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Clara
Janice Galloway's new novel is based on the life of Clara Schumann: celebrated nineteenth-century concert pianist and composer, editor and teacher, friend of Brahms - who was also the wife of Robert Schumann, the mother of his eight children, and the woman who cared for him through a series of crippling mental illnesses.
Clara is a lyrical and vibrant account of two remarkable and highly dramatic musical careers, but primarily it is a novel about timeless, common things: about the inescapable influences of childhood, about creativity and marital life, about communication and silence, about how art is made and how art, in turn, may erode or save the life that nourishes it.
432 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2002
20 people are currently reading
690 people want to read
About the author
Janice Galloway
48 books138 followersJanice Galloway was born in Ayrshire in 1955 where she worked as a teacher for ten years. Her first novel, The Trick is to keep Breathing, now widely considered to be a contemporary Scottish classic, was published in 1990. It was shortlisted for the Whitbread First Novel, Scottish First Book and Aer Lingus Awards, and won the MIND/Allan Lane Book of the Year. The stage adaptation has been performed at the Tron Theatre in Glasgow, the Du Maurier Theatre, Toronto and the Royal Court in London. Her second book, Blood, shortlisted for the Guardian Fiction Prize, People's Prize and Satire Award, was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. Her second novel, Foreign Parts, won the McVitie's Prize in 1994. That same year, and for all three books, she was recipient of the E M Forster Award, presented by the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Her story-collection, Where you find it, was published in 1996, followed by a series of collaborative installation texts for sculptor Anne Bevan, published by the Fruitmarket Gallery as Pipelines in 2000. Her only play, Fall, was performed in Edinburgh and Paris in spring, 1998. She was the recipient of a Creative Scotland Award in 2001.
Monster, Janice's opera by Sally Beamish, exploring the life of Mary Shelley, was world premiered by Scottish Opera in February 2002. Her third novel, Clara, based on the tempestuous life of pianist Clara Wieck Schumann, was published by Cape the same year and was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Prize (Eurasia category) and the SAC Book of the Year, going on to win the Saltire Book of the Year. It was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, 2003. Boy book see, a small book of "pieces and poems", also appeared in 2002. In 2003, Janice recorded Clara as Scottish RNIB's first audio book.
Rosengarten, Janice's 2003 collaboration with Anne Bevan exploring obstetric implements and the history of birthing, is now part of the premanent collection of the Hunterian Museum, and is also available as a book.
In 2006, Janice won the Robert Louis Stevenson Award to write at Hotel Chevillon in Grez sur Loing, and in 2007, was the first Scottish receipient of the Jura Writer’s Retreat.
Janice has also worked as a writer in residence for four Scottish prisons and was Times Literary Supplement Research Fellow to the British Library in 1999. Her radio work for the BBC has included the two-part series Life as a Man, a major 7-part series entitled Imagined Lives, In Wordsworth's Footsteps and Chopin’s Scottish Swansong.
Monster, Janice's opera by Sally Beamish, exploring the life of Mary Shelley, was world premiered by Scottish Opera in February 2002. Her third novel, Clara, based on the tempestuous life of pianist Clara Wieck Schumann, was published by Cape the same year and was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Prize (Eurasia category) and the SAC Book of the Year, going on to win the Saltire Book of the Year. It was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, 2003. Boy book see, a small book of "pieces and poems", also appeared in 2002. In 2003, Janice recorded Clara as Scottish RNIB's first audio book.
Rosengarten, Janice's 2003 collaboration with Anne Bevan exploring obstetric implements and the history of birthing, is now part of the premanent collection of the Hunterian Museum, and is also available as a book.
In 2006, Janice won the Robert Louis Stevenson Award to write at Hotel Chevillon in Grez sur Loing, and in 2007, was the first Scottish receipient of the Jura Writer’s Retreat.
Janice has also worked as a writer in residence for four Scottish prisons and was Times Literary Supplement Research Fellow to the British Library in 1999. Her radio work for the BBC has included the two-part series Life as a Man, a major 7-part series entitled Imagined Lives, In Wordsworth's Footsteps and Chopin’s Scottish Swansong.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 49 reviews
March 11, 2024
A Novel Of Clara Schumann
Clara Schumann's (1819-1896) life continues to fascinate and inspire. Some years ago, I saw the world-premiere of an opera, also titled "Clara" at the University of Maryland by the American composer Robert Convery. Clara Schumann is the subject of an excellent website and of recent biographies, including "Clara Schumann: the Artist and the Woman" by Nancy Reich. Clara Schumann's compositional output consists of only about 60 works, but it continues to be recorded and performed.
Janice Galloway's novel, "Clara" (2002), introduces the reader to a remarkable woman and to her times. Clara was the daughter of Frederick Wieck, a notable piano teacher, and of a woman who left Wieck to marry another man when Clara was young. Clara Wieck was a child prodigy with virtuosic ability at the piano. At the time, the role of piano virtuoso was just coming into its own.
Clara fell in love with the great romantic composer Robert Schumann (1810-1856), ten years her senior, when Schumann was a student of Wieck. Her father bitterly opposed the marriage, but the couple persevered and were married following litigation in the German courts. The marriage was difficult, as Robert needed absolute quiet in order to compose and was moody and temperamental to say the least. The couple had eight children, and Clara still proved determined to pursue her calling as a concert artist. Schumann's instability gradually lead to insanity. He was institutionalized for the last years of his life following a failed suicide attempt. The novel covers Clara's life up through the death of Robert Schumann with only brief allusions to her life as a concert pianist following his death. Clara outlived Robert by 40 years.
This book presents a compelling picture of lives filed with the love of music. Robert was a highly gifted composer while Clara devoted her great talents to the art of interpretation. Ms. Galloway shows well the vicissitudes of the creative life, both for the composer and the interpreter. The book is a love story, rarer than might be supposed in today's world, presenting a picture of a gifted couple's devotion to each other. In particular, it presents a compelling portrait of Clara Schumann with her devotion to a difficult individual through his descent into psychosis.
