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Camille Claudel: A Novel

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In this her latest novel, psychoanalyst-turned-author Alma H. Bond offers the reader a beautiful, yet highly disturbing portrait of Camille Claudel, the gifted French sculptress from the late 1800's who was mistress to famous sculptor Auguste Rodin.

The story is told in first person through the eyes of Camille herself as she writes her own story while confined to an asylum, where she tragically spent the last thirty years of her life.

In lovely detail Camille pens her life from her early childhood to her very last days, giving a grim glimpse of her love/hate relationship with her mother, her love, edging on incest, to her younger brother, her struggle with the male-dominated artistic establishments of the time, and her turbulent, obsessive, destructive affair with Rodin, who was a married man.

The tale is addictive and totally engrossing. Bond brings to life the dark workings of Camille's genius mind, from her deepest obsessions to her paranoia. Camille comes across as an arrogant, selfish, ambitious yet complex and tragically frail figure of her times, when women artists were nothing more than "anomalies." Most remarkable is the gradual change in Camille's mind as she becomes more and more unstable. Flawlessly crafted and beautifully written, Camille Claudel: A Novel comes highly recommended from this reviewer.

*This review originally appeared on TCM Reviews

It would take a psychoanalyst along with the help of a great writer to tell this strange story based on a real life artist. The book "Camille Claudel: A Novel" accomplishes this task by having all those professional qualities already in form of author Alma H. Bond. She has spent her adult working life helping people to cope with their emotional disorders; and she is a brilliant writer of obvious talent. Combining these talents with what appears to be extensive and deep research, she has fashioned a historical novel of some importance. She has filled in gaps of missing information with her creative and fertile imagination. She puts herself right into the shoes of Camille.

For most people, even those who have studied some art history, there may not be any name recognition for a French women sculptor named Camille Claudel. But most every one has some knowledge of her married lover Auguste Rodin, the famous sculptor. This story crosses over may lines--prejudice against women, adultery, mental illness, a dysfunctional family, tragedy, romance, betrayal, a possible incestuous relationship, art, and being forced to live your last 30 years of life in a "nut house". This story is epic and very sad as well. The author paints Camille as a victim with a borderline personality disorder of some kind; but she still comes across as a sympatric character in this story.

Bond allows the story to unfold through the diaries and letters of Camille as she writes her memories while still confined inside the insane asylum. This is in the early 1900's and there wasn't much enlightened treatment for those patients whose families had them committed to such places. The story goes back to her childhood and to desires to become a famous sculptor. Her family does nothing to encourage these talents. She goes off seeking art training and eventually is accepted as the only female student of Rodin. Long training hours and working together leads to an adulterous affair and their licit relationship began.

There are many side issues and emotional problems as this life story is rolled out in the novel. One cannot help but to think how close the author has captured the real story. Did Rodin actually take credit for some of her art work? Was there an incestuous relationship with her brother? Was she a victim in all her undoing or was she really insane? The book makes for some very fascinating reading. It will stir the heart and curiosity of all artists and art lovers. It may open some interesting college campus discussions and debates between art students and even historians.

The book is an adventure story and will take you emotionally all over the inner landscape of your heart and mind. If you accept the theory that she was truly a victim of many people in her life and society then this book may anger you to some degree over the injustices. However, if she really was the one who ruined her own life then you come away feeling great pain for her. In no sense will you walk away from this book unmoved. It will make you think and feel.

This is a FIVE STAR RATED BOOK!

"Couple of day ago I finished reading a wonderful book called" Camille Claudel's, A Novel" By Dr. Alma H. Bond

It's a fictional work. But based on lots of historical facts and events about the life and art of one of the greatest Sculptors I have ever read or known about, male or female.

Dr, Bond, "the Author, did an increasable job by diving so deep into Camille' inner heart and mind, and she took us with her in this incredible journey, beautiful and painful at the same time.

She was so successful in portraying Camille not just as a female artist who was treated so unjustly by the art world at the time and still,to this day.

But also portraying the art process that Camille went thru in creating her master pieces. I Thought that Dr. Bond got to be a sculptor herself. I mean the ability to go to that depth into the processes of creating sculpture was so real, and I feel it most of the time, when I create my work.

