Claire Marvel: A Novel - Hardcover

Schwartz, John Burnham

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 038550344X ISBN 13: 9780385503440

Publisher: Nan A. Talese, 2002

Synopsis

With the publication of his second novel, Reservation Road, John Burnham Schwartz established himself as a superb storyteller as well as a writer of extraordinary grace and stunning perception. The novel was hailed by Rosellen Brown as a "shattering book, imagined with startling emotional precision and generosity." And the New York Times Book Review called it "a triumph of form, pacing and power." Now, with Claire Marvel, Schwartz brings readers into a world so real and beautifully drawn that one does not want the story to end.

A chance meeting in a rainstorm becomes a defining moment of transforming emotion for graduate students Claire Marvel and Julian Rose, two people whose hearts have long been protected behind walls of wit, intelligence, and innate caution. Neither could imagine what lies in store for them: the unexpected unfolding over a dozen years of a great and difficult love.

Moving between Cambridge, Massachusetts, New York City, and the hushed, timeless countryside of France, John Burnham Schwartz explores the many aspects of emotional commitment and the fear of giving oneself to another -- in father-son relationships, in marriage, and in the ecstasy and elation of an elusive but compelling passion. Here is a novel that plumbs with wisdom and compassion the hidden regrets, enduring hopes, and guiding mysteries of a bond stronger than reason. Masterfully written, Claire Marvel is a love story for our time, and a brilliant achievement.

About this title

Review

Die-hard romantics will find it hard to resist John Burnham Schwartz's novel Claire Marvel. Reminiscent of Erich Segal's Love Story, this is the tale of a great yet tragic love, one foretold in the novel's first sentence: "There was before her and now there is after her, and that is the difference in my life." Boy (Julian Rose) meets beautiful girl (Claire Marvel) in a spring shower in 1985 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where they attend Harvard as graduate students. They fall in love and spend a difficult yet idyllic time in the French countryside, but she is stolen away by Julian's treacherously suave advisor. Julian flees Boston for his hometown of New York City, where he starts a new life. He and Claire encounter each other again years later, and eventually Claire comes back to Julian, but only indirectly, again in France. --Susan Biskeborn

From the Back Cover

"When you finish John Burnham Schwartz’s Claire Marvel - and you’ll do so reluctantly - you’ll know that what you’ve read is true. Yes, it’s a novel but when you travel with Mr. Schwartz you explore passion, betrayal, and the specter of loneliness and you’ll want to finish this most seductive book in one sitting. Don’t. Put it down and let it color your dreamscape. The characters are that vivid, the book so wise you will be moved and enriched." — Frank McCourt

About this edition

• Publisher: Nan A. Talese
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 038550344X
• ISBN 13: 9780385503440
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 336