Description
A Mourner’s Quest Through New York City at Dusk, Looking for the Light
The French expression for twilight is ‘entre chien et loup’: the hour between dog and wolf. Between the familiar and the frightening.
Pamela Thomas-Graham found herself in such a place when her husband, author Lawrence Otis Graham, died suddenly just days after their 29th wedding anniversary. Searching for solace, she decided to take a photography class. For her entire life, she had excelled at expressing herself with words. But sometimes, words fail.
This is the journal of a novice photographer, traveling by twilight throughout New York City, looking for light. A journey illuminated by streetlight, neon light, and candlelight. A journey from grief, fear, anger, fatigue, and longing to acquiescence—complete with little firefly moments of grace.
Night falls and twilight comes for everyone. What we make of it is up to us.
Hans –
This book found me at exactly the right moment, and I suspect it will do the same for many readers navigating their own twilight hours. Pamela Thomas-Graham has crafted something truly special here – part memoir, part photography journal, part meditation on loss and resilience.
The concept of “entre chien et loup” – that liminal space between the familiar and the frightening – becomes a perfect metaphor for grief itself. Thomas-Graham’s decision to turn to photography after losing her husband of 29 years feels both brave and deeply relatable. When words fail us (and they do, even for accomplished writers), sometimes we need a different language entirely.
What strikes me most about this book is its honesty. There’s no sugar-coating the raw reality of sudden loss, no platitudes about everything happening for a reason. Instead, Thomas-Graham offers something more valuable: authentic witness to the messy, nonlinear process of healing. Her nighttime wanderings through New York City become a form of urban pilgrimage, each photograph a prayer, each street corner a small revelation.
The writing is beautiful without being precious, and the integration of photography adds layers of meaning that words alone couldn’t capture. The “little firefly moments of grace” she mentions aren’t forced or manufactured – they emerge naturally from her patient attention to light in all its forms: streetlights, neon, candles, and eventually, hope.
This isn’t just a grief memoir – it’s a masterclass in finding beauty in darkness, literally and figuratively. Anyone who has experienced loss, creative block, or simply the challenge of rebuilding after life changes everything will find wisdom here.
Voracious Reader –
There’s something magical about the photos in this book; they were all taken during twilight and there’s a strong sense of peacefulness. All of the photos are lovely and very calming. Also, the back story to these photos is poignant because the photographer’s incentive came from a source of tragedy.