Although, I know that the creative process it mostly the same, in Art, Literature, Music, and any other creativity. But still I was an awe of her ability to write about it in so much depth.

I know about Camille's live and her work which I always admired and inspired by, but Dr Bond's book showed me the many other aspect and depth of her as a female and human being. Her brilliance as a psychologist showed so greatly in this book And the journey in to Camille's mind and heart was absolutely, fascinating.

It is a book that I'll most defiantly reread again, and again and recommend to fellow artists and creative people, especially the female ones, since I'm quite sure that they would find it to be as true and authentic as I found it, even though I'm a male. Bravo Dr Bond"

Camille Claudel was a 19th Century Parisian sculptress best known for her love affair with Auguste Rodin.

This book purports to be Camille's memoirs written during her confinement in a mental institution, that were lost and then discovered after many years hidden in an attic.

Camille's family was bi-polar; her mother and younger sister were cold and unloving, while her father and brother were warm and encouraging. This dichotomy didn't stop her from pursuing her art, first by sculpting figures out of mud, and later from clay. As she matures into a young woman, she obtains a place as a student with Alfred Boucher, who later passes her apprenticeship to Rodin.

Camille held within her an artistic fire, which burned brightly and expressed itself in her refusal to be dominated by male society. She was born to sculpt and ferociously attacked anyone who attempted to say otherwise, even when in later life it meant nearly starving for lack of a commission.

Throughout her life, Camille dreamed of "her artist," the one who will sweep her off her feet and teach her everything; Rodin becomes this artist for her. She falls deeply in love with him, as he protects and encourages her both as a sculptor and as a lover. Unfortunately, despite ten years with Rodin, he refuses to marry her, instead maintaining his common-law relationship with another woman. This drives Camille deeper and deeper into despair; she starts suffering from paranoid delusions about Rodin.

In her madness, she destroyed many of her own pieces believing them to be in jeopardy of being stolen by "Rodin and his gang." Ultimately she is committed to a mental institution by her mother, where she remains until her death, thirty years later. Her descent into madness, as rendered by Bond, a psychoanalyst, is fascinating, gripping and provides a special insight into the human brain.

The timeline of the novel is disrupted in several places, when events and conversations occur out of order. While this may have been an intentional act by the author, it was confusing to this reader, as it affected the flow of the narrative. A minor flaw, and certainly not one that detracts from the passion and intensity of the work.

Armchair Interview says this historical fiction will especially interest people who love art, sculpture in particular.

Rebeccasreads highly recommends CAMILLE CLAUDEL: A NOVEL as a passionate "memoir" of the artist, born in 1864 in Villeneuve, France, who discovered the magic of sculpting as a child, & with her father's guidance & older artists as mentors, matured into the most famous, & infamous, sculptress of her time.

Meet Camille, now a very old woman who has survived decades of involuntary incarceration in a lunatic asylum in the French countryside, as she "remembers" the first time she fashioned a family out of garden mud; how those figurines so impressed her father that he swore lifelong support; to memories of her mother's eternal grief at losing her firstborn son; of her family life -- her younger sister Louise, her beloved baby brother Paul, & Helene, the family's live-in help, & the influence of a jumble of huge rocks left by retreating glaciers on a nearby moor.

Let Camille tell of awakening to the passions that turned a Papa's girl with one leg shorter than the other, into a lusty woman in Paris at the height of Le Grand Siecle, with inexhaustible appetites & energy who became the light of the great sculptor Rodin's life.

Camille is unsparing has she recounts her very human tale of resentment, longing, jealousy, loneliness, despair, disappointment &, of course, love, of her father, her brother, of friends met & lost. Here too, she tells of how she met Rodin, their ten year tumultuous love affair & the dreadful event that marked the start of her downfall, & of her rage at her lost love who she believes is stealing her life's work.

Let her introduce you to what drives artists & how they see the world, colleagues, lovers & family, & then stay to witness her reaching for the brass ring, pushing through the glass ceiling in a man's world, only to fall as the pain of rejection, both in her private & professional life, eats away at her confidence, her vocation & her sanity.

