"Lystra gives her readers a sense of being participants in Twain's relationships with these interesting people, so sensitive is her reconstruction of their lives. Her book is an extraordinary achievement."--Robert Middlekauff, author of Benjamin Franklin and His Enemies

"Lystra provides fresh archival information on the last years of Jean Clemens, Mark Twain's youngest daughter."--Laura Skandera Trombley, author of Mark Twain in the Company of Women

"Dangerous Intimacy painstakingly unravels the web of ambition, flattery, and deceit that Mark Twain's secretary, Isabel Lyon, wove to estrange him from his daughters and consolidate her own position during his final years. With compassion and sensitivity, Lystra explores the tragedy of Twain's youngest daughter Jean and trains a spotlight on Twain's complicity in her loneliness and isolation. This beautifully-written and meticulously-researched book is important for anyone who cares about Mark Twain."--Shelley Fisher Fishkin, author of Lighting Out for the Territory: Reflections on Mark Twain and American Culture

"Readers will be gratified, and I believe deeply instructed, by Karen Lystra's sensitive, well-documented, and well-reasoned account of the final years. She has much to teach us about Jean Clemens, Clara Clemens, Isabel Lyon, and not least of all, Mark Twain himself."--Robert H. Hirst, General Editor, Mark Twain Project