Ms. Galloway stays close to the facts of her story, gets inside her characters, and avoids the temptation to judge or to editorialize based upon the values of another age. She presents balanced portraits of the characters in her story and allows the reader to see the nuances and ambiguities inherent in all human conduct. For example, Ms. Galloway lets the reader see that Wieck had a point, after all, in his doubts about the marriage and about Robert's mental instability which was surely visible over the years. Ms. Galloway also points out Clara's growing devotion to what she was born to do -- play the piano -- and how her independence sometimes rested uneasily with her love and commitment to Robert. Her love for Robert was surely the most important force in her life.
The novel moves slowly at times, but it builds as it progresses in both writing style and in depth of understanding. The novel does an outstanding job in linking the events of Clara and Robert's lives into their music. I enjoyed the treatment of Robert Schumann's "Carnaval", a great work for the solo piano and a favorite of mine, his song cycles, piano concerto, symphonies, and other compositions which receive thoughtful attention in the book.
The paperback edition of this book includes some good questions suitable for book groups together with a revealing interview with Ms. Galloway. The book shows how music and creativity enable people to reach the best of what is in them and to transcend the pain of sorrow and suffering and the banalities of the everyday. I found this book a moving presentation of the love of a woman and a man for each other and of the love of both for music. I was both inspired by the story of Clara's life and also moved to revisit Clara's music and the music of her tormented but gifted husband.
Robin Friedman
Clara Schumann's (1819-1896) life continues to fascinate and inspire. Some years ago, I saw the world-premiere of an opera, also titled "Clara" at the University of Maryland by the American composer Robert Convery. Clara Schumann is the subject of an excellent website and of recent biographies, including "Clara Schumann: the Artist and the Woman" by Nancy Reich. Clara Schumann's compositional output consists of only about 60 works, but it continues to be recorded and performed.
Janice Galloway's novel, "Clara" (2002), introduces the reader to a remarkable woman and to her times. Clara was the daughter of Frederick Wieck, a notable piano teacher, and of a woman who left Wieck to marry another man when Clara was young. Clara Wieck was a child prodigy with virtuosic ability at the piano. At the time, the role of piano virtuoso was just coming into its own.
Clara fell in love with the great romantic composer Robert Schumann (1810-1856), ten years her senior, when Schumann was a student of Wieck. Her father bitterly opposed the marriage, but the couple persevered and were married following litigation in the German courts. The marriage was difficult, as Robert needed absolute quiet in order to compose and was moody and temperamental to say the least. The couple had eight children, and Clara still proved determined to pursue her calling as a concert artist. Schumann's instability gradually lead to insanity. He was institutionalized for the last years of his life following a failed suicide attempt. The novel covers Clara's life up through the death of Robert Schumann with only brief allusions to her life as a concert pianist following his death. Clara outlived Robert by 40 years.
This book presents a compelling picture of lives filed with the love of music. Robert was a highly gifted composer while Clara devoted her great talents to the art of interpretation. Ms. Galloway shows well the vicissitudes of the creative life, both for the composer and the interpreter. The book is a love story, rarer than might be supposed in today's world, presenting a picture of a gifted couple's devotion to each other. In particular, it presents a compelling portrait of Clara Schumann with her devotion to a difficult individual through his descent into psychosis.
Ms. Galloway stays close to the facts of her story, gets inside her characters, and avoids the temptation to judge or to editorialize based upon the values of another age. She presents balanced portraits of the characters in her story and allows the reader to see the nuances and ambiguities inherent in all human conduct. For example, Ms. Galloway lets the reader see that Wieck had a point, after all, in his doubts about the marriage and about Robert's mental instability which was surely visible over the years. Ms. Galloway also points out Clara's growing devotion to what she was born to do -- play the piano -- and how her independence sometimes rested uneasily with her love and commitment to Robert. Her love for Robert was surely the most important force in her life.
The novel moves slowly at times, but it builds as it progresses in both writing style and in depth of understanding. The novel does an outstanding job in linking the events of Clara and Robert's lives into their music. I enjoyed the treatment of Robert Schumann's "Carnaval", a great work for the solo piano and a favorite of mine, his song cycles, piano concerto, symphonies, and other compositions which receive thoughtful attention in the book.
The paperback edition of this book includes some good questions suitable for book groups together with a revealing interview with Ms. Galloway. The book shows how music and creativity enable people to reach the best of what is in them and to transcend the pain of sorrow and suffering and the banalities of the everyday. I found this book a moving presentation of the love of a woman and a man for each other and of the love of both for music. I was both inspired by the story of Clara's life and also moved to revisit Clara's music and the music of her tormented but gifted husband.
Robin Friedman
July 31, 2019
Janice Galloway is an author whose work I very much admire, and have often been blown away by. I spotted her historical novel, Clara, whilst spending some vouchers in Waterstones, and just could not bear to leave without it. It oddly took me quite a while to actually pick up the book, despite loving everything of Galloway’s which I had read to date. Clara, a historical novel, and the recipient of the Saltire Scottish Book of the Year Award, is quite a change from the very contemporary work of Galloway’s which I am used to. It has variously been called intense, powerful, and brilliant by reviewers, and is described as a ‘lyrical and vibrant account of two remarkable and highly dramatic musical careers.’
The novel is based on the life of Clara Schumann, the celebrated nineteenth-century concert pianist. Schumann also worked as a composer, teacher, and editor, and was a friend of Brahms. She married Robert Schumann, who suffered from ‘crippling mental illnesses’, and the couple had eight children together. Clara was born to the Wieck family in Liepzig, to musical parents, and went on to be considered one of the best composers of the Romantic age.
