Two Moons

By Thomas Mallon

Book Overview

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.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0156010828
• ISBN13: 9780156010825
• Release Date: April 2001
• Publisher: Mariner Books
• Length: 368 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.3" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Engaging Historical Fiction

This captivating novel not only immerses you in the politics and astronomical issues of the 1870's, but features characters that have dimension enough to make you care deeply about some and understand what makes the others tick. I'd rate as highly as "The Voyage of the Narwhal."

A historical fiction with intelligence and heart

This is a rare kind of book. It combines a meticulous sense of historical reality with science and high romance between unlikely characters. It makes me want to seek out and read all of Mallon's work, and to keep and reread (soon!) this one.

Unique and Mesmerizing

The last book I enjoyed this much was The Poisonwood Bible. I give Thomas Mallon credit for writing this lovely story with such a strong female character. More please.

Rich Historical Fiction Imbued with Life

Mallon is both skilled and humane, and those who love a good book with a sense of place and time and an era past will enjoy this book.

His Best Yet

Two Moons will satisfy those who like a good plot and those who crave strong characterization. As usual, Mallon's novel (set in post-Civil War Washington, D.C.) is meticulously researched. Protagonist Cynthia May will win your sympathy from the first chapter. I even found the astronomy intersting, and I received a C in the subject in college.