The Poet's Wife

by Judith Allnatt

It is 1841; Patty Clare is married to John Clare, peasant poet, genius and madman. Patty loves him deeply but he seems lost to her and obsessed with an idealized memory of a woman that she cannot match. Can she ever restore his true identity, and can she find it in herself to forgive?

Genres: Historical Fiction

400 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2010

Reviews

[Sawsan · Rating 4 out of 5]

this's a real story, about losing a loved one to mental illness, this person is the english poet John Clare - he's considered among the most important 19th century poets - his wife patty struggles through their life together to understand her husband's genius, and later, his delusions and madness, and at the same time trying to care and raise their children.
love and tender always have great effects in life, make people stand with their loved ones in time of distress
it's sad and painful biography. but beautifully written by Judith Allnatt

this part is from his poetry:
I ne'er was struck before that hour
With love so sudden and so sweet,
Her face it bloomed like a sweet flower
And stole my heart away complete.
My face turned pale as deadly pale.
My legs refused to walk away,
And when she looked, what could I ail?
My life and all seemed turned to clay.

[Angela Rigley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This tale of the life of Patty gripped my imagination. Unlike the other reviewers I could understand how she kept her temper as well as she did, knowing how ill John was. Mental health is a serious disability from which she hoped he would - but knew in her heart of hearts that he would not - recover. The only negative I have is that sometimes the description was slightly too floury, but then I am not very good at description so maybe it's sour grapes!

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

About John Clare and his brief return home from an asylum (which seems to be good compared to so many descriptions of 18th & 19th century establishments). Describes well a family left to fend for itself in those times - no state help. It makes you think about the effect mental illness has on the wider family - not just the sufferer. Very evocative of the countryside, in the same way that John Clare's poems are.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I fell in love with this book towards the last few chapters. And was sad when I finished it. At the outset I struggled to find the story or to affiliate with any of the characters. I also tired of the well written descriptions of the countryside. I'm really glad I didn't stop reading it hard as it was.

[Rosemary Read · Rating 5 out of 5]

When John Clare returns to his home after four years in an asylum in Essex, he tries to fit back into normal family life with Patty and their children.
It is clear that he is still mentally ill and this is a story of Patty trying to care for her children and longing for John to return to the man she met and with whom she fell in love. The description of their courtship is both touching and amusing.
This is a wonderfully written book by Judith Allnatt who impressed me with her first novel "A Mile of River". It is so evocative of the period and after savouring every chapter, I reluctantly finished the book.
Judith is very gifted and her description of the countryside in Northamptonshire is breathtaking.
Having lived in the county all my life,I now want to know more of the Clare family and I have been looking at the census returns of that period as well as ordering Jonathan Bate's biography of John Clare.

[Yvann S · Rating 2 out of 5]

Picked up from the library (I love living across the road from a decent-sized library!) after seeing a few recommendations around the blogosphere. This is a fictionalised biography of John Clare’s wife Patty – how she copes with his mental illness, a large family and increasing poverty.

While I enjoyed the writing, which was fluid and imaginative, I got a bit bored with the tales of country life on the poverty line. I found much of the story quite uncomfortable, because one does sympathise with the protagonist caught between her mad husband who is convinced he married his childhood sweetheart as well as her, and her philandering son-in-law.

Patty was a strong character – too strong in many ways, I wanted her to break down and scream and shout and be human. Eliza annoyed me, as did John (although the abrasive effects of his illness were the intention), I did like Parker (he reminded me of my own grandfathers), and there wasn’t really space to develop many more characters.

[Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very Hardyesque with its detailed descriptions of the countryside, which I loved. The novel tells the story of Patty, the wife of the poet, John Clare. He is in the throes of madness (it sounds as if he would be diagnosed as bi-polar these days) and walks eighty miles home from an asylum, thinking he is married to his childhood sweetheart, Mary, who died. Patty has several children to look after and feed, as well as her father-in-law. She doesn't have an easy life, but appears to have had infinite patience, especially when it came to her husband, whom she loves dearly. I enjoyed the sub-plot. Patty and John's eldest daughter, Anna is married to Sefton who has also been seeing her sister, Eliza. When Anna becomes pregnant, Eliza is conflicted between loyalty to her sister and her love for Sefton, who becomes increasingly drawn to alcohol. The novel doesn't have a happy ending, as such, but Patty comes to terms with her lot, and her family give her the emotional fulfilment she needs. I also enjoyed Allnatt's exploration of the mechanisation of farming when locals see the first steam plough during the harvest.

[Norman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Borrowed from a friend as this is a very local topic - John Clare - and in this case more specifically his wife Patty, I really enjoyed this trip through 19th Century farming and rural living. Thank God I don't have to beg the greengrocer to buy my apples just to eke out one more meal or afford camphor to keep away moths from my only clothing! The misery is well protrayed without giving up hope. Despite Clare's fantasies about having two wives and families, his wife manages to keep herself and her family together.
An easy writing style that covers so much.