With poetic language from the outset, Galloway’s third novel introduces Clara in a beautiful and memorable manner: ‘Her eyes are wide… Look hard as you like, they don’t change. The depth of those eye sockets, the slab of her brow is how she is arranged, that’s all… So far as can be managed, this face is blunt. Inscrutable. As it should be. A pianist must develop more than technique, more than musicianship, more, even, than luck. She needs the capacity to deny fear.’ Galloway’s prose marches on in this manner, and she proves time and again that she can capture so much using just a few words. She writes, for instance, ‘… her unmade bed, its spill of pillows; the window, the single chair.’ Galloway’s writing is often stunning, and rich with the images which it evokes.
Galloway, too, is practiced at capturing sound and touch in a sensual manner. When describing Clara’s playing as a child, she writes: ‘During the day, all day, the music rises. Standing over the practice room ceiling, upon the floorboards of elsewhere, she can feel it buzz beneath the soles of her canvas shoes. Music makes sensation, it vibrates along the bones.’ The novel is evocative, sad, and vivid in almost equal measure. In the first of the novel’s eight parts, Galloway focuses on Clara as a small child: ‘Some children can lie so still you’d think they’d stopped breathing, and this one’s better than most. She lies in the dark like a dead thing till the dark sucks her in and she supposes that is sleep. It never seems like sleep. It seems like waiting.’
The novel’s composition has been delicately and expertly handled, and it moves forward chronologically in time, charting Clara’s growth both in a physical and musical manner. Galloway handles her primary material with tact, elevating it until it feels fresh and new. Regardless, the novel is rather a long one, and I feel as though Clara would have had far more impact had it been shorter, and perhaps consisted of less parts. Although its plot has been well arranged, there were some sections which added little to the overall novel.
Galloway captures so much here, and she undeniably does it well. It did get to the stage, however, where I began to wonder if she was describing everything in too much detail. Whilst nice enough to read, a lot of the minutiae which has been included is unnecessary, and contributes very little to the novel in the grand scheme of things.
Clara appears to be distinctly under-read, with under 250 ratings on Goodreads, and just a handful of reviews. There is a lot of substance to the novel, but never does it become saturated or difficult to read. I was pulled in immediately, and for the first hundred pages or so, was reluctant to put it down. For me, though, Clara felt far more realistic in her incarnation as a child than she did as an adult. There was something about her adult self which simply did not feel convincing.
However, I did find that parts of the novel became a little repetitive, particularly with regard to Robert’s episodes of mental illness, and the effects they had on Clara, as well as Galloway’s descriptions of music. I also found it a little odd that Clara was not always the focus of this, her own story; attention shifts to Robert as soon as he is introduced, and Clara becomes almost a secondary character. I wish she had been given far more agency. I was fascinated by Clara and her story, but my interest was not always sustained due to the continual shift of focus onto Robert. This, for me, was a real shame, as I was fully expecting to love Clara when I began to read it.
I love Galloway’s experimental prose style, but do not feel as though it suits a work of historical fiction. Galloway’s writing sometimes felt too modern for the story, and in that manner there are slight jarring clashes which become more apparent as the novel goes on. It is an ambitious book, but for me, Galloway did not quite pull everything together in a satisfactory manner, and there are a manner of ambiguities which remain. Regardless, Clara Schumann was a remarkable woman in many ways, and I would certainly like to learn more about her in future.
The novel is based on the life of Clara Schumann, the celebrated nineteenth-century concert pianist. Schumann also worked as a composer, teacher, and editor, and was a friend of Brahms. She married Robert Schumann, who suffered from ‘crippling mental illnesses’, and the couple had eight children together. Clara was born to the Wieck family in Liepzig, to musical parents, and went on to be considered one of the best composers of the Romantic age.
With poetic language from the outset, Galloway’s third novel introduces Clara in a beautiful and memorable manner: ‘Her eyes are wide… Look hard as you like, they don’t change. The depth of those eye sockets, the slab of her brow is how she is arranged, that’s all… So far as can be managed, this face is blunt. Inscrutable. As it should be. A pianist must develop more than technique, more than musicianship, more, even, than luck. She needs the capacity to deny fear.’ Galloway’s prose marches on in this manner, and she proves time and again that she can capture so much using just a few words. She writes, for instance, ‘… her unmade bed, its spill of pillows; the window, the single chair.’ Galloway’s writing is often stunning, and rich with the images which it evokes.
Galloway, too, is practiced at capturing sound and touch in a sensual manner. When describing Clara’s playing as a child, she writes: ‘During the day, all day, the music rises. Standing over the practice room ceiling, upon the floorboards of elsewhere, she can feel it buzz beneath the soles of her canvas shoes. Music makes sensation, it vibrates along the bones.’ The novel is evocative, sad, and vivid in almost equal measure. In the first of the novel’s eight parts, Galloway focuses on Clara as a small child: ‘Some children can lie so still you’d think they’d stopped breathing, and this one’s better than most. She lies in the dark like a dead thing till the dark sucks her in and she supposes that is sleep. It never seems like sleep. It seems like waiting.’
The novel’s composition has been delicately and expertly handled, and it moves forward chronologically in time, charting Clara’s growth both in a physical and musical manner. Galloway handles her primary material with tact, elevating it until it feels fresh and new. Regardless, the novel is rather a long one, and I feel as though Clara would have had far more impact had it been shorter, and perhaps consisted of less parts. Although its plot has been well arranged, there were some sections which added little to the overall novel.
Galloway captures so much here, and she undeniably does it well. It did get to the stage, however, where I began to wonder if she was describing everything in too much detail. Whilst nice enough to read, a lot of the minutiae which has been included is unnecessary, and contributes very little to the novel in the grand scheme of things.
Clara appears to be distinctly under-read, with under 250 ratings on Goodreads, and just a handful of reviews. There is a lot of substance to the novel, but never does it become saturated or difficult to read. I was pulled in immediately, and for the first hundred pages or so, was reluctant to put it down. For me, though, Clara felt far more realistic in her incarnation as a child than she did as an adult. There was something about her adult self which simply did not feel convincing.
