Customer Reviews

Clara Callan: A Novel

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Clara Callan provided its readers with a nostalgic return to the days of yesteryear when housewives escaped their humdrum existence by fulfilling their romantic dreams and fantasies via serialized radio programs and having a child out of wedlock was akin to wearing a scarlet letter.

Richard B. Wright has managed to capture the emotions and morals of the late 1930's and early 1940's in this epistolary morality tale of two sisters, Clara and Nora, one a teacher residing in small, clannish Canadian town and the other a "soap opera" actress pursuing a career in New York City.

Wright's look at the plight of females of this era, attempting to maneuver through the social expectations of society while pursuing their own goals, is startling in its insight and accuracy and almost makes one feel as if this novel were written by a woman. (High praise indeed).

When all is said and done, Clara Callan shows us freedom to pursue ones dreams comes with a price, and that perhaps things were not really so good in the "good old days".

Clara Callan, the protagonist of Wright's novel, is a small town spinster in the 1930s. She lives a reasonably comfortable life thanks to the inheritance of her father's house and a job as a local schoolteacher. Through her diary entries and exchanges of letters, mainly with her more glamorous younger sister Nora, Clara reveals herself to the reader. Wright has created a believable character that "grows on you" as her personality emerges little by little. Life's difficulties during the Depression years, in particular for a single woman in rural Southern Ontario become apparent through the description of daily events. However, a very dramatic personal incident and its aftermath force Clara to confront her new circumstances in a very direct manner. While she was accustomed to express her daily experiences and reflections in poems, events interfere and poetry becomes impossible. She recognizes "how suddenly a life can become misshapen, divided brutally into before and after a dire event." Her beliefs are challenged and so is her self-contained whole-ness as a person.

Clara's personal story is embedded in the realities of the mid-thirties where unemployment is rife and poverty spreading. Although at the periphery of the main thrust of the book, Wright alludes to the emerging pre-war anxieties. He touches on the contrasts between city and rural living, utilizing Clara's reluctance to accept such innovations as the telephone, as an example. Yet, the regular Saturday trips to Toronto, perceived by her as a necessary escape from the village, lead to a new, important phase in her personal development, giving her also a new taste of independence. She visits her sister in New York, although in rather difficult time in her life. Cleverly, Wright lets her visit pre-war Italy as a third party to her sister's vacation. It allows the author to add impressions of the growing political conflicts in Europe as a backdrop without losing the focus of the story.

The counterweight to Clara is Nora, who could not bear small-town Ontario and leaves for New York to "make it in radio". She becomes successful as a radio voice in daytime "soaps" and her personal life seems to take on some aspects of a soap opera itself. Nora is privileged in finding a solid rock in a glamorous female friend, Evelyn, while her on and off affairs are far less successful. Clara, always concerned about her sister and her superficial lifestyle, attempts to remain the firm family base for her sister, but her own life story places her more and more on a shaky ground. She finds advice and empathy through her correspondence with Evelyn.

Clara Callan is a very engaging story indeed. Wright successfully places himself into the mind of a woman: Clara's personality quietly and gently takes hold of the reader as one follows her in the exploration of the multifaceted realities of her time and place.

Richard B. Wright has penned a novel that is written with poetic style and grace. Clara Callan centres on the two Callan sisters - Clara and Nora. Nora, the younger sister has set out for New York to advance her career as a radio performer. The subdued Clara, remains in Whitfield were she continues on as a school teacher. Both of the Callan parents have died and all that remain are Clara and Nora.

The novel is compromised of letters that are sent between the two sisters over the period of 4 years - 1934-1938. In between the letters, Clara keeps a journal that details her life in her small Ontario town. Through the journal entries and the letters, the reader will become part of the Callan sister's lives. Clara Callan will have the reader look beyond the ordinary to the complexity that makes life. Each sister will face numerous challenges and obstacles that strengthen their hold on themselves and each other.

Set at the time of the great depression and the onset of World War 2, Wright was able to make the 30's come alive. Aside from the pending war, he details the events of the time with such description and authority. The reader experiences the marvel that `Gone With The Wind' incited and the fist color movie, `Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'. We experience the telephone and the amazing birth of the Dionne Quints.

Richard B. Wright is truly a master of his craft. Clara Callan is a novel that is destined to reach further than just a Canadian audience.

I became curious about this book after finding out it won both the GG Award and the Giller. I had read The Weekend Man and Final Things by the same author, and both of those were excellent, but this book showcased Wright's incredible talent at his craft.

This book is written in diary and letter format from the perspective of Clara Callan, a thirtysomething school teacher in the 1930s. It begins with her father's death, and her sister's move to New York City. Clara is alone in the small town that she grew up, and she chronicles a 4-year period in great detail.

