In The Twilight Hour, Nicci Gerrard literalises the tidying and burying of memories and secrets into the physical process of clearing one’s possessions away.
At 94, Eleanor Lee is fiercely independent and refusing to become a burden to her family she opts to go into a nursing home to ease their anxieties. She agrees to move out only under the agreement that she will employ an absolute stranger to sort through her books, photographs, paintings and letters that have been gathering dust for years. Peter, a recently broken-hearted young man who we learn relatively little about becomes Eleanor’s stranger and ultimately remains ours.
The Twilight Hour is a framed narrative which unravels Eleanor’s story through the letters and notes Peter finds, and the questions that they prompt. It is a wonderful jab-in-the-ribs reminder that old people were young once and they can still feel the passion, lust and heartbreak that they felt in their twenties.
Brilliantly eye-opening this truly enjoyable read tells the story of an obscure love story of the passion of an old woman and a dead man. Together, the two strangers embark on a cleansing journey of blowing the dust off of old memories reliving them and eventually, laying them to rest. In Eleanor, Peter finds a purpose, and in Peter, Eleanor rediscovers her younger self and embraces the painful memories of lost love.
Reviews by Meg 