Photo of the cover of TWAIN’s END, photo courtesy of Gallery Books
TWAIN’S END by Lynn Cullen
Lynn Cullen is a remarkable writer. She has the ability, through research and natural talent, to part the curtains of time and take us back in history to observe the life of Samuel Clemens/Mark Twain. Her readers get to be the proverbial fly on the wall and have a first hand view of the latter years of Mr. Clemens’ life. It is presented through the eyes of Isobel Lyon, his secretary/companion during this time. Cullen captures all this in her latest novel TWAIN’S END.
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The relationship between Clemens and Lyon is the heart of the book and a strange scenario it is revealed to be. Lyon was totally devoted to Clemens from the first time she met him. Although he was married at the time she gave him all of her talent and her complete adoration. He in turn gave her kindness from time to time and dismissive actions at others. He was a very complex man and it made their relationship a rocky one.
Isabel also had to tolerate the intolerance of Clemens’ daughter Clara. She treated Isabel like one of the servants unless she needed something from her, then she was all sweetness and light. Jean, her sister, suffered from epilepsy and Isabel was a life saver for her. Clemens’ wife Livy was sickly and stayed confined to her room for most of her life. Clemens appears to be devoted to her but then he shows a different side by encouraging the rapt adoration of Mark Twain’s female fans.
When in his Mark Twain persona Clemens must be center stage. He can no more resist this lure of the limelight than he can resist the need to breathe. He must be the person everyone seeks out on every occasion. If this means he alienates his daughters or he treats Isabel shabbily, he can’t help himself/
Isabel is besotted with Clemens. She is constantly doing for him, accepting his meager allowances of kindness, and absorbing his cruelties. It sounds bizarre but in Cullen’s creative hands you actually understand why she acts in the way she does. She loves him pure and simple, and her love is as obsessive as any you have ever known. She does not think of herself as poor Isabel but rather radiates in the glow of his charm and love.
TWAIN’S END is as intriguing a book as you have ever read because it is a love story for the ages. Just as Catherine and Heathcliff were tragically drawn to each other so are Isabel and Sam. Theirs is a tale of passion, sacrificial love and heartbreak. The fact it is all based on truth makes it even more impactful.
Cullen is the author of MRS. POE, another critically acclaimed book based on truth. Now with TWAIN’S END she has a second winner. In this new story she is a writer who reproduces time and place in order to bring authenticity to her plots. The readers are instantly swept up in their relationship with these characters and stay fascinated with them until the very end.
Complicated and at times confusing because of Clemens behavior, TWAIN’S END remains a book that is a joy to read. Ms. Cullen is the Bronte of our day.
TWAIN’S END is published by Gallery Books. It contains 352 pages and sells for $26.00.
