The Golden Hour - by T Greenwood (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

A compelling and evocative novel with an unsettling question at its heart, The Golden Hour from acclaimed author T. Greenwood explores the power of art to connect, to heal, and to reveal...

On a spring afternoon long ago, thirteen-year-old Wyn Davies took a shortcut through the woods in her New Hampshire hometown and became a cautionary tale. Now, twenty years later, she lives in New York, on the opposite side of a duplex from her ex, with their four-year-old daughter shuttling between them. Wyn makes her living painting commissioned canvases of birch trees to match her clients' furnishings. But the nagging sense that she has sold her artistic soul is soon eclipsed by a greater fear. Robby Rousseau, who has spent the past two decades in prison for a terrible crime against her, may be released based on new DNA evidence--unless Wyn breaks her silence about that afternoon.

To clear her head, refocus her painting, and escape an even more present threat, Wyn agrees to be temporary caretaker for a friend's new property on a remote Maine island. The house has been empty for years, and in the basement Wyn discovers a box of film canisters labeled "Epitaphs and Prophecies." Like time capsules, the photographs help her piece together the life of the house's former owner, an artistic young mother, much like Wyn. But there is a mystery behind the images too, and unraveling it will force Wyn to finally confront what happened in those woods--and perhaps escape them at last.

Review Quotes

Praise for T. Greenwood:

"Greenwood writes with a deep understanding of how trauma shapes a person. This emotionally searing and lushly written book is highly recommended." --Booklist on The Golden Hour

"Greenwood has succeeded in writing an emotionally charged novel with many layers, rounded out by a cast of memorable characters." --Publishers Weekly on The Golden Hour

"While many of the characters are well-developed and the plot moves along smartly, Greenwood's latest is also wonderfully written, evoking a strong sense of place with lush, visually evocative prose." --Library Journal STARRED REVIEW on The Golden Hour

"Wrenching...Beauty and tragedy at the same time, darkness then light--those are Greenwood hallmarks...she's terrific with characters, with the multiple textures that make someone seem human on the page." --The San Diego Union Tribune on Bodies of Water

"A thoughtfully rendered version of Sally, whose ordeal is shown for the proper horror that it was." --Vanity Fair on Rust & Stardust

"A beautifully written, unnerving tragedy woven from equal measures of hope and menace." --Booklist, STARRED REVIEW on Rust & Stardust

"Greenwood's heart-wrenching, emotional roller coaster of a read also seamlessly captures the transformation of women's roles in the early 1970s. "A heartfelt tale of true friendship, a mother's unstoppable love, and the immeasurable fortitude of women." --Booklist on Keeping Lucy

"Greenwood is a writer of subtle strength, evoking small-town life beautifully while spreading out the map of Harper's life, finding light in the darkest of stories." --Publishers Weekly on Two Rivers

"Part family drama, part literary mystery and filled with beautiful, hypnotic prose." --Bookpage on Where I Lost Her

"Greenwood is an assured guide through this strange territory; she has a lush, evocative style." --The New York Times Book Review on Nearer Than the Sky

"Greenwood's sixth novel, a tale of love and loyalty, owes its success to the poetic prose, as well as the compelling chronology she employs...This compassionate, insightful look at hope and redemption is a richly textured portrait. This gem of a story is a good choice for those who enjoy family novels." --Library Journal on Bodies of Water

"A complex and compelling portrait of the painful intricacies of love and loyalty. Book clubs will find much to discuss in T. Greenwood's insightful story of two women caught between their hearts and their families." --Eleanor Brown, New York Times bestselling author of The Weird Sisters on Bodies of Water

"The love story that plays out between the two women--at times tragic, at times beautiful--is rightly taboo for the early-60's setting." --San Diego Reader on Bodies of Water

"I was captivated from the very first line...Greenwood's moving story of love and loss, hope and redemption has stayed with me, long after I turned the last page." --Jillian Cantor, author of Margot on Bodies of Water

"Stark, taut, and superbly written, this dark tale brims with glimpses of the Southwest and scenes of violence, gruesome but not gratuitous. This haunting look at a fractured family is certain to please readers of literary suspense." --Library Journal, STARRED REVIEW for This Glittering World

About the Author

T. Greenwood is an acclaimed author whose novels have sold more than a quarter-million copies. A four-time winner of the San Diego Book Award, she has received grants from the Sherwood Anderson Foundation, the Christopher Isherwood Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Maryland State Arts Council. Five of her novels have been Indie Next Picks and her twelfth novel, Rust & Stardust, was a LibraryReads selection. Her novels have been translated into five languages. She lives with her family in San Diego, California, where she teaches creative writing for The Writer's Center and San Diego Writer's Ink, studies photography, and continues to write. Please visit her online at TGreenwood.com.