by Janice Galloway
|
by Janice Galloway
|
by Janice Galloway
|
by Barack Obama
|
by Aravind Adiga
|
See buying choices for this item to see if it's one of the millions that are eligible for Amazon Prime.
|
Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought
Product details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Clara's grappling with the rigidities of historical character and its conjuring of a totally alien milieu--the German music scene of the mid-19th century--are all the more impressive given that Galloway's previous prize-winning novels, The Trick is to Keep Breathing and Foreign Parts, were much less ambitious in scope, dealing with contemporary lives, of a young Scottish drama teacher and two women on a driving holiday in France respectively. But Galloway's regular readers will recognise in Clara many of the features of the earlier novels and of her short story collections Blood and Where you Find It-- show a deep concern with psychology, especially psychology pushed to its extremes, and a deliberate eschewing of sentiment even when the narrative screams out for it, underpinned by a sly humour.
Clara's grappling with the rigidities of historical character and its conjuring of a totally alien milieu--the German music scene of the mid-19th century--are all the more impressive given that Galloway's previous prize-winning novels, The Trick is to Keep Breathing and Foreign Parts, were much less ambitious in scope, dealing with contemporary lives, of a young Scottish drama teacher and two women on a driving holiday in France respectively. But Galloway's regular readers will recognise in Clara many of the features of the earlier novels and of her short story collections Blood and Where you Find It-- show a deep concern with psychology, especially psychology pushed to its extremes, and a deliberate eschewing of sentiment even when the narrative screams out for it, underpinned by a sly humour.
Reaching her prime before the dawn of recorded sound, Clara Schumann is now sadly only known by report as the perfect champion of her husband Robert's music, an acclaimed virtuoso pianist who had her own international career in European concert halls in the latter half of the 19th century. The bare bones of her biography however hint at hidden depths: the mother, Marianne Tromlitz, who left her husband and daughter for another man; the father, Friedrich Wieck, who nurtured her career single-mindedly; the marriage, violently opposed by her father, to Robert Schumann, who soon fell into depression, ending his short life in an asylum. Janice Galloway has taken full advantage of the raw materials of the first half of this extraordinary saga, to produce a rich and compelling fictional life.
In this novel there's also a deep understanding of the social politics of Clara's background, most impressively done through her father's social climbing, hidden behind an apparently classless artistry. Galloway renders all this in an indulgent, exquisitely limpid prose: the end result is an outstanding novel, the most ambitious and most impressive of her career to date. --Alan Stewart
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Product Description
Whilst also being a meticulously researched account of two remarkable musical careers, this is a novel primarily about timeless, common things: about the inescapable influences of childhood, about creativity and marital life, about communication and silence, and how art is made and how art in turn may erode its creator.
See all Product Description
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?
 |
79% buy the item featured on this page: Clara |
 |
9% buy The Trick is to Keep Breathing £5.99 |
 |
7% buy Foreign Parts £5.99 |
 |
6% buy This is Not About Me £6.29 |
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
Customer Discussions
Beta (What's this?)|
This product's forum
(0 discussions)
Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Active discussions in related forums
|
Related forums
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
- Books > Children's Books
- Books > Fiction > Genre > Historical
- Books > Fiction > Historical
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
Fun for Everyone |
Beauty without the Beast |
A Close Shave |
Treat Someone
With an Amazon.co.uk Gift Certificate, you can get them what they want (even if you don't know what that is). |
|||||||
| |||||
Your Recent History
(What's this?)|
You have no recently viewed items or searches.
After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in. Look to the right column to find helpful suggestions for your shopping session. |
Continue Shopping: Top Sellers
| ||||
Amazon Home | |
| International Sites: United States | Germany | France | Japan | Canada | China | |
| Business Programs: Sell on Amazon | Fulfilment by Amazon | Join Associates | Join Advantage | |
| Customer Service | Help | View Basket | Your Account | |
| About Amazon.co.uk | Careers at Amazon | |
| Conditions of Use & Sale | Privacy Notice © 1996-2009, Amazon.com, Inc. and its affiliates |