Girl in the Moonlight

Following his debut, Indiscretion, Dubow writes an evocative and maddening tale of obsession. When young Wylie Rose sees Cesca Bonet for the first time, his life is placed on a path of compulsion, desire, and what he believes to be love. Once drawn into Cesca’s orbit as adults, she becomes Wylie’s drug of choice. His infatuation gives Cesca the power to walk in and out of his life, screwing up his relationships and plans whenever she chooses to spend time with him. Told through the lavish eye of Wylie, a budding artist interloping in an old-money world pulsating with the tantalizing power of family status and beauty, the novel spans decades and continents—including East Hamptons glamour in the 1960s and New York City at the rise of the AIDS epidemic. Though beautifully descriptive, the narration feels inconsistent: some choices in description and action seem out of character for the narrator. Wylie’s obsession is impassioned but at times frustrating, and questions about whether a person can change, or if we are all doomed to repeat the same mistakes time and time again, will be swirling through readers’ minds. (May)