However, I did find that parts of the novel became a little repetitive, particularly with regard to Robert’s episodes of mental illness, and the effects they had on Clara, as well as Galloway’s descriptions of music. I also found it a little odd that Clara was not always the focus of this, her own story; attention shifts to Robert as soon as he is introduced, and Clara becomes almost a secondary character. I wish she had been given far more agency. I was fascinated by Clara and her story, but my interest was not always sustained due to the continual shift of focus onto Robert. This, for me, was a real shame, as I was fully expecting to love Clara when I began to read it.
I love Galloway’s experimental prose style, but do not feel as though it suits a work of historical fiction. Galloway’s writing sometimes felt too modern for the story, and in that manner there are slight jarring clashes which become more apparent as the novel goes on. It is an ambitious book, but for me, Galloway did not quite pull everything together in a satisfactory manner, and there are a manner of ambiguities which remain. Regardless, Clara Schumann was a remarkable woman in many ways, and I would certainly like to learn more about her in future.
June 11, 2008
The Schumanns and their friends pretty much represent one of my favorite eras of classical music - the music was great, and the composers themselves yielded lots of sordid stories. This story, for instance, is about how the famous pianist Clara Weick (who, although you never hear about her due to the fact that she was written out of history on account of her being a lady, pretty much set the standard for the modern piano recital and was very famous in her time) fell in love with the composer Robert Schumann (who was insane).
While the beginning of this book is sort of slow (I could only read about Clara's early life so long without getting bored), it picks up after Schumann enters the mix. The narrative style is a little difficult to get used to, but once the book gets going it becomes an asset rather than a hindrance.
My recommendation is to pick up music by both of the Schumanns before you read this book, because you'll want to listen to what you're reading about.
While the beginning of this book is sort of slow (I could only read about Clara's early life so long without getting bored), it picks up after Schumann enters the mix. The narrative style is a little difficult to get used to, but once the book gets going it becomes an asset rather than a hindrance.
My recommendation is to pick up music by both of the Schumanns before you read this book, because you'll want to listen to what you're reading about.
November 5, 2009
Oneof my favourite books of all time- it just puts into words the feelings you have when playing the piano and why music is so beautiful and tragic. She also takes you straight into the heart of Robert and Clara Schumann's relationship and you come away feeling as though you knew them. A very beautiful and powerful book.
June 20, 2011
I really wanted to enjoy Clara – the story of a brilliant pianist who dispite her controlling father and husband still had a career in a time when woman were expected to stay at home and bear children. I just couldn’t get used to Janice Galloway’s style of writing. I was often at sea about who was being referred to. I read to about page 300 then speed read to the end.
November 3, 2020
This is a literary novel which immerses you in the life of Clara Wieck, later Schumann, one of the most celebrated pianists of the 19th century. It was an extraordinary life - a child prodigy pushed by her domineering father, tours and concerts as a teenager, then marriage, dealing with Robert Schumann's increasingly drastic mental instability in between endless pregnancies and still performing, against Robert's wishes, to bring in some money. So, an interesting landscape, but I felt that Janice Galloway's style of writing didn't work that well in a historical novel; I sometimes found the elliptical writing a bit hard to follow unless concentrating very hard - it's a really intense experience and I felt it was too long. Having loved her memoirs I wanted to love this too, but, whilst recognising its literary brilliance, by the halfway point I was slightly craving a bit of straightforward narrative.
February 10, 2010
This is a beautiful depiction of the life of Clara Schumann, the world-famous pianist made even more renowned through her marriage to the composer Robert Schumann. I enjoyed every moment of this book, more for Galloway's adroitness at capturing impressions than for a fast-moving plot. Clara's story is a captivating one because she is constantly pulled between the chance to grow as a pianist and performer in the world and being a devoted mother and wife at home. Born and bred with an amazing talent, Clara nonetheless has a deep humility and capacity to learn from the others in her life - such personalities as Mendelssohn and Brahms. Throughout her husband's long-time mental illness, she remains his faithful supporter and promoter, and often works behind the scenes to keep her family well-fed and cared for. In this book I found a character I could admire and learn from.
I think that any modern woman could relate to Clara's struggle: ought she, as some encourage, to put away her own gifts in order to be her husband's supporter and a homemaker? Or should she, as her father advises, put aside her desire to marry Robert and instead pursue a more prestigious but lonelier career as concert pianist? Clara reconciles these apparently mutually exclusive paths in a way that I find admirable, showing that there is more to her person than the roles that she fulfills.
“A pianist must develop more than technique, more than musicianship, more, even, than luck. She needs the capacity to deny fear. Passion one might take for granted: its control is the medium through which all else flows. That every emotion evolved by music is created through containment is a commonplace. For all the shimmering details of this reflection, then, the depth of her training is the only thing that shows.” -pg 5
I think that any modern woman could relate to Clara's struggle: ought she, as some encourage, to put away her own gifts in order to be her husband's supporter and a homemaker? Or should she, as her father advises, put aside her desire to marry Robert and instead pursue a more prestigious but lonelier career as concert pianist? Clara reconciles these apparently mutually exclusive paths in a way that I find admirable, showing that there is more to her person than the roles that she fulfills.
“A pianist must develop more than technique, more than musicianship, more, even, than luck. She needs the capacity to deny fear. Passion one might take for granted: its control is the medium through which all else flows. That every emotion evolved by music is created through containment is a commonplace. For all the shimmering details of this reflection, then, the depth of her training is the only thing that shows.” -pg 5
January 10, 2008
Janice Galloway’s Clara is a fictional biography of Clara Wieck Schumann, wife of famed composer Robert Schumann, child prodigy, and a composer in her own right. Galloway writes with an almost journalistic tone without seeming like she is reporting the events: the reader certainly feels like he is a participant in Clara’s life. It is fascinating to discover what Clara Schumann was like, and with whom she rubbed shoulders - there were a great many musical geniuses around her time.
