Two Moons (Harvest Book) - Softcover

Mallon, Thomas

3.27

157 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0156010828 ISBN 13: 9780156010825

Publisher: Mariner Books, 2001

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A galvanizing story of earthly heartbreak and otherworldly triumph, by the writer John Updike called "one of the most interesting American novelists at work".

It's the spring of 1877 in Washington, D.C., and at the U.S. Naval Observatory, Hugh Allison's plan to project an image through time and space takes on urgent life when the mathematically gifted Cynthia May enters his orbit as one of the observatory's human "computers." But the fate of Hugh's heavenly vision-and of his love affair with Cynthia, a Civil War widow whose beauty has been shadowed by worry and poverty-may be out of his hands, decided instead by an astrologer and by the actions of a dangerously magnetic politician.

Thomas Mallon's moving romance mixes actual historical figures with fictional ones. By combining earthly matters-such as politics and money-with heavenly ones of love and immortality, Mallon evokes a distant time and place with astonishing immediacy and confirms his place as one of our most original and delightful writers.

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Review:

"A wonderful piece of historical fiction. Mallon is a subtle, careful writer who packs his books with thought-provoking depth."-The Denver Post
"The book's blend of brainy repartee, soulful poignancy and literary game-playing calls to mind the work of Tom Stoppard. . . . Droll, probing and heartbreaking."-Chicago Tribune
"One of our finer novelists writing about politics (especially those of the 19th century) . . . This is a novel that abounds in rewards."-Frederick Busch, The New York Times Book Review

About the Author:

Thomas Mallon's books include the novels Henry and Clara, Two Moons, Dewey Defeats Truman, and Aurora 7; a collection of essays, In Fact; and his book on the assassination of JFK, Mrs. Paine's Garage. His work has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, The American Scholar, and GQ. He received the National Book Critics Circle award for reviewing in 1998. The recipient of a 2000 Guggenheim Fellowship, he lives in Westport, Connecticut.