San Diego’s own, T. Greenwood, will discuss her most recent novel, “The Golden Hour,” at La Jolla’s Warwick’s on Tuesday, Feb. 28 at 7:30 p.m. “The Golden Hour,” a compelling, page-turning, must-read taps into the power of art as it connects, heals and reveals sometimes embittered but necessary truths. Greenwood’s distinctive style leads readers into a vein of suspense and retrospection. According to Greenwood, the gripping tale is so named to symbolize the golden hour, a photographic term that describes the hour prior to sunset “when the world becomes somewhat gilded.” “The golden hour is impossibly beautiful,” she said, “with a clarity, unlike any other light. ‘The Golden Hour’ shines is a light on the truth, while finding beauty in even the most difficult truths.” Greenwood highlights the story of Wyn, a wife, mother, artist and victim of a horrific assault. At age 13, the budding artist took a shortcut home through her beloved New Hampshire woods. The trek changed her life forever. Childhood became a memory while adulthood becomes an escape. The talented painter spends years traveling through life carefree, spontaneous, living hand-to-mouth and happy with best friends Pilar and Gus. The birth of her daughter, Avery, grounded Wyn and Gus into marriage and a shared duplex in Queens, New York. As Pilar blossomed into an artistic superstar, Wyn dabbled in monotony and a splintered marriage. In an effort to run from the past, Wyn takes a break with her daughter to Pilar’s new digs along Maine’s ocean coastline. Greenwood tests the friendship of “besties” Wyn and Pilar. “‘The Golden Hour’ explores the strains that can occur within a friendship when one friend achieves a certain level of success – both financial and critical – while the other continues to struggle,” explained Greenwood. “Pilar’s character came to me nearly fully formed—exactly the sort of steadfast friend that Wyn needed. While Wyn agonized over the envy Pilar’s recent achievements inspires, she simply cannot begrudge her success.”
Greenwood, an avid photographer, skillfully weaves the art of photography into the pages of Wyn’s life in Maine. “I am a photographer as well as a writer,” she said. “And I really wanted to explore the idea of art for art’s sake; the creative impulse and how it becomes corrupted and changed when art becomes a form of commerce.”
Events unravel proving that life, love, and the truth are the essence of all that is truly good in this world. Greenwood writes, “If this day were a painting, it would take a special brush, one to both paint and erase. To both articulate and obliterate. It would have to carry a special color and not color at all. Opaque and transparent. Vivid and subdued. If this day were a painting, it would be both an epitaph and a prophecy. And end and a beginning.”
T. Greenwood has authored 11 books, notably Two Rivers and The Hungry Season and earned five Indie Next Picks. Greenwood has also received grants from the National Endowment for the Art Literature Fellowship and the Maryland State Arts Council. Two Rivers and her 2012 publication Grace were named Best General Fiction Book at the San Diego Book Awards in 2010 and 2012 respectively. The Vermont native today calls San Diego home.