Twilight Manor-The Village is a romantic comedy about life, love and laughter in a rural active retirement community. Emmy, a former professional dancer moves to Twilight Manor from her lonely big city apartment. She befriends Mr. X, a loner and perpetual worrier who is at a critical turning point in his life. Emmy's naive niece Chris, visits during summer vacation from collegewhere she captures the attention of Billy, the carefree young maintenance assistantthe only man in the community younger than 55. She soon spends more time with him than with her aunt. Pop, the Village's 74 year old maintenance engineer considers retiring, but lives for his work and wonders if he could be happy without it. A widowed waitress in a nearby town may influence his decision. Other members of the community pursue a variety of interesting and quirky lifestyles. The mystery of what happened to a religious order of nunsthe original occupantsthat disappeared from the area without a trace many years ago remains unsolved. Or does it? Charles A. Beckett grew up in St. Louis and is a graduate of St. Louis University and the University of Oklahoma. He began writing after retiring from federal government and college teaching careers. In addition to two novels, he has published a variety of short stories and biographical and historical articles. He lives in Florissant, Missouri with his cat Dolly.