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Overview
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780060936952 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | HarperCollins |
| Publication date: | 04/01/2003 |
| Series: | Harper Perennial |
| Edition description: | Reprint |
| Pages: | 288 |
| Product dimensions: | 5.31(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.65(d) |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
Chapter One
There is in most lives, a defining moment, a point dividing time into before and after -- an accident or love affair, a journey or perhaps a death. For Spencer, all four, like the points on a compass, combined in the shape of Lillian Dawes. And because it is not possible to witness a tragedy without carrying away some of its stain, she became my watershed as well.
I was seventeen when the Renwick School for boys decided, despite my family's long affiliation with the school, to discharge me midterm. My father had died the year before, and out of deference to his name, and perhaps also his bequest, they had kept me on through a number of earlier infractions. However, when I was caught smoking a cigar in the chapel after curfew, it was plain I had exhausted the sympathy due my orphaned state. The masters were so eager to return me to what remained of my family that rather than wait for my aunt Grace to retrieve me at the end of the weekend, they sent me to New York, to my brother Spencer, which amounted to divine intervention in my opinion.
Spencer was ten years older than I, at boarding school by the time I was able to say his name. Our relationship therefore had been forged on holidays, in equal measures of jealous admiration on my part and amused affection on his. Spencer had assumed, at the time of our mother's illness, the role of family diplomat, a position for which he was singularly suited: his wit and lean good looks made him a favorite among even the most petulant of relatives, and his indifference to his status only furthered it. That is,until he declined to pursue his role professionally: after a brief stint with the State Department, he renounced his interest in foreign affairs. Then, much to everyone's surprise, Scribner published a slim collection of essays Spencer had written his final year at Yale, entitled Apropos of Nothing. Our father particularly, and the family generally, understood these two events as a repudiation of the tradition that had put Gibbses in the Senate, the Supreme Court, and two European embassies in the last century. It was also noted, a bit hysterically, that Spencer omitted from his wardrobe the hat and sock garters that were the mark of a gentleman.
Spencer's decision to go to law school had mollified my father initially; it was still possible for Spencer to “come around.” But after graduating with honors, Spencer went to Italy, where he spent the next several years translating the obscure Renaissance poet Lapadini into English for an academic publisher.
It was at that point that Spencer's past underwent review, and then revision: childhood activities, earlier thought to indicate promise, were now taken as signs of oddity. For example, the Christmas pageants he had written for Hadley (our only cousin, five years my senior and five years Spencer's junior) and me to perform, featuring spectacular death scenes involving pomegranate explosions, were now seen to be morbid, though at the time he had been praised for the ingenuity of his plots and the historical accuracy. It should also be said that at the time, the relatives were so grateful to Spencer for having found a way of keeping Hadley and me occupied that they would have applauded a reenactment of atrocities far more tasteless than those Spencer actually chose.
Spencer's fall from grace, such as it was, did not, as I had initially feared, put greater pressure on me to succeed. It had, in fact, the opposite effect. I think it was felt that if Spencer, with all his gifts, could become a disappointment, then it was better not to hold out any major expectations for an ordinary fellow like myself. Indeed, it seemed to excuse my own lackluster efforts in the classroom and on the playing field because a precedent had been set'if I was not achieving my potential, it was because Spencer had squandered his. I might have felt guilty about letting my own failures fall on Spencer's shoulders, but I didn't. At the time, I felt relief.
Spencer met me at the station and took me to the Oak Room for dinner. Not only did he let me order a drink, but after the meal had been cleared, he offered me a cigar.
“I hear you've developed a taste for these.”
“Actually, it was Bixby's idea,” I explained, taking the cigar. “He was outside taking a leak when Mr. Thrush came in, which is why I was caught and he got off.”
“Gabriel,” Spencer said quietly, holding out a match for me to light the cigar,
“I don't give a damn if you smoke cigars and I don't think your expulsion is a world-class tragedy. And I am happy to take you in for the remainder of the term, only don't try to bullshit me.”
He blew the match out just before it singed his fingers and dropped it disdainfully in the ashtray.
The Season of Lillian Dawes. Copyright © by Katherine Mosby. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Available now wherever books are sold.What People are Saying About This
“A charming novel with needlesharp wit and the lingering aroma of youthful infatuation.”
“…An unusual, extraordinary work that there is really nothing to compare it to in contemporary fiction.”