After 30 years in practice as a psychoanalyst Dr. Bond knows how to get inside people's minds, & much more than she did with her THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MARIA CALLAS: A NOVEL, in CAMILLE CLAUDEL: A NOVEL, it all comes together breathlessly, passionately & brilliantly.

Brava! The best of all Alma Bond's 11 books!

When pen meets paper our mind can take over, and lead us into unknown places. The same is said of Camille Claudel, except for her it was clay or a piece of marble. This book is a work of art in itself. Dr. Bond gives us the psychological insight into the depth and understanding of the heart, mind, and soul of Camille.

We also see the in-securities Camille had, because of a leg that was shorter than the other. Camille had a limp when she walked, and was always laughed at in school. One day her brother Paul came to her defense,and fought with another boy because of what was said.

After that the kids never made fun of her again, but in the dark resources of her mind she always saw people laughing or talking about her.

The book begins with Camille telling her life story in the confines of an insane asylum where she had lived for the past thirty years. She wanted to leave a message for women in the future about her struggles as a sculptor. The torment, persecution, prejudice and unfair treatment, all because of a male dominated artistic community. This book is a work of fiction but backed by historical facts.

When Camille was a young girl her Papa saw her playing in the mud making figures. He walked over and looked at what she doing. Then with tears in his eyes he told her they were really good. Camille had captured the soul of her Papa in a piece of mud. He told her he would try and get her some clay. If Camille did as well with clay, as she did with mud, he would take both Camille and her figures and show them to Alfred Boucher, the famous sculptor in Nogent-sur-Sein. Her Papa was the only constant in her life. He believed deeply in his daughters talents and did all he could to help her until the time of his death. Camille's Maman (mother) did not like her. She was still mourning the death of her first child, a son, who died only fifteen days after his birth. When Camille was born she was never given the nuturing of a mohter's love. Two years later Camilles brother Paul was born. He brought great joy to his Maman, and Camille loved him dearly. Then came Louise of whom Camille hated.

As Camille and Paul began to grow they had a relationship bordering on incest. The relationship would haunt Paul for years, but he still loved Camille. Louise was the perfect, beautiful daughter Maman had always wanted. Camille was never allowed to touch or hug her Maman. She was told; "You don't deserve to be in this distinguished family because you are a violent, vicious child. She was at fault for all the fights that took place in the family." No matter who was fighting, her Maman blamed Camille for every thing.

Camille's Papa kept his word, and took both Camille and her figures to meet Alfred Boucher. Boucher could see the work of a genius. He told them about a famous school in Paris. The only problem was they would only accept a female student at twice the cost of a male. Both Camille and her Papa were outraged. The unfairness of it was something Camille would never forget. Boucher mentioned another school that accepted both male and female students. She enrolled but was soon frustrated. The work neither challengd her, or taught her how to bring to life the feelings she had inside. Finally Brocher brought her into his atelier (studio) as another apprentice. Camille began to come alive under his instruction. Her arms would ache by the time she finished for the day, but she did not care. All that mattered to her was drive to be a sculptor. One day Boucher told his apprentices he had to go away. But they were not to worry as he had other sculptors to come through to help them while he was gone. One day Augusta Rodin stopped by. He was considered to be one of the greatest sculptors of all time. As he would walk around and talked to the students he seemed to spend more time with Camille. As time went on his hand would stay a little longer on her arm. Or brush across her breast as he was showing her something. He considered her work to be brilliant. He invited her to become his first female apprentice he had ever had.

When the author describes the feelings Camille felt as she worked the clay, I wanted to buy some clay and feel it in my hands. I wanted to squeeze it between my fingers. I wanted to kneed it and roll it around in my palm. That is how powerful this story is. There is so much passion in this book, that I will never look at a piece of art again, and not think of Camille. Thank you Dr. Bond--you have opened my eyes to a whole new world. Sandra Heptinstall

Author: Alma H. Bond

Publisher: PublishAmerica

ISBN 10: 1424116708

ISBN 13: 978-1424116706

Genre: Non-fiction/biography

I must admit, since I finished doing art at school when I was 16 years of age, I no longer had a love for it as all interest in the subject just fizzled out. And if I'm to be honest, I was a bit reluctant to review this book because I feared it would be boring. Thankfully however, it was anything but that and I'm glad to have read Camille Claudel: A Novel because it allowed me to become familiar with a woman who was immensely talented and far ahead of her time.

