I got this book as a review copy from the publisher on Netgalley. When I read the except for this book it reminded me of Alice I Have Been. I know they are nothing alike. Twain's End is based on my hard evidence than Alice I Have Been. Although Twain's End still had that air of reimagining that Alice I Have Been did. I learned so much while reading this book. I never knew Mark Twain was a pen name!! Apparently I've been living under a rock lol. I absolutely adored this book. I was always rooting for Isabel. It was hard not to. You wanted her to be happy and some of the time I really wanted her to leave Sam (Mark) and be happy with someone else. Even though she defended him to anyone who said he was a beast to her, he was definitely verbally abusive. Which is why I wanted her to leave him so often. Having lived through a lot of that myself made it all the more apparent. After learning about something Isabel had tried to cover up for his daughter, he took out his anger on her by making snide remarks in front of people. Isabel had so many chances to leave yet she stayed because she loved him and knew in some way he loved her too. And she wanted him so badly to fight for her but he never would. Isn't that the way of some who is manipulative and always wanting the attention and adoration of others. His daughter Clara was his equal in all the ways of his hatefulness. Don't get me wrong none of this made me hate the book. On the contrary it made it that much more enjoyable to read! Who doesn't love scandal and tantrums! It's hard not to keep reading just to see what Clara or her father would do next. I really loved reading this and will definitely have to pick up Mrs. Poe that is also by Lynn Cullen.

Lynn Cullen is a great writer. She took information gained through research from Lyon's personal diary, Clara Clemen's biography of her father, and many other works depicting Sam Clemen's life to narrate a great historical fiction novel based on his real-life events. While the book is mostly narrated from Isabel's point-of-view, there are times when the reader is seeing things from Mrs. Lyons or Clara's viewpoint. The beginning of the book was a little hard for me to follow as I know nothing about Sam Clemens or Mark Twain. I had trouble following things chronologically (I need to pay better attention to dates when reading!) as well as the flow of the writing until I got the hang of Cullen's style.

Now in terms of the storyline itself, let me be upfront with you. I'm not a fan of the classics. AH, I know, shame on me! That's not to say that they are not great. They just don't interest me. If you were to ask me about The Odesessy or Huckleberry Finn, I would have nothing to say. I'll admit it. I skated by in school by reading the spark notes versions. They're just not my thing. That being said, overall this is a good book. I'm still torn between whether I enjoyed the book, but that goes towards my interest in Mark Twain and nothing at fault of the author. If you like Twain, then I'm sure you will love this book!

Check out my full review at readinglikeafool.blogspot.com

Really just not that impressed with Twain's End. It took considerable effort to complete this novel; I slowly dragged myself through the first 2/3 of the book. My rating and opinion are largely based on two things. One, it is exceptionally difficult to like a book when you cannot stand a single character, and I truly could not stand a single character. Two, although Cullen is clearly a capable author, I found her phrasing, particularly during exposition, quite cumbersome and repellent (for me, at least). Ultimately, this was a disappointing read.

All this social distancing has allowed me to plow through some of my bookshelves instead of not being able to help picking up new stuff at the library. Which has been a little nice. I just finished Cullen's earlier book, Mrs. Poe, so when I found this one on my shelf I thought 'why not?' I think I liked this more than Mrs. Poe, which I found a bit too convenient. This was a much more complicated tale about a sort of weird fissure involving a much more cantankerous and weirdly magnetic literary figure. I enjoyed the ambiguous relationships between many of the characters and the exploration between the two personages of Samuel Clemens and Mark Twain. I'm also an enthusiast of houses and the Mark Twain House in Hartford is my personal favorite. It was nice to visit it briefly here and learn some more about his final home at Stormfield, which is no longer standing. Overall I did like this quite a bit. I like Mark Twain, maybe a little less than the next English major, but still. Regardless, I'm not sure I'd be able to stand Sam Clemens for any period of time. Though, I guess it's possible I'd be just as charmed as everyone else.

I started reading Mark Twain when I was about twelve years old, and over the decades I have come to read a substantial portion of his novels, essays, and other writing, including even his very long “autobiography.” Too, I have read collections of his letters, biographies, and books about his books, so I was already pretty much aware that Mark Twain’s personality often bore little resemblance to that of Samuel Clemens. But still, I was unaware of the scandal involving Clemens and Isabel Lyon until I read last year’s nonfiction account of it in Laura Trombley’s Mark Twain’s Other Woman (one of the many books used in Lynn Cullen’s research for Twain’s End). So when I heard about Cullen’s new novel about Twain’s dedicated effort to ruin the reputation of his longtime secretary, I was eager to get my hands on it.