I'm sometimes hesitant to read books by men with female protagonists because sometimes the unintentional maleness of the character's thoughts permeates their characterization. Wright does a great job writing from a female point of view, however and Clara and Nora are easy to relate to and seem like they could be the same women that live next door or that you interact with day to day.

The research behind the book is very noteable, as the history of the times is effortlessly entertwined with the diary entries and serves as both editorial comment and historical re-telling.

This is a wonderful book and an incredible accomplishment. It is definitely the type of book you should buy and then pass around to your friends to enjoy as well.

Richard B. Wright has written a marvelous story of two sisters who grew up in a small Canadian town. The time is the 1930's, and the author is able to bring alive the times, the movies, the newspapers, the famous people, the politics, and has been able to weave these events into the lives of the characters in the book. The author received the Canadian Giller Prize and the Governor General's Award for this novel.

The story is told through the two voices of Clara and Nora Callan mostly in letter format. Letter format has not been a favorite of mine, but the author brings these women to life in a extraordinary manner.

Clara is a school teacher and lives alone in her deceased father's home. Clara was her father's favorite, and seems to be a lot like him, frugal and conservative. She is prone to think of excuses why she should not have a telephone or a radio. Clara is a lover of books and reads voraciously. And, Clara writes poetry, not the kind of poetry her family or friends would appreciate. However, she expresses her poetry to us, the readers in a compelling narrative. She leads a fairly ordinary existence, but then something happens that requires all of her strength and perserverance and this changes her entire life.

Nora had more of a dream for her life. She left the small Canadian town for the big, bright lights of New York City. Nora found a job in radio very quickly and began her glamorous life. She soon had a job on a soap opera that became very popular, and she played the part of a beloved character. Her Canadian town is very proud of her- the young girl who made good.
She has several men in her life, but not the right kind. Either they are married or not the marrying kind. Life in the city that is so exciting becomes more humdrum, but she maintains that allusion of mystery .

Evelyn is a friend of Nora's. She is an author and pens the scipts for Nora's radio show. They become good friends even though Evelyn is a lover of women and Nora a lover of men. Evelyn is very well paid for her job and lives extravagantly- Nora is often the lucky recipient while meeting the rich and the famous. Both sisters come to love Evelyn for her kindness and generosity, and she becomes a prime mover throughout their lives.

Each woman has her tale to tell and brings with her the people she meets. Even though the lives of these women are disclosed, their characters are brought to life without deep psychological probing. These are people who are so ordinary and extraordinary at the same time. The twists and turns of life are fully revealed and so rewarding in this marvelous book. prisrob

A wonderful book. I've been reading it for the past 15 months. I read it through once within a few days and since then I've been dipping every few days -- possible and enriching because it's told in journal entries and letters. I've read several others of Mr Wright. I would urge anyone (especially fifty-something males) to get a copy of his 'Weekend Man,' his first novel written in the early 70s. One of my most favorite works of fiction ever. As for 'Clara Callan,' it is easily one of the most satisfying novels I've read in recent years.

I loved how easily this story flowed. It is set during the Depression era and centres on two sisters, Clara and Nora Callan. Clara is the wall-flower who stays in the hometown she grew up in and leads what she feels is a fairly conservative lifestyle. Her life is revealed to us in journal entries and letters to her sister Nora. A horrible event shakes up her life in ways she never knew possible and eventually leads her down roads she felt she would never trod upon.

Her sister Nora is leading the glamorous life and becomes very much a socialite in her circles. Her correspondence with her sister shows us that all is not how it appears in her life either.

This book was a pure pleasure to read. The ability to find extraordinary in the ordinary and often mundane things in life shows the true talent of this author. I felt a connection to Clara Callan and was sad to see the story end.

Clara is the good daughter who, after her father's death, stays in the family home, keeps plugging at her job as schoolteacher, plays her piano, composes a little poetry, and writes long letters to her sister Nora (the bad daughter) and long entries in her journal. The book is composed of those writings, as well as some from her sister and a friend, who are in New York living the high life.
Clara's quiet life in a small Canadian town (read: everyone knows your business and makes it theirs) is shattered when she takes a walk at dusk: she is raped by a drifter, gets pregnant, goes to her sister Nora in NY, and has an abortion. Returning to Canada, she picks up her life as tho nothing happened.
Then she meets a married man in a movie theater and becomes his lover. The story of their affair and its aftermath occupies the last part of the book and is the framework for Clara examining her past, her options, and her future.
An elegant and quiet book, and a very, very deep one with a heartbreaking Prologue.
Definitely worth a read, and don't hurry thru it; it demands some pondering.

I usually don't like books in diary/journal and letter form, but this book is the great exception. These characters who live in the 1930's deal with many issues that are still hot topics today: rape, homosexuality, extra-marital relationships, abortion, and more. The more things change, the more they stay the same...

This is a really wonderful story. It is simply told, completely relatable and haunting. i've already recommended it to total strangers!