Clara is somewhat difficult to get into, but if you make it to that point, you will be hooked. I recommend this for people with basic knowledge of music theory, as it is pervasive and important to the plot advancement.
Clara is somewhat difficult to get into, but if you make it to that point, you will be hooked. I recommend this for people with basic knowledge of music theory, as it is pervasive and important to the plot advancement.
January 18, 2011
in the h w wilson fiction catalog. you really got to be interested in the Schumanns and Clara's family, the Wiecks to hang with this book. it takes a long time to get things set up as we join Clara's life at 4 years old (400 some odd dense pages). ultimately it is a very sad, devastatingly sad, story of artists, fucked up families, hard living in the 19th century, being rich in the 19th century, love and genius. Author Janice Galloway is a very beautiful writer, and writer who has done in-depth research of her topics, a writer who takes her time.
April 29, 2017
Krasna zgodba o Clari Schumann, ženi slavnega Schumanna, njenem življenju kot "ženski virtuozinji", ki je zmeraj naprej ženska, zaradi česar so vsi njeni uspehi in dejanja merjeni drugače ... dobra pianistka ... za žensko. Obenem izveš ogromno o življenju v tistem času in dejansko o življenju obeh umetnikov, saj se je avtorica resnično poglobila in raziskala njuno življenje. Na koncu imaš občutek, da Claro res poznaš.
July 8, 2019
Before reading Clara, I had never known about Clara Schumann’s artistic talents. In addition, I was unfamiliar with the genre of biofiction, only having read either biographies or novels. However, I found the reading experience to be very enjoyable and interesting due to some pre-existing knowledge regarding the subject matter of classical musicianship. Many names, mostly composers’, throughout the book I knew because of my personal experiences playing their works on the flute. I was astounded by the vast artistic network Clara was a part of and by her accomplishments as a musician. Furthermore, the expression of her thoughts and feelings by Galloway’s beautiful prose added to the perception of the highly creative minds of Clara and the people surrounding her. Also the way in which the author conveyed Robert’s confusion and erratic behaviour, at times even visualising it by mixing lines from sheet music, lyrics and stray thoughts (114f.) was especially effective in giving insight into the character’s mind.
One of the most significant tropes in the book is Clara’s ability to practice self-control, while at the same time refusing to be oppressed and being ready to make unconventional and bold decisions. Taking into account the strict teachings of her father who, “Before he knew what she was, who she was, he knew what she would be: the greatest pianist he could fashion, his brightness, a star.” (23), her later dutiful and obedient life with her husband seems like a continuation of the father-daughter relationship. Of course, the kinds of life Friedrich and Robert want for Clara are vastly different. Friedrich wants his daughter to restrain her romantic feelings towards Robert for the benefit of becoming a great concert pianist and not to settle down to family life, which at the time were mutually exclusive for a woman. Robert on the other hand wants her to give up her career and be a devoted wife and mother, leaving public artistic endeavours to him. She makes the decision to follow her heart and elopes with Robert, thus defying her father’s control once and for all but placing herself under Robert’s. Though she supports him and largely complies with his wishes such as not playing the piano in the house so as to not distracting him, she is aware of her amazing talent and never intimidated by her husband. Clara knows for example that she can provide for the family when Robert’s income does not suffice and insists on a tour to Russia, much to her spouse’s dismay:
Damn it to hell, Russia, and all Clara’s fault. The value of the rouble, our finances, the prestige of St Petersburg, my strength and youth, the second time they have asked me, such invitations may not come again, her logic impeccable, chilling to the bone. Besides he had promised. The day after their wedding, his birthday gift to her as he held her hands: a Russian tour for certain. What was he to say now? Russia dear Christ in February! He would die. (230)
In my opinion, Galloway gave Clara a strong voice and depicted her as a woman with a tremendous amount of passion on the one hand and an admirable sense of self-control owed to the different societal roles she has to fulfil. When Clara looks back on her life in the very beginning of the book, she talks about musicianship saying, “Passion one might take for granted: its control is the medium through which all else flows.” (5), which is applicable to her career, as well as her marriage, her children and even her relationship to other musicians.
One of the most significant tropes in the book is Clara’s ability to practice self-control, while at the same time refusing to be oppressed and being ready to make unconventional and bold decisions. Taking into account the strict teachings of her father who, “Before he knew what she was, who she was, he knew what she would be: the greatest pianist he could fashion, his brightness, a star.” (23), her later dutiful and obedient life with her husband seems like a continuation of the father-daughter relationship. Of course, the kinds of life Friedrich and Robert want for Clara are vastly different. Friedrich wants his daughter to restrain her romantic feelings towards Robert for the benefit of becoming a great concert pianist and not to settle down to family life, which at the time were mutually exclusive for a woman. Robert on the other hand wants her to give up her career and be a devoted wife and mother, leaving public artistic endeavours to him. She makes the decision to follow her heart and elopes with Robert, thus defying her father’s control once and for all but placing herself under Robert’s. Though she supports him and largely complies with his wishes such as not playing the piano in the house so as to not distracting him, she is aware of her amazing talent and never intimidated by her husband. Clara knows for example that she can provide for the family when Robert’s income does not suffice and insists on a tour to Russia, much to her spouse’s dismay:
Damn it to hell, Russia, and all Clara’s fault. The value of the rouble, our finances, the prestige of St Petersburg, my strength and youth, the second time they have asked me, such invitations may not come again, her logic impeccable, chilling to the bone. Besides he had promised. The day after their wedding, his birthday gift to her as he held her hands: a Russian tour for certain. What was he to say now? Russia dear Christ in February! He would die. (230)
In my opinion, Galloway gave Clara a strong voice and depicted her as a woman with a tremendous amount of passion on the one hand and an admirable sense of self-control owed to the different societal roles she has to fulfil. When Clara looks back on her life in the very beginning of the book, she talks about musicianship saying, “Passion one might take for granted: its control is the medium through which all else flows.” (5), which is applicable to her career, as well as her marriage, her children and even her relationship to other musicians.
