Author: Katherine Mosby

ISBN: 0066212715

The following review was contributed by: NORM GOLDMAN:  Editor of Bookpleasures &CLICK TO VIEW  Norm Goldman's Reviews 

A sad voice cries out, as we read Katherine Mosby’s palette of poetic words contained in her most recent novel, Twilight, wherein she narrates a tale of an adulterous affair between an American from an affluent family and a Frenchman during pre-World War II.

Lavinia Gibbs forgoes a marriage to an emotionally remote fiancé and flees to Paris in 1937, against the will of her family, who are convinced she will remain a spinster.

It is in Paris where she meets Gaston Lesseur, who initially becomes her employer and subsequently her lover.

Mosby’s previous works include a collection of poetry, The Book of Uncommon Prayer, and in reading this novel I could sense the poet at work, as she elegantly blends words into sensitive images and feelings portraying someone trapped in an emotional landscape of a tumultuous relationship.

The tender and somewhat cruel exposé of the relationship is effectively captured in the love letters that are exchanged between the couple, as well as some of the poetry that elegantly mixes with the prose.

This is best exemplified when Lavinia sums up her feelings, where she poetically writes: “He loved me well for a brief while: And taught my body how to smile: No Matter that it couldn’t last: Or Left me wounded all alone.” 

Mosby’s characters are vivid and compelling with a richness of voice.

Moreover, readers will invariably be caught up with Lavinia’s profound feelings, as she reminisces on her fortieth birthday questioning herself as to what brought her to this, in an occupied city, in a foreign country, without family or fortune, and with a married man who sometimes seemed to love no one but himself.  A life that she considered to be duplicitous, as no one knew about their relationship that could confirm their love.

No doubt, this novel is the work of a powerful talent that will surely be heard from again.