#ReadThis #DyingoftheLight #WhomYouKnow @harperbooks @whistlecreek THE DYING OF THE LIGHT by Robert Goolrick
It's not who you know. And if you have been reading closely, or actually reading at all, you know this entire website is named after Peachy's 10th grade English class taught by the phenomenal master of English, Mover and Shaker Rennie McQuilkin who has moved on from teaching to become the Poet Laureate of the State of Connecticut. When Mover and Shaker Chrishaunda Lee, an author herself, and Peachy were in this class along with maybe 8 other girls, they learned the great importance of perfect English. We talk about this all the time and Peachy cannot handle imperfect English. It is torture and nails on a chalkboard to our ears.
In all of our hundreds of book reviews (close to 750), though we have published on actual ancients like Jacqueline Kennedy (and we have also published on actual winged beavers like Whip Burks...Avon Old Farms, created by an ancient, Theodate Pope Riddle) we don't remember ever coming across a book of fiction with a character that is an ancient, which is a Farmington graduate. We have discarded everything we have seen in fiction at all since February, and the last one to be published on and recommended was Rosemarie, Judge of all Judges and even better, great author:
We take anything that has to do with Peachy even more seriously and even more critically, and you know she is an ancient. We asked the publishers if the author actually knew any ancients or if this was based on his public opinion because that makes a big difference; we were told by the author through the publisher: "Yes, I know several Ancients (i.e., women who went to Miss Porter’s), and, yes, my friendship with them, did inform the writing of the book."
You can tell that Diana, the protagonist is an ancient because her English is correct; she seemingly is a '18 graduate. "Whom does one see to get a martini around here?" (p. 33) and Goolrick correctly references the school motto where we come as girls and leave as women. We will spare you the Latin. We do not know if she is a Mink, Possum or a Squirrel, (obviously, Possums are awesome), if she rubbed Mr. Keep's nose after walking in and before going out, and if she learned her German properly. To understand, you have to go to MPS and we will not inform you, as traditions of all kinds are absolutely sacred and to be upheld always. Also, today women go to Wall Street.
The fact that the character was an ancient was a major reason why we wanted to read this, but the reason we continued turning the pages was because of the stellar writing skills of Goolrick, whom we do not know and had never heard of or read before.
Goolrick gets huge points for using whom correctly in the dedication.
If you liked Downton Abbey, and if you didn't what are you doing here as we absolutely worshiped it (the first half of the series) and are proud to say that @HighclereCastle is following, Dying of the Light is absolutely a book you will love. To us, the plot is similar to Mover and Shaker Carol Wallace's To Marry an English Lord, except in this case protagonist Diana Cooke needs to save her family home, Saratoga, in Virginia and find Mr. Right Bank Account to do it. Incidentally, Peachy read Carol's The Preppy Handbook religiously and it was one more incentive to want to attend MPS. If this book is turned into a movie, Michelle Dockery should have a shot at being Diana as she completely reminded us of Lady Mary.
Dying of the Light has a Gatsby-esque style with elevated language both in terms of word usage and sophistication overall, which is lacking in the vast majority of today's fiction written for the dumb and dumber and why you see us almost never write on books of fiction. Peachy is far happier reading and rereading Fitzgerald, Twain and Dickens than exposing the readers to the lack of intelligence rampant in a lot of fiction today. Goolrick has a modern classic sensibility that will enrapture you and keep you going; even if you are reading into the early morning hours it will be worth it.
Some passages we liked:
"She spent the whole days watching the river, her lover, her friend. She ran to the window to catch every sunset, each one a miracle, different every day, entrancing long after darkness had sucked the last ounce of color out of the indigo sky." (p. 103)
"Her dresses from fifteen years ago, dresses sent for from Lanvin and Patou and Chanel, hung in her closet still, like dreams you forget as soon as you wake up." (p. 109)
"He knew he was not handsome, but with his forest-green eyes and shock of red hair, he was sin writing itself on her heart. And he was a green fire, waiting to burn her up." (p. 119)
The sunset scene on page 211 is absolutely phenomenal also. We're glad to know that Diana's evening wedding dress was a peach Lanvin, however, her marriage was not even close to happy. The challenges of her circumstances give an understanding to her character and her future motivations for when happiness presents itself. Though Saratoga is preserved, and we are all about preservation, the cost of being married to a liability is to be pondered.
And, never forget your good old horse...three is a crowd, and a shocking love triangle as you have likely never seen before will both horrify and intrigue you as you delve into the minds of the characters. It's not the guns that are bad; it is the human behind it. You'll even find a Rose de Lisle that has her own style that seems a bit Grey Gardens to us (another ancient), thought we think Diana should have used Mover and Shaker Geoffrey Bradfield. A book restorer, Lucius Walter, epitomizes forlorn although he has quite the spoon talent. Goolrick excels at painting striking characters with his pen that are unique and unforgettable.
Painting your nails red was never such a catalyst, or a harbinger...and love is stronger than death.
Dying of the Light is Highly Recommended by Whom You Know.
Robert Goolrick is best known for his enormously popular bestseller A RELIABLE WIFE, and Goolrick’s stunning new novel THE DYING OF THE LIGHT (Harper) mines its familiar emotional terrain. Here is a passionately told tale of class, culture, and desire that is classic Goolrick.
THE DYING OF THE LIGHT follows a glamorous Southern debutante who marries for money and suffers for love. Written as a southern gothic in the tradition of Dominick Dunne, it brims with historical detail, a sweeping cinematic quality that transports readers to the social mores of 20th century America below the Mason-Dixon Line. Readers will be seduced by the elegant intermix of glamour and greed, society and secrecy.
THE DYING OF THE LIGHT gives us Diana Cooke, who was "born with the century" and came of age just after WWI. The daughter of Virginia gentry, she knew early that her family’s one asset, aside from her famous beauty, was their stately house; Saratoga, the largest estate in the commonwealth and the heart and soul of her family for five generations, is famous for its place in society. But while the Cookes are land-rich, they are cash-poor. In order to save their home, they must put their daughter’s beauty up for sale.
Captain Copperton is a cruel and vulgar man, one with no bloodline but plenty of cash. Diana succumbs to duty, sacrificing everything, including love; her one saving grace is a son she adores. But when her handsome, charming Ashton, now grown, returns to Saratoga with his college roommate, the real scandal and tragedy begins. Reveling in the secrets, mores, and society of twentieth-century genteel Southern life, THE DYING OF THE LIGHT is a romance, a melodrama, and a cautionary tale told with the grandeur and sweep of an epic Hollywood classic.
About the Author
Robert Goolrick is the author of the bestselling novels A Reliable Wife, Heading Out to Wonderful and The Fall of Princes, and the acclaimed memoir The End of the World as We Know It. He worked for many years in advertising in New York, and now lives and writes from his home in Baltimore.
THE DYING OF THE LIGHT
Robert Goolrick
Harper | Hardcover
HarperCollins Publishers
ISBN: 9780062678225