November 12, 2024
I couldn’t stand this book for the first third or so, the way it read on the page made me want to stick pins in my eyes. It felt stop-start, like a dodgy engine that never gets up to full speed. I’m not sure if I simply acclimatised to its unconventional prose, but I found myself beginning to enjoy this novel more once I breached the halfway point. Galloways writing is undeniably complex and mature, and there are flashes of brilliance scattered throughout. Its ending is by far its best and most moving moment, beautiful and heart-wrenching in equal measures.
These moments are made to feel few and far between, however, due to the books considerable and, in my opinion, overlong length. It shouldn’t take hundreds of pages for you to actually begin to enjoy a novel. If I hadn’t been assigned to finish it within a week, I doubt I would have finished it at all, which would have been a shame considering the aforementioned quality of its finale. If it was shorter, and if it’s initially near-impenetrable prose was less so, I would likely have rated “Clara” more highly.
These moments are made to feel few and far between, however, due to the books considerable and, in my opinion, overlong length. It shouldn’t take hundreds of pages for you to actually begin to enjoy a novel. If I hadn’t been assigned to finish it within a week, I doubt I would have finished it at all, which would have been a shame considering the aforementioned quality of its finale. If it was shorter, and if it’s initially near-impenetrable prose was less so, I would likely have rated “Clara” more highly.
August 10, 2018
This is an excellent book about Clara Schumann, through the death of her husband, the great composer Robert. Clara's father recognized her skill at the piano at an early age, and he pushed her hard to become a concert pianist. She was extremely talented, but in many ways her life was not that of a normal young girl. Her father adamantly opposed a relationship with Robert, and did all he could to keep them apart. Robert was a troubled genius, and they had a stormy marriage. The book brings all of this to life in an interesting way. The narrative voice changes, and there are many, many referencces to musical compositions. This is a very interesting book, but I think readers without some musical knowledge might find it bewildering at times.
August 19, 2022
I can't say I loved reading this book. I can't say I hated this book. I honestly don't know what I expected when I chose to buy Clara, but I will admit I thought I would enjoy it more.
Galloway's novel is a historical fiction about the composer, pianist, wife, and mother, Clara Schumann. You don't hear of many female composers and performers who lasted as long as she did and persevered in the male-dominated industry of the 19th century. I thought it would be an exciting read.
As I was reading, I felt sad, angry, and, more often than not, suffocated. I hated how Clara as a character was treated in the book. Her father, Herr Wieck, was controlling and cruel. Her husband, the famous Robert Schumann, could be just as horrible as Wieck. Ever since I started taking an interest in music history, I've heard about the great love story that is Clara and Robert, but for me, it wasn't a romance. It was a tragic story of two lonely souls. I know Robert Schumann suffered greatly with his mental health, and it didn't help that doctors of his time couldn't help him much. I know some things he said and did to Clara were not easily controllable. I get that, but it didn't stop me from feeling incredibly sad for her. Clara had much to give to this world. The fact she had to deal with all the shit two of the most influential men in her life broke my soul. It was incredibly depressing seeing how much Clara had to hold back her emotions, walk on eggshells, and cautiously speak and react in a way that didn't somehow hurt her father or husband.
Two things I did enjoy were that the author didn't sugarcoat Clara's life and showed how strong Clara was throughout her life. However, I wished the book wouldn't have ended when Robert died. I would have liked to see her life after his death. She was more than just a wife to Robert Schumann; I wanted to see more of that.
Would I recommend this novel? Probably not.
Galloway's novel is a historical fiction about the composer, pianist, wife, and mother, Clara Schumann. You don't hear of many female composers and performers who lasted as long as she did and persevered in the male-dominated industry of the 19th century. I thought it would be an exciting read.
As I was reading, I felt sad, angry, and, more often than not, suffocated. I hated how Clara as a character was treated in the book. Her father, Herr Wieck, was controlling and cruel. Her husband, the famous Robert Schumann, could be just as horrible as Wieck. Ever since I started taking an interest in music history, I've heard about the great love story that is Clara and Robert, but for me, it wasn't a romance. It was a tragic story of two lonely souls. I know Robert Schumann suffered greatly with his mental health, and it didn't help that doctors of his time couldn't help him much. I know some things he said and did to Clara were not easily controllable. I get that, but it didn't stop me from feeling incredibly sad for her. Clara had much to give to this world. The fact she had to deal with all the shit two of the most influential men in her life broke my soul. It was incredibly depressing seeing how much Clara had to hold back her emotions, walk on eggshells, and cautiously speak and react in a way that didn't somehow hurt her father or husband.
Two things I did enjoy were that the author didn't sugarcoat Clara's life and showed how strong Clara was throughout her life. However, I wished the book wouldn't have ended when Robert died. I would have liked to see her life after his death. She was more than just a wife to Robert Schumann; I wanted to see more of that.
Would I recommend this novel? Probably not.
March 24, 2024
Pozor, to ni romanca. Je odličen zapis ljubezni med dvema (tremi?) velikima človekoma, a je mnogo več kot to. Ta knjiga tako iskreno razgali, do kam je človek, ki ljubi, pripravljen uničiti samega sebe. Pri tem uporablja izvirne glasbene domislice, originalne zapise iz dnevnikov in lastno svobodno interpretacijo, nastane pa neverjetno resnična zgodba ženske, ki je bila genij, ko ženska to uradno še ni mogla postati, in moškega, ki je bil duševno bolan, ko to uradno še ni obstajalo. Grozljivo, močno, izčrpno. Vredno branja.
October 24, 2019
It was a revelation to read about Clara Schumann in this excellent novel. The concerts she gave! All that traveling and hard work and brilliance while having baby after baby and taking care of a very troubled husband. One thing I regretted was Galloway’s ending Clara’s story with Robert Schumann’s death. She lived forty more years - continued to dazzle audiences and was named the first female professor at a prestigious music school. The older Clara deserves her own novel.