Reading Group Guide
Introduction
Most of us, at some time in our lives, will encounter someone who fascinates -- even obsesses -- us. We hunger for information about this person, titillated by the mere mention of a name or the glimpse of a face. Such an infatuation can set loose our imagination, so that the object of our affection achieves, in our minds at least, mythic status. We imbue these people with qualities they may not possess. Their presence, even the mere fact of their existence, overpowers us -- whether they know it or not. The Season of Lillian Dawes offers a riveting portrait of a young man in the throes of such an enchantment. The orphaned son of a wealthy lawyer, Gabriel Gibbs has been entrusted to the care of his older brother Spencer after being kicked out of prep school. In his Greenwich Village apartment Spencer sets out to educate Gabriel in the ways of the world. This education takes the form of late-afternoon soliloquies delivered while Spencer soaks in the tub; private tutoring from Spencer's eccentric friend Beckwith; and aimless afternoons spent in the library, coffee houses, and movie theaters of Manhattan. Thus occupied, Gabriel is ripe for some excitement, and it comes to him in the form of the mysterious Lillian Dawes. Unlike most of the people Gabriel has met in Manhattan -- people who try to appear worldly, wealthy, and gay, when in fact they are disillusioned, narrow-minded, and bored -- Lillian Dawes stands out like a fresh cut flower. She is enigmatic without being aloof; sounds intelligent without showing off; and acts kindly to those whom others choose to ignore. Lillian carries with her an air of melancholy that touches Gabriel withits world-weariness, even if he doesn't understand why. It doesn't take long for Gabriel to become bewitched by this unknowable woman. Unfortunately, he isn't the only man drawn to Lillian. Spencer, too, is swept up in her aura and soon he and Lillian are a couple. Together Spencer and Lillian possess enough charm, good humor, and warmth to light up any room. They complete each other. But Lillian and Spencer aren't completely honest with each other, and the secrets they keep are powerful enough to destroy their relationship. The Season of Lillian Dawes explores how Gabriel's obsession becomes a life lesson about the difference between appearance and reality, about truth and deception, and about the importance of holding onto one's principles no matter what the cost. Over time, most of us will relinquish our obsessions with the unknowable other: either because of disappointment, or because we move on. For Gabriel, however, Lillian becomes a symbol that resonates throughout his life. Can these symbols endure? Katherine Mosby leaves us wondering, hoping that they can. Discussion Questions- Why do you think the novel is titled "The Season of Lillian Dawes"? What are some of the various meanings for the word season, and how do they pertain to this story?
- Why did Mosby tell the story through Gabriel, instead of through Lillian or even Spencer? Is he a reliable narrator? Is he, as his name suggests, a "bearer of truth?"
- Lavinia tells Gabriel, "I've never made a fetish of the truth, my dear . . .. The truth is overrated. It's the refuge of the dull and unimaginative and most of the time it's a big disappointment, while a lie worth telling or well told is, well, a kind of gift." How does this statement apply to Lillian? To Spencer? To Gabriel? How important is the truth to you?
- Having taken on the role of Gabriel's guardian, Spencer also takes responsibility for his younger brother's education as well as his moral development. Is Spencer a good role model for Gabriel? Is his "bohemian" lifestyle appropriate for a teenager?
- Why do you think Gabriel is so drawn to Lillian, even before he meets her?
- After learning about archetypes from Spencer, Gabriel starts to regard all the women he encounters in classical terms, identifying Hadley, for instance, as a witch. The only woman he can't classify is Lillian. Why is that? Does Gabriel's infatuation with Lillian cloud his judgment? Or is she truly extraordinary and beyond classification?
- Like Lillian, Spencer is the kind of person who draws people to him; they are fascinated with him and seem to like him without even knowing him. What makes him so likeable? If you met Spencer do you think you, too, would be charmed by him?
- Lillian, it turns out, is a master of trompe l'oiel painting, a style that depicts objects with photographic detail, and which is often used as a transformative method of interior decorating. Why is it significant that Lillian would develop a talent for this kind of artistic expression?
- After Lillian leaves Clayton's house, Gabriel discovers a scrap of paper on which she has written the words Schadenfreude and Weltschmerz, German terms that have found their way into the English lexicon. Discuss the meanings of these words. What do they mean to Lillian? How do they foreshadow other events in the novel?
- In Lillian, Aunt Lavinia recognizes a kindred spirit and strives to protect her. Why is this, and why doesn't she reveal Lillian's secret to Spencer and Gabriel?
- Spencer tells Gabriel that "It is a feature of modernity to be handicapped not by our abilities to do, but by our abilities to see, in the grand sense that renders the fulfillment of meaning. Hence the frustration that leads to decadence, paralysis, and futility." He also says that the cure for this "modern condition" is literature and love. Discuss this passage and its meaning for Gabriel, Lillian, and Spencer. Who of these characters would you characterize as "modern?" And how are each of their lives affected by literature and love?
- Mosby's characters spend time in venerable Manhattan icons: the Plaza Hotel, Rumpelmeyers, Central Park, even checker cabs. How is New York, a city that Spencer says will "break your heart a thousand times a day," a character in the novel?
- Discuss the epigraph, a quote from Flaubert. How is it appropriate for this novel?
- Why does Gabriel, in the novel's first paragraph, describe himself as a witness to a tragedy? What was the tragedy, and whom did it involve?