What do you think?
Rate this book
If Clara
"In If Clara, nobody stands on firm ground. Daisy, an author confined to her home, her leg in a cast from hip to ankle, receives a parcel containing the manuscript of a novel about a Syrian refugee, and is asked to pose as its writer. Julia, a curator of installation art, has no idea that her sister, Clara, has written a novel. However, she does know that Clara suffers from a debilitating mental illness that renders her wildly unpredictable. And Maurice's life is changed by a pair of binoculars welded to the wall of Julia's gallery. These stories collide in a most unexpected way"--
ebook
First published September 12, 2017
2 people are currently reading
500 people want to read
About the author
Martha Baillie
16 books52 followersMartha Baillie was born in Toronto, in 1960, and educated in a French-English bilingual school. At seventeen she left for Scotland where she studied history and modern languages (French and Russian) at the University of Edinburgh.
She completed her studies at the Sorbonne in Paris and at the University of Toronto. While at university, Baillie became involved in theatre.
She continued to act after graduation, taking scene study workshops and classes in voice and movement, while supporting herself by waitressing and teaching private French classes.
In 1981, she took an extended trip through parts of Asia including Hong Kong, China, Thailand, Burma, Nepal and India. This experience inspired her to switch her focus from acting to writing. Upon her return to Canada, she acquired an Ontario teaching certificate and briefly taught ESL to adults and French immersion to grade five students.
Today, she works part-time for the Toronto Public Library. She has done so for nearly twenty years, performing as a storyteller in schools, and day cares, organizing poetry readings, and community film screenings.
Canoeing and hiking are two of her principal passions, along with visual art, the theatre and opera.
Baillie’s first novel, My Sister Esther, was published in 1995, followed by Madame Balashovskaya’s Apartment in 1999. The later was also published in both Hungary and Germany. In 2006 her third novel, The Shape I Gave You came out with Knopf Canada, and was a national bestseller.
In The Incident Report (2009), Baillie uses the format of 144 short reports to recount incidents from her own experiences as a librarian.[3] As a work of fiction the novel contains conventional elements such as "a love story and a mystery"; as a report, it presents a subtext depicting "how Toronto libraries have become a refuge for the city's marginalized.
Martha has had poems published in journals including Descant, Prairie Fire and The Antigonish Review, and her non-fiction piece, The Legacy of Joseph Wagenbach was published by Brick magazine (Summer 2007). Baillie has been awarded grants from the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council. She lives in Toronto with her daughter and husband.
She completed her studies at the Sorbonne in Paris and at the University of Toronto. While at university, Baillie became involved in theatre.
She continued to act after graduation, taking scene study workshops and classes in voice and movement, while supporting herself by waitressing and teaching private French classes.
In 1981, she took an extended trip through parts of Asia including Hong Kong, China, Thailand, Burma, Nepal and India. This experience inspired her to switch her focus from acting to writing. Upon her return to Canada, she acquired an Ontario teaching certificate and briefly taught ESL to adults and French immersion to grade five students.
Today, she works part-time for the Toronto Public Library. She has done so for nearly twenty years, performing as a storyteller in schools, and day cares, organizing poetry readings, and community film screenings.
Canoeing and hiking are two of her principal passions, along with visual art, the theatre and opera.
Baillie’s first novel, My Sister Esther, was published in 1995, followed by Madame Balashovskaya’s Apartment in 1999. The later was also published in both Hungary and Germany. In 2006 her third novel, The Shape I Gave You came out with Knopf Canada, and was a national bestseller.
In The Incident Report (2009), Baillie uses the format of 144 short reports to recount incidents from her own experiences as a librarian.[3] As a work of fiction the novel contains conventional elements such as "a love story and a mystery"; as a report, it presents a subtext depicting "how Toronto libraries have become a refuge for the city's marginalized.
Martha has had poems published in journals including Descant, Prairie Fire and The Antigonish Review, and her non-fiction piece, The Legacy of Joseph Wagenbach was published by Brick magazine (Summer 2007). Baillie has been awarded grants from the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council. She lives in Toronto with her daughter and husband.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
July 28, 2019
Ultimately I think this book is about mental and physical health and the coping mechanisms used by an array of (likeable to me) characters. Even though it was a short book I had to digest it slowly. The issues raised in this book will remain with me especially because the story connected to me personally (I have an estranged sister with mental illness and the setting being in Toronto).
July 7, 2017
We first view Clara through her sister, Julia's, eyes, but it's Clara's own narrative that lets us see the seriousness of her mental illness. Clara has written a novel about a woman, an immigrant, descending into madness. It's an important work, according to the writer to whom she entrusts the manuscript, who agrees to Clara's request that she shepherd the book to publication without Clara's involvement or her name. The writer is undergoing her own challenge, the months-long rehabilitation of her shattered leg. Other characters, all inter-connected, are also dealing with the aftermath of a significant life event--an aging mother's transition to a nursing home, the trauma of a pair of lovers from a freak accident that resulted in the death of an observer. The author's language is compassionate in its lack of judgment, whether of Clara's condition or of the ways in which each of her other characters deals with their particular ordeal.