September 22, 2017
A rich book about a fascinating family, heart breaking struggles and the 18th C music scene. It is written in keeping with it's times, in quite a formal style, which is at times beautiful and masterful but can also be cold. Amazingly researched, immaculately detailed, it is an impressive literary achievement and I will be looking for more Janice Galloway books to read in the future.
February 18, 2025
I came to this book hoping to learn more about Clara Schumann, as what little I do know of her would suggest that she is an interesting character. Sadly, by the end of the novel, I was no further forward.
I found the narrative very difficult to follow and at no point did I feel that progress was being made. I could not help but wonder whether the author was attempting to show how clever she is. That being the case, she failed.
I found the narrative very difficult to follow and at no point did I feel that progress was being made. I could not help but wonder whether the author was attempting to show how clever she is. That being the case, she failed.
July 15, 2018
Cannot speak more highly of this book.
October 1, 2019
Very well written, but fuck did it suck being a woman in the nineteenth century.
January 29, 2020
What a dreary tale. Poor Clara! A bullying father, a husband gone mad and all those pregnancies.
April 14, 2020
A Beautiful book!
Read
October 13, 2022Interesting prospective of the intelligentsia who lived through WWll under Nazis. Lots o& references to Nietzsche, Freud and others. Made me think.
May 22, 2025
Painfully slow. Not engaging enough to make the commitment.
February 25, 2024
Revised to 3 stars. Even though I didn’t enjoy a lot of. It has stayed with me which is never a bad sign
August 31, 2017
This is about the renowned, celebrated pianist of the 19th cent., Clara Wieck Schumann, whose husband was the composer Robert Schumann. She is raised mostly by her demanding father, a well-known piano teacher. She is a prodigy & her father alternately praises & demeans her, sometimes abusing her verbally-- a perfectionist & obsessive who is determined to shape his talented daughter to his own image of what she shld be-- a virtuoso who will be world famous & earn them lots of money. She is highly disciplined by nature, but cowed by her father's selfish zeal for her playing-- he wants her to be known as the best pianist in Europe, not "merely" a woman pianist, which was a kind of an oddity then, in the 1830's-'40's. As Wieck teaches her & takes her to higher levels of accomplishment, at the same time he verbally & physically abuses Clara's brothers-- they all play, but not nearly as well as Clara. When Clara steps out onto the world stage, she is given every accolade, gifts, rave reviews & praise. She remains, however, shy and hesitant to believe all the hype. There are critics who are certain that her father has brainwashed her and later that her husband is writing all the music that she has composed. While she is becoming famous, she meets Robert Schumann, a student of her father's. They fall in love-- he is known as a tempermental, emotional romantic who is brilliant but has bouts of depression & frenetic activity-- now we see it as bi-polar disorder, but then it was assumed he was just an eccentric artiste. Wieck is dead set against their marrying-- he will lose Clara to Robert & her income from performances. After several years of back & forth about it, Wieck makes monetary demands of her as conditions of letting her marry. She & Robt go to the courts, who grant them approval instead. Her father still makes her miserable & Robt grows to hate him even as he descends into severe mental illness. All the signs are there, but even tho Clara has been all over Europe & Russia she is still naive abt relationships, her mother having decamped years before, divorcing her father & marrying another man who actually made her happy. She pretty much abandons Clara, altho Wieck is mostly to blame, since he has made some kind of deal w/the mother, letting her have the youngest baby in exchange for giving up any rights to Clara... it's pretty demented & dysfunctional. Clara & Robt have 1 baby after another, total of 8, with several miscarriages in between. She even plays a concert right after a miscarriage-- a pretty ugly scenario for her; she is in pain & still bleeding heavily, playing strenuous piano pieces for an audience so they will have money to live on, since Robt doesn't really earn anything. She is nothing if not fiercely dedicated to her art & to her family. She is the one, tho, who has to be strong all the time, acquiescing to Robt's temper, tiptoeing around him so he can compose & write, nursing him back to health through all his illnesses, imagined & real, as well as his episodes of madness. He has a doctor friend who has helped him for years & seems to understand him & his moods, but he doesn't really help Clara, since there is no real treatment for his mental state, except using leeches & mineral baths. The writing in this story is odd-- some of seems to be stream of consciousness; there are no quote marks to delineate when a certain person is speaking, but you usually figure it out. You do get more of a personal viewpoint w/feelings, thoughts, reactions-- but some of it is disconcerting if you don't want to stray from conventional exposition in a novel. Once again, learned a lot abt people I don't think about or ever knew anything about.
February 8, 2016
That this is a heartfelt tribute to the pianist-composer Clara Schumann there can be no doubt, as it is written with the clarity and intensity only love provides.
However, this tome is indeed not only dense, as some reviewers have noted, but oftentimes veers into the realm of the verbose: there is a lot of repetition and not-infrequent lapses of telling, in addition to showing, action. I'll cite only one example of each.
Unnecessary repetition: how many times do we have to see Robert drop his conductor's baton in order to drive the point home that he's absolutely atrocious as a conductor and will never improve? While I don't know the precise number, but as a reader I know that I was shown Robert's bumbling at the podium too often. (In the same vein, I got that Clara wanted very much to be both 'a Good Wife' and a 'Good Daughter,' and a little less reminding of both would've served the text well).
Telling: the most egregious example was when Reuter came to their house in Dresden and told Clara about how to help Robert's condition, in which we are told a) that Reuter thought he was offering her consolation, b) that he was misunderstood, and c) Clara's reaction, which subsequently makes b) especially redundant; whereas a) can be inferred as well from Reuter's general demeanor.
To say that the old adage, 'half as long, twice as good' applies is pithy, but I do feel that some strong editing could've cut 1/4 to 1/3 of the text while still retaining its emotional impact.