[Debbie Daley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a charming book and very well observed. A must read for any of the wonderful John Clare’s fans out there.

[Paula · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unsure whether I would enjoy this, before I started it, as I wasn’t sure how the subject matter would work. Found it was a Beautifully written tale of the life of the times - well worth reading

[Helen_t_reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautifully written, poignant and deeply moving novel about the peasant poet John Clare's struggle with mental health issues, and his wife Patty who holds the family together and battles encroaching poverty.
Judith Allnatt movingly and skilfully explores the subject of madness and it's treatment in Victorian society as well as the themes of marriage, family life, love and poverty.
The descriptions of the countryside, family life and rural poverty are vivid and, at times, poetic, but despite the lyrically beaitiful rurality and the snatches of family happiness, the reader is left under no illusion as to just how hard and precarious life was in these times.
It is a deeply moving and affecting novel and the reader is in thrall to the strength, courage, wisdom and character of the amazing Patty.

[MargeryK · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gosh I found this book a dirge to start off with. Nothing really happens. But I stuck with it and it did pick up slightly, (well from a two-starrer to a three-starrer). Began to feel a bit bad about slagging it off.

My notes after finishing it today on the train -
1. The characters bemoan the onset of technology and the jobs it will replace, such as the steam plough, and yet, blimey, how much easier would their life be with a sewing machine and a telephone.

2. Loved the smallholder/ nature stuff.

3. Why didn't Eliza sell the locket when the family were proper broke?

4. Sympathetic characters - Parker and Parson Miller

5. I enjoyed the family dynamics, the hustle and bustle.

6. Patty is a brilliant (perfect?) mother and a patient wife. A lovely poem at the end, especially the bit about ivy leaving a trace.

[Kay · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good and sensitive book told from the perspective of John Clare's wife. The descriptions of rural life were varied and showed the background to John Clare's poetry. The problems and joys of family relationships were well drawn. However,somehow it just wasn't an absorbing read.

I skim-read this book again when I got to the end of Adam Foulds' "The Quickening Maze". The action starts where John Clare leaves High Beach Asylum. The advantage of this novel is that it includes some of John Clare's poetry.

[Janet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully written biography about the poet John Clare, who suffered from mental illness. Very rural and lyrical and strongly reminiscent of Laurie Lee's Cider with Rosie. Although I must admit that I had never heard of this poet before, this account of a troubled life was very moving. It is entirely written from the point of view of Patty Clare, the poet's wife, who had to deal with her husband's illness, lived mainly in poverty and had a large family to take care of.

[Sheena · Rating 4 out of 5]

John Clare the poet keeps cropping up in the books I read sometimes as a incidental character but this time as a main character. Lovely gentle book about love and relationships and how they are tested when illness changes one of the partners. Another major character is the countryside which is appropriate as most of Clare's poems were nature poems. Each season takes its turn and the rituals of country life in the 19th century are portrayed in a lyrical way with a smattering of poems thrown in.

[Kristin Gleeson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novel has a very flat narrative and examines the life of the early nineteenth century poet, John Clare, through the eyes of his wife as she tries to cope with his descent into madness. Told in retrospect it cuts back to the present time where she struggles with managing a household of several children and very little money. The story just progresses with very little tension in a sometimes overwrought manner.

[Tara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the tender, poetic language which is apt for a novel about John Clare's wife, Patty. I was drawn into the family drama and the Hardyesque depiction of working class, rural life in the 19th century. At times I was exasperated by Patty's self-denial but it was probably realistic given the Victorian setting and her circumstances (caring for a brilliant, but mentally ill husband.)

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have just finished this brilliantly written book. It describes in such unpolished terms the rural existence of Patty; the wife of John Clare the poet. It picks up immediately after the Quickening Maze. It has a gentle pace that places you surely in the middle of the life of the family and committed to the events of their lives.

[Judith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this would be quite dry and boring to read but I actually enjoyed it very much, not knowing the background to John Clare's life. Having read it, I can imagine how difficult life must have been for his wife and Judith Allnatt does an excellent job of transporting the reader back to their life and times.

[Pam Boardman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a lovely book. The writing is excellent, I felt that I was there with the characters. The life on a farm in the 1840's was hard and bringing up children with little money very difficult. The author described the beauty of the countryside well.

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great story about a woman so brave in the face of adversity

[Eileen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. I loved the way it was written - almost lyrical. It really painted a picture of country life and the poverty and hardships endured by the poet's wife and family.

[Janey · Rating 1 out of 5]

The subject matter was too sad for me - about someone with memory loss.

[Rosemary Kind · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book utterly fascinating and believable. Although written more than 150 years after the events I felt that Judith Allnatt provided a very plausible insight into how the specific events might have been viewed and understood. Whilst enjoying the simpler time the book represents, I was left very grateful for the things we have learnt in the intervening years. Well worth reading regardless of whether you are familiar with the poet John Clare.