love Note: A Novel

Hugh is a main character in the novel, Kate’s guide, support system, and eventual love interest. Hugh has dark hair and blue-gray eyes. Kate finds him attractive and compares him to a handsome American actor when she first sees him at the gym. Hugh is intelligent, organized, focused, and supremely self-contained. Kate thinks of him initially as “straitlaced, always aboveboard, declare-your-conflicts-of-interest Hugh Lancaster” (68). Kate also notes “the invisible wall he keeps around himself […] It commands respect” (124).

As Kate’s boss, Hugh is extremely ethical. He insists that pregnancy, motherhood, Cam’s illness, and Kate’s grief do not impact Kate’s intelligence or her ability to do her job. He admires her ability to talk to people and come up with grand ideas for fundraising projects that integrate departments across the university. Hugh is also rigorous about not expressing his attraction to Kate while she is married or when they are co-workers, showing that he is deeply principled. His integrity is further shown in his commitment to keeping the promise he made to Cam.

Hugh experienced his own deep bereavement when he lost Genevieve, whom he adored. After that, he closed himself off and limited his attachments, only allowing one-night stands, because he didn’t want to suffer like that again. When he meets Kate, however, she is the kind of funny, generous, unpretentious, all-in woman he falls for. Once he comes to care for her, he stops having one-night stands and instead devotes his energy to being there for Kate whenever she needs him.

Kate loves this steadfast reliability and describes Hugh as “one of those quality people anyone could call, day or night, and he’d be there” (126). Because he doesn’t communicate his feelings, Kate thinks of him as a closed book, “commander-in-chief of the enduringly unattached” (221). But she also realizes that Hugh is “the lighthouse. Never the storm” (227). He handles his own emotions and doesn’t open up to many people, according to his friend Jonesy, but when Kate questions him, Hugh is upfront and honest with Kate about his past. He continues to support Kate’s choices even when she wants to leave him, though he admits he’ll never leave her. Continuing to be steadfast and faithful, Hugh is waiting when Kate returns to him and offers marriage as soon as she is ready. He has learned that he can love again and he doesn’t hesitate to risk his heart, showing his strength.

Cam is a secondary character in the novel, though he plays an important role as Kate’s first husband and the reason for the enduring grief in which she is entrenched for much of the book. Cam grew up in the United Kingdom but went to school in Australia. He has blue eyes and blond, curly hair, and Kate fell for him the first moment he walked into the lecture hall in their class together. She liked his calm assurance and confidence even before he passed her that first love note, and after she met him, there was no one else for her. When Kate jokingly proposed to him on her 20th birthday, Cam jokingly accepted, though he was sincere about wanting to be with her.

Cam’s parents, who are in their 70s, still live in the UK. He is an English professor, teaching medieval literature, and he and Kate moved from Melbourne to Canberra so he could lecture at the Australian National University. Though only in his mid-30s, Cam is near the top of his field, and he is respected by his colleagues and students. He enjoyed traveling with Kate and having adventures with her. Cam is a loving, attentive, supportive husband, tuned in to Kate’s needs and very nurturing of her. He cooks for her and creates the pinboard showing where they’ve traveled, then invites her to choose where they travel next. Cam is a wonderful father who is devoted to his son, and he is delighted when Kate becomes pregnant with their second child. He enjoys playing with Charlie and doesn’t mind the messiness of parenting.

Cam is entirely devoted to Kate and is devastated for what his diagnosis will mean for her. He senses that Hugh is in love with Kate but shows no jealousy, anger, or resentment over this. His love for his family shows when he writes out cards for Charlie for the life events he knows he will miss, like birthdays and graduation, and he asks Kate to allow herself to love again after he is gone. His request to Hugh to help him die by suicide is motivated by his wish that Kate not suffer any longer. He is noble, loving, and self-sacrificing until the end, and even after his death, Kate feels certain he is still looking after her.