Twain’s End can certainly be read straight through like an ordinary novel, but it might be more meaningful if one starts with the author’s presentation of her impressive research sources and techniques. Best of all, Cullen shrewdly uses excerpts from Isabel Lyon’s actual diary as the basic, chronological structure of her novel. Then, with the basic facts established, it is up to Cullen to speculate about the motives, hidden agendas, personalities, newspaper sensationalism, and half-truths that inevitably shadow a scandal of this nature. And what Cullen “reveals” about Mark Twain, Clara Clemens, Jean Clemens, Olivia Clemens, Helen Keller, Anne Sullivan Macy, and John Macy is not often pretty.

Sam Clemens originally hired Isabel Lyon as the personal secretary of his ailing wife, but in reality, even from the beginning, she served more as secretary and manager of the day-to-day affairs of the entire Clemens family. The Clemens family was not a happy one when Lyon entered the picture, and it was certainly not a happy family when she left it. One daughter, Suzy, was dead; another, Jean, was in and out of asylums; and Clara had a volatile relationship with her overprotective father. And sadly enough, Olivia Clemens strongly suspected that her husband was physically attracted to his secretary.

Twain’s End is the story of the slowly evolving relationship between Sam Clemens, Isabel Lyon, and Clara Clemens. As presented by Lynn Cullen, the relationship may have been slow to develop, but it was an inevitable one that finally ran its course because Isabel Lyon was patient enough to bide her time. In the end, however, Lyon’s dreams were frustrated and denied her. And when she finally gave them up and married a younger suitor, Clemens cut her off, accused her of embezzlement of his personal funds, and made a concerted effort to ruin her reputation and life. No one, not a single person, in this sordid story exactly covers himself with glory.

Twain’s End will be of interest to Mark Twain fans yearning to know more about what made the man tick. I enjoyed much of the story, but found that it left me wishing that more time had been spent on the embezzlement aspect of the relationship and a good bit less on the “romance” itself. My biggest surprise was the side plot involving Helen Keller, Anne Sullivan Macy, and Sullivan’s cad of a husband, John Macy. That’s a story (and a side of Keller) that I want to explore more in my reading, so here’s hoping that Lynn Cullen writes a novel about that trio next.

So if you adore Mark Twain, I can't say that I'd recommend this book. It's certainly a glimpse at the man behind the curtain, as it were. Samuel Clemens seems to almost have multiple personality disorder. Sam is caring, uncertain, gentlemanly, private. Mark is egotistical, gregarious, often tactless. Watching the tug of war between the warring sides of his personality is truly fascinating. (Clearly, I use the word "fascinating" too much since I need to clarify with "truly." But seriously, intriguing stuff.)

Twain's secretary (and eventual mistress) Isabel Lyon is someone I've never heard of, which is odd considering I've visited the excellent museum of the Mark Twain House in Hartford, Connecticut. She was his secretary for 7 years, and apparently his lover for a fraction of that time. (Cullen's research included Lyon's actual diaries, so presumably she didn't just make up this relationship.) Despite the publisher's blurbs, this book isn't about the aftermath of Isabel's marriage to Twain's business manager but about the 7 years preceding it. It is an excellent character study of both Clemens/Twain and Lyon, as well as Twain's children (particularly Clara) and various other satellites to his life. It's almost enough to make me want to commit to the thousands of pages of his autobiography, large parts of which he dictated to Lyon.

By focusing on this last chapter of Twain's life, Cullen successfully illustrates how his novels weren't the only fiction he invented. It's almost as if he forgot the truth himself at times. Clearly, it's difficult to describe, but I would highly recommend this book to fans of literary history who aren't afraid to see some tarnish on the gilded image of the illustrious Mark Twain.

The fine print: received ARC from NetGalley.

The danger for some readers may be that Ms Cullen's book will diminish the work of the writer known as Mark Twain. It should not. The book presents an interesting and thought provoking view of the person who was Samuel Clemens. It helps us perhaps to develop a much richer understanding of who this genius of a writer was.

I must say I really enjoyed this book. Through this book, I have learned that the great Mark Twain was a bit of a rogue and a rake. My eyes have been opened as this book took me through his life with Isabel as his secretary. Martyring herself for his love and affection. As well, as the dysfunctional dynamics between him and his family. Especially, where Clara and Jean were concerned. His mercurial and sometimes borderline eccentric behavior. The contradictions between Mark Twain and Samuel Clemens. The rash and vindictive behavior of Clara, Katy the maid, who was just mean and obviously very resentful and jealous of Isabel. The Lion who could dish it out but not take it. Yes, this book has shed some new light on America's famous author. This book has changed my opinion of the man and not in a good way. I didn't like the vicious smear campaign that he and Clara put Isabel through after her years of faithful service. And still she said not a word to malign him. Martyr ir Saint?You tell me. I was also surprised by Helen Keller's actions towards Anne Sullivan's husband. All in all,... a very compelling book. A definite must read!

I could hear them
I could see them
I could smell his cigars
Brava