Alma H. Bond's novel is about the famous French sculptress, Camille Claudel and the hardships she endured throughout her life. From a very young age, Ms. Claudel showed great promise as an artist and a sculptor and despite her mother's protestations, Camille went on to Paris to further her dreams. Renowned for being the mistress and lover of Rodin(another famous French sculptor and some say she was his muse), her career was cut short by treachery, back-stabbing and with the French government swindling poor Camille out of money that was rightfully hers, she was reduced to severe poverty. Eventually the famous artist became a recluse and gradually lost her sanity and was locked into an asylum where Ms. Claudel cruelly spent the last thirty years of her life and she tells her story from within this less than benevolent environment.

The first thing that impressed me about this novel was the method with which the author, Alma H. Bond- a psychoanalyst, wrote the story using Camille's voice. It is so effective that you can almost hear the sad words she has written; lamenting on her life, the few achievements she was granted and possibly the happier times that could've been if her family had stepped in to prevent her being harshly locked away. Bond cleverly uses her skills here and it pays off because the reader is just sucked into the story and really sympathises with Claudel. The sculptress does come across as being arrogant, and bullish and this may avert their sympathy at the start. But in a society where women were not meant to be sculptors and men's works were the only ones on display in galleries, your feelings change towards her as the story progresses and applaud the woman for making the stand that she did, even though it did cost her dearly. The other aspect of Bond's writing is the beautiful weaving of poetic language in which she was able to describe Camille's love for Rodin, according to Camille, a man who stole a vast majority of her works in later years. Here's an example "I want to disintegrate into the muck of the earth. I want to become part of the soil, so you can take the clay that was me and mould it into a new, a perfect being. Maybe then you'll love me." Another great line that she uses and caused me to grin in awe at its simplicity is, "The head is not the womb of creation, the heart is." One only has to marvel at a phrase that is simple yet so very true. The author intricately describes the characters where a perfect picture forms in one's mind; what Camille Claudel moulded masterfully with clay, Alma H. Bond does so with words. However there are certain scenes in the book that may cause the reader to shrivel their nose in disgust, especially tales of near incest involving Camille and her brother Paul, when they were younger. The other flaw that occurs in the book is the repetition of certain facts e.g. Camille stating on more than one occasion that her brother Paul being mayor of Boston. Once or twice the very most, is enough to state this because it does become slightly irritating.

Camille Claudel: A Novel is a great book and gives an insight into one of the greatest

female sculptors of all time. You have to admire the artist's questioning of the mysteries of the universe and the vivacious love for life Mademoiselle Claudel possessed, even if she did express it in rather peculiar ways. There's also the sad end her career met in 1913 when she was locked away, thus killing the chance for further stupendous works of art to emerge from this brave and immensely talented woman. This is definitely a must for all art lovers and will inspire not only women but men also to aspire to succeed in whatever profession they choose.

Aidan Lucid

www.thelucidreview.com

The story of Camille Claudel is the story of a woman born ahead of her time, a female genius for whom the world was not ready, a woman who attained heights of artistic ecstasy and endured acute personal and mental agony.

Alma H. Bond has written a compelling account of Camille Claudel's tragic life. She presents the story as a memoir written by Claudel in the final days of her life. Although the broad outlines of the story are true, Bond has taken liberties in setting scenes, providing dialog, and revealing Claudel's purported thought processes and interpretations. Bond states clearly that hers is a fictional account, simply one plausible view of Claudel's life; it should not be read as a definitive biographical or historical work. Nevertheless, Bond reveals the heartbreak of a gifted woman working in a society that rejects her personally and pays scant attention to her artwork. Bond lifts the veil on the heartbreak of an impressionable, sensitive young woman betrayed by an older lover. Bond discloses the family dysfunctions that remained hidden from view, or ignored, even when they resulted in gross injustices. Clearly, even though the work is fictional, it offers a compelling, accurate glimpse at the life of an extraordinary artist and era in which she lived.