All that being said, the cast of minor characters is sprawling and very well-depicted - no mean feat. The relationships between some are downright touching (e.g., Mendelssohn, Emilie, etc.), and the descriptions of Schumann's bipolarity is vivid and intense, as is his genuine feeling for Clara.
Frederick Wieck is also very well-depicted, the controlling and manipulative man that he is. My only regret is that, with the death of Schumann at the end, we are not told whether he was still alive or not, as it would've been at least interesting to know how he reacted.
Overall, a solid work, and well worth the read!
However, this tome is indeed not only dense, as some reviewers have noted, but oftentimes veers into the realm of the verbose: there is a lot of repetition and not-infrequent lapses of telling, in addition to showing, action. I'll cite only one example of each.
Unnecessary repetition: how many times do we have to see Robert drop his conductor's baton in order to drive the point home that he's absolutely atrocious as a conductor and will never improve? While I don't know the precise number, but as a reader I know that I was shown Robert's bumbling at the podium too often. (In the same vein, I got that Clara wanted very much to be both 'a Good Wife' and a 'Good Daughter,' and a little less reminding of both would've served the text well).
Telling: the most egregious example was when Reuter came to their house in Dresden and told Clara about how to help Robert's condition, in which we are told a) that Reuter thought he was offering her consolation, b) that he was misunderstood, and c) Clara's reaction, which subsequently makes b) especially redundant; whereas a) can be inferred as well from Reuter's general demeanor.
To say that the old adage, 'half as long, twice as good' applies is pithy, but I do feel that some strong editing could've cut 1/4 to 1/3 of the text while still retaining its emotional impact.
All that being said, the cast of minor characters is sprawling and very well-depicted - no mean feat. The relationships between some are downright touching (e.g., Mendelssohn, Emilie, etc.), and the descriptions of Schumann's bipolarity is vivid and intense, as is his genuine feeling for Clara.
Frederick Wieck is also very well-depicted, the controlling and manipulative man that he is. My only regret is that, with the death of Schumann at the end, we are not told whether he was still alive or not, as it would've been at least interesting to know how he reacted.
Overall, a solid work, and well worth the read!
May 22, 2022
One of the best books I have read in a long time. I learned a lot about music and the great composers of the 19th century, and I understood more deeply, the pressure put upon child prodigies. That's even before I mention the woman question, and the pressures put upon women to be 'the angel in the house'. Not only does Clara have 8 children (4 of whom died before she did), but she supports the household financially by teaching, writing, planning concerts in other countries and playing them. She supports her disturbed husband, Robert, both emotionally and physically, and promotes his work. In return she is patronised and publicly shamed by him as he lashes out at her in anger and frustration at his own weaknesses. Her father instils in her the spirit of professionalism and the 19th c. ethos of fortitude and Clara carries on, day by day, doing her duty.
Galloway uses inner monologue and stream of consciousness to immerse us inside the heads of the main protagonists, including the hallucinations experienced by Robert. She also depicts voices of the audiences and critics to evoke the atmosphere of different cities and countries where they have concerts--and by thus doing, she creates a sweeping picture of the culture of 19th c. Europe.
It's not an easy read because it's challenging to figure out the different voices, as well as being emotionally dense so that the reader needs to take a breather in between readings.
I'm not sure that The Times critic who said this is a Romeo and Juliet story has actually read the book. It is not a story of tragic, young love. It is a story of music, creativity, patriarchal society and a woman's place in it, mental health and its treatment, and trying to please the father figure, as well as resilience, fortitude and a woman's strength in protecting and fighting for what she loves, while she carves out nuggets of time to explore her own creativity in the small hours.
Galloway uses inner monologue and stream of consciousness to immerse us inside the heads of the main protagonists, including the hallucinations experienced by Robert. She also depicts voices of the audiences and critics to evoke the atmosphere of different cities and countries where they have concerts--and by thus doing, she creates a sweeping picture of the culture of 19th c. Europe.
It's not an easy read because it's challenging to figure out the different voices, as well as being emotionally dense so that the reader needs to take a breather in between readings.
I'm not sure that The Times critic who said this is a Romeo and Juliet story has actually read the book. It is not a story of tragic, young love. It is a story of music, creativity, patriarchal society and a woman's place in it, mental health and its treatment, and trying to please the father figure, as well as resilience, fortitude and a woman's strength in protecting and fighting for what she loves, while she carves out nuggets of time to explore her own creativity in the small hours.
Want to read
December 12, 2009Galloway is known mainly for 3 novels:
The trick is to keep breathing, 1989, the tale of a young teachers' emotional collapse
Foreign parts, 1994, in which two West of Scotland welfare rights worekrs kvetch and fret their way round France
Clara, 2002, based on the life of Clara Schumann.
In Scotland Galloway is also known for music criticism, short story writer, and as the librettist to Sally Beamish's opera Monster, 2002.
"This is not about me" is Galloway's memoir up to age 11, a child who learned to 'keep her interior life well hidden'. Sounds like a very good book [LRB:] but definitely a sobering read about dysfunctional family.
The trick is to keep breathing, 1989, the tale of a young teachers' emotional collapse
Foreign parts, 1994, in which two West of Scotland welfare rights worekrs kvetch and fret their way round France
Clara, 2002, based on the life of Clara Schumann.
In Scotland Galloway is also known for music criticism, short story writer, and as the librettist to Sally Beamish's opera Monster, 2002.
"This is not about me" is Galloway's memoir up to age 11, a child who learned to 'keep her interior life well hidden'. Sounds like a very good book [LRB:] but definitely a sobering read about dysfunctional family.
October 16, 2008
Women in history! A fictional biography of the famous composer Robert Schumann. She was a truely talented woman , celebrated concert pianist and composer. She supported her family of 7 children by teaching and performing. Her husband had a chronic mental illiness, she was a devoted and strong woman. The trip into history is one worth taking. Devotion and discipline........ a woman of substance.
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