If Clara is a discerning and elegant novel that explores the complexities of family, friendship, and memory. Baillie suggests that although we may not suffer from Clara's debilitating burden, modern life's unexpected events arouse our deepest anxieties, and leave us to deal with them in humanly imperfect ways.
If Clara is a discerning and elegant novel that explores the complexities of family, friendship, and memory. Baillie suggests that although we may not suffer from Clara's debilitating burden, modern life's unexpected events arouse our deepest anxieties, and leave us to deal with them in humanly imperfect ways.
Read
August 7, 2018Overall, it's sharply written. The POVs make the story more interesting. Clara's POV, however, works astonishingly well at undermining her and depreciating her achievement in the end. Maurice is a mysterious, unlikable character, and getting away with murder didn't seem plausible, but this adds to the important twist of unfolding events. Although unbelievable Clara could successfully write a masterful manuscript given her instability throughout the timeline in this story, I wanted to believe it could happen. Clara's mental illness drives the story and her relationships unfold enchantingly, but I'm baffled by Maurice and the underlying darkness from the beauty of delicately dealing with loss.
Read
January 3, 2018Terribly clever and witty and smart, and also hard to put down. I wanted the book to keep going!
April 20, 2019
Every one of Martha Baillie's books explores entirely new territory. This one obviously lies much closer to home for her, the situation and characters having been drawn from events in her own life. Because of the constantly shifting POV, it took me much longer to get into the rhythm of this book than for any of hers I read previously. And only two of the characters were really developed to my full satisfaction; the interjections of Maurice and Ralph seemed like unwelcome distractions.
But those are my only quibbles. Baillie's most remarkable achievement here is her exploration of the chaos within Clara's deeply disturbed mind; her fearful, disjointed ramblings and her truculent exchanges with the several vexatious personalities rattling around inside her head. In just a few short pages, Baillie has succeeded in conveying what it's like to struggle with mental illness.
But those are my only quibbles. Baillie's most remarkable achievement here is her exploration of the chaos within Clara's deeply disturbed mind; her fearful, disjointed ramblings and her truculent exchanges with the several vexatious personalities rattling around inside her head. In just a few short pages, Baillie has succeeded in conveying what it's like to struggle with mental illness.
August 19, 2017
Martha Baillie is one of the most quietly exciting Canadian writers working today, I think, and If Clara is sort of a hybrid of what I loved about her The Search for Heinrich Schlögel and The Incident Report.
July 16, 2018
Livre lu dans le cadre de la rentrée littéraire 2018.
Un bon roman, qui dépend l'histoire de plusieurs personnages, tous liés. Ils évoluent chacun de leurs côtés, mais l'élément central, celui qui les relie et qui les fait se rencontrer à la fin n'est autre que Clara, le personnage principal.
Clara est une jeune fille créative, volatile et intelligente qui vit en permanence dans la peur et la suspicion. Elle est malade et s'imagine toute sorte de complot contre elle et contre sa famille.
Autour d'elle, gravite, Julia, sa soeur, qui vit toujours en attendant que sa soeur revienne. Alice, la mère, qui est tombée et qui est maintenant dans un centre avec des personnages âgées, elle veut revoir Clara. Maurice, l'ami de Julia qui tombe amoureux de l'homme à la porte bleue grâce à des jumelles dans une galerie d'art. Daisy, qui est tombée de vélo et qui ne peut plus se servir de sa jambe, elle se morfond jusqu'au jour où elle reçoit un manuscrit d'un livre écrit par une jeune femme prénommée Clara.
L'histoire est simple, attachante et se lit rapidement. J'ai beaucoup apprécié le temps passé avec ses personnages tous liés les uns aux autres et tous tellement différents. Une bonne lecture !
Un bon roman, qui dépend l'histoire de plusieurs personnages, tous liés. Ils évoluent chacun de leurs côtés, mais l'élément central, celui qui les relie et qui les fait se rencontrer à la fin n'est autre que Clara, le personnage principal.
Clara est une jeune fille créative, volatile et intelligente qui vit en permanence dans la peur et la suspicion. Elle est malade et s'imagine toute sorte de complot contre elle et contre sa famille.
Autour d'elle, gravite, Julia, sa soeur, qui vit toujours en attendant que sa soeur revienne. Alice, la mère, qui est tombée et qui est maintenant dans un centre avec des personnages âgées, elle veut revoir Clara. Maurice, l'ami de Julia qui tombe amoureux de l'homme à la porte bleue grâce à des jumelles dans une galerie d'art. Daisy, qui est tombée de vélo et qui ne peut plus se servir de sa jambe, elle se morfond jusqu'au jour où elle reçoit un manuscrit d'un livre écrit par une jeune femme prénommée Clara.
L'histoire est simple, attachante et se lit rapidement. J'ai beaucoup apprécié le temps passé avec ses personnages tous liés les uns aux autres et tous tellement différents. Une bonne lecture !