Bond's most extraordinary feat is the way she portrays Claudel's subtly deteriorating mental state. Early signs of paranoia are evident from the outset in Claudel's descriptions of her childhood home. During Claudel's happiest period, the height of her romance with Rodin, the paranoid tendencies are more subtle, but not entirely absent. After her breakup with Rodin, the paranoid tendencies resurface slowly and build gradually until Claudel's institutionalization in 1913. In an accurate depiction of mental illness, Bond balances Claudel's periods of lunacy and lucidity. Sometimes the reader is uncertain whether Claudel's viewpoint is delusional or uncannily insightful. Bond understands mental illness and she presents it masterfully.

Camille Claudel: A Novel is a beautifully written book that seizes the reader's mind and heart. Readers who have never heard of Camille Claudel will, upon finishing this book, seek to learn more about this wonderfully gifted artist and her work. This book, notwithstanding the fact that it is fiction, should be required reading for all students of women's studies and art history.

When I started this book, I quickly became depressed about this woman. Then I reached a point where I found myself fascinated by her thought process as a sculptor. She studied every person she saw and found in each face a library that is engraved on it the past, present, and future of its owner. And the body, too, she looked at as an historical record that is inscribed with the lives of the models in the lines and wrinkles of their flesh. She talks about how there are a great many aspects to understanding a subject on the most profound levels in order to shape a fine piece of sculpture. She even sculpted an autobiography in art of the great moments of her life.

When she sculpted, she thought about that person all the time until their essence was revealed to her and she understood them with her heart. Camille felt that God, who she believed was the greatest sculptor of us all, did this in boundless silence when he took the essence of Adam from the dirt on the ground, as she did with her clay.

She traveled a tempestuous road to become an artist. She fought discrimination against women, narrow-mindedness, and poverty. But she followed her passion and wanted the record of her life to help future generations to understand the horrors in the life of a woman artist who was betrayed by her times. Camille imagined her struggles would make it easier for women artists in the future.

She was disapproved of quite a lot, but the one criticism that never failed to leave her in a rage was when someone said, `The statue is pretty good, considering that it was done by a woman.' In the midst of any good reviews, the fact that she was a woman was made to seem as if she was an inferior, abnormal kind of being. How different would her life have been had the world valued her work as much as they did her male counterparts?

Her other passion was loving Rodin. She was his mistress for many years and wanted more than anything to marry him. She thought marrying Rodin would make her respectable. But he had a wife, and was quite satisfied with her. It was the greatest disappointment of her life and this obsession would ultimately cause her total collapse.

Camille died as she lived thinking Rodin and his henchmen were stealing her sculptures and her ideas. Her life was one battle after another and in her 40s she lost the war and ended up spending the last 30 years of her life in an asylum.

Also posted on Story Circle Book Review Website at www.storycirclebookreviews.org

As the Entertainment Editor of Computer Times, I have given this novel our Editor's Choice Award.

Camille Claudel: A Novel (Retail $19.95), written by Alma H. Bond, is a fictionalized biography, written in the form of Camille's own memoirs. The truth is that Camille Claudel was a female artist who had to deal with the very male dominated field of art in the late 19th century. She created beautiful sculptures, had a lengthy love affair with the sculptor Auguste Rodin, and ended her life confined to a mental asylum in France. The novel takes these facts and expands upon them to paint a picture of who Camille was, who she loved, what inspired her, and how she devolved into a weakened mental state.

Camille is a character that has true depth of feeling, and is easy to relate to. You'll be drawn in to her thoughts and her world, and become a part of her very quickly. And when she begins to lose herself to her mind, the change is written so delicately that you will be well on the way to the asylum before you even realize that you are living in unreality. Alma Bond has done a masterful job of capturing this sympathetic artist on the page, and giving her the life and recognition that she has been due. Camille Claudel: A Novel was a genuine pleasure to read, and I was sincerely sorry when the last page was turned. I could have lived with Camille for many more chapters. Absolutely brilliant.