TWAIN'S END is a fictional account of the relationship between Mark Twain / Samuel Clemens and his secretary Isabel Lyon based on Isabel Lyon's diary, Twain's writings, and letters. The book starts off in 1909 with a visit from Helen Keller, her teacher Anne Sullivan Macy and husband John Macy at the home of Samuel Clemens. There seem to be a love-triangle between Helen, Anne and John going on and it's noticeable for the residents in the house. And, the harmony in the house isn't that good since Sam's relationship with Isabel is at a crossroad with Isabel having to choose between staying with Sam or moving forward in life with Sam's business manager Ralph Ashcroft who is in love with her. But, the story goes back in time to when Isabel first met Sam and how it came to be that she started to work as his secretary before the readers get to know what will happen next...

I'm not at all familiar with Mark Twain more than I know that he wrote THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN and that he was born the same year as the Halley's Comet appeared in the sky and that he died the same year the Halley's Comet returned. Reading this book opened my eyes to the man behind the pseudonym Mark Twain: Sam Clemens. Of course, this is a fictional tale and not a biography, so actions and thoughts are not always to be taken as fact. However, what's true is that Sam fired Isabel one month after she married Ralph. Why? That's the question that this book tries to answer.

One thing I found very interesting with TWAIN'S END was how Sam Clemens' creation Mark Twain, in the end, took over his life and how up until his death he did everything he could to protect his personage. Mark Twain is America's Sweetheart and the love of his life is Olivia Clemens (even after her death) and that meant Sam had to sacrifice his own happiness for his creation to be perfect. Sam may love Isabel, but Mark loves Olivia. It may sound complicated and a bit odd, but Sam even sacrificed his own daughter's happiness. Clara Clemens is in love with a married man, but she can never have him since that will blemish the image the world has of Mark Twain.

I felt in the end that Isabel made the right decision to leave Sam. She had for years been bullied by his daughter Clara and the servant Katy Leary. And, to be honest, Isabel's blind devotion and loyalty to a man that would, in the end, chose the Mark Twain personage over her, well she is better off without him is my opinion. The tough part of this book for me and that is always when I read a book based on a true story with an unhappy ending is the knowledge that it all will end badly. TWAIN'S END is not a happy love story. She worshiped him, and he well in his own way loved her, but apparently just not enough.