September 5, 2017
This was a wonderful book once I had read a bit. I will admit at the beginning I was confused. Maybe because the story drops you right into the middle of four people who each provide narration? But once I was able to start placing people the story bloomed. Clara, of the title, is mentally ill and has an on again off again estranged relationship with her mother and sister. Clara has written a novel and is trying to get a woman to help her publish it secretly so as to keep herself out of the spotlight. Beyond that, I can not tell you about the story without giving away the part that makes it so beautiful. At 160 pages, it is amazing how much takes place in this short story.
A copy of this book was provided by NetGalley and Coach House Books in exchange for an honest review.
A copy of this book was provided by NetGalley and Coach House Books in exchange for an honest review.
July 2, 2018
This book is the July 2018 selection of the Book Club at the Beach Library branch. Martha Baillie used to work for this branch of the library system and in one of her functions as librarian was the leader of our Book Club. Martha had a serious bicycle accident on her way home after work and this accident is part of the story in If Clara.
August 29, 2017
I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway and am so glad I did! I'm not sure what to say about it without giving anything away, but...wow! I'd never read anything by this author, but I'll definitely be checking out her other books now. Read this one, you'll be glad you did!
February 2, 2019
Thoughts keep wondering of.
April 18, 2020
This one was very slow with with I thought was quite a bit of exposition and not enough dialogue. The climax was not that strong, and I felt like I didn't really get to know the characters.
July 27, 2020
Quite enjoyed this odd and somewhat dark book. Unique characters and voices, 3 stars as was hard to follow all events at times.
January 2, 2018
This was an interesting novel to read, because one of the characters stands in for Martha herself as she recovered from a tibia-shattering leg injury, a period during which I knew and visited her. There is so much about this book to admire—the transfiguration of her terrible injury, the pain and isolation that went with it. The reckoning with mental illness, and its impact on a family (Clara is the mentally ill sister, who is fashioned on Martha’s own sister). The role that art plays. The absurdity of life and its happenstance.
This is a sympathetic portrait of mental illness (in this case, an unnamed psychosis that causes Clara to be paranoid, distrustful, and secretive). Clara’s surprising and beautiful art leaps off the page and into our hearts, an antidote to the threatening darkness of her psychosis. By giving a POV to Clara, Martha shifts our certainty about narrative truth: whose version is the most real? Whose is most true?
The sequence about the glider landing on a woman’s front lawn, after which she dies immediately, had a poetic potency to it. It was vivid and Wes Anderson-coloured. I loved the idea that Maurice looked like the old woman’s dead husband, come home at last from the war.
The novel revolves around the idea of authorship: Clara writes a novel that she won’t publish under her own name, but instead asks a novelist she admires (Daisy) if she will take responsibility for it, under yet another name—a Syrian author. A Syrian folk tale comes into that work.
Who is the real author here? This is a notion Martha plays with, again. It was a preoccupation in Heinrich, too. Who owns it? Who should take responsibility for it?
This is a sympathetic portrait of mental illness (in this case, an unnamed psychosis that causes Clara to be paranoid, distrustful, and secretive). Clara’s surprising and beautiful art leaps off the page and into our hearts, an antidote to the threatening darkness of her psychosis. By giving a POV to Clara, Martha shifts our certainty about narrative truth: whose version is the most real? Whose is most true?
The sequence about the glider landing on a woman’s front lawn, after which she dies immediately, had a poetic potency to it. It was vivid and Wes Anderson-coloured. I loved the idea that Maurice looked like the old woman’s dead husband, come home at last from the war.
The novel revolves around the idea of authorship: Clara writes a novel that she won’t publish under her own name, but instead asks a novelist she admires (Daisy) if she will take responsibility for it, under yet another name—a Syrian author. A Syrian folk tale comes into that work.
Who is the real author here? This is a notion Martha plays with, again. It was a preoccupation in Heinrich, too. Who owns it? Who should take responsibility for it?
February 21, 2018
November 2017 - Although I couldn't finish it, this book deserves 5 stars. (I felt I couldn't give it the attention it deserves at this time). The writing style is challenging, gorgeous, inventive, spare...not a word was wasted.
February 2018 - Oh My. I had to start from the beginning again just to get my bearings, but so glad I did, and I stuck with the book this time. I sunk with Clara and soared with Maurice. This is not a feel good novel with a pretty ending. It touches on subjects like mental health and the family dynamics around that, possible (?) incest, homosexuality, aging parents. As this is a book site, I don't comment on any subject in a novel...just the author and how skilled she is at "taking me there" no matter how uncomfortable it was. I had to walk away and take a few breaths towards the end. Fabulous read!
February 2018 - Oh My. I had to start from the beginning again just to get my bearings, but so glad I did, and I stuck with the book this time. I sunk with Clara and soared with Maurice. This is not a feel good novel with a pretty ending. It touches on subjects like mental health and the family dynamics around that, possible (?) incest, homosexuality, aging parents. As this is a book site, I don't comment on any subject in a novel...just the author and how skilled she is at "taking me there" no matter how uncomfortable it was. I had to walk away and take a few breaths towards the end. Fabulous read!
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews