Clara's Heart

by Joseph Olshan

When David's mother brought Clara Mayfield from Jamaica to live in their affluent household, David told the exotic intruder to go back to where she came from. But the indomitable Clara would take no nonsense, and soon began to capture David's affections.

Genres: Fiction, Book Club

312 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1985

About the author

Joseph Olshan is an award-winning American novelist. His first novel, Clara's Heart, won the Times/Jonathan Cape Young Writers' Competition and went on to be made into a feature film starring Whoopi Goldberg. He is the author of eight novels, the most recent of which, The Conversion, will be published in 2008.

In addition to his novels, he has written extensively for newspapers and magazines, including the New York Times, the New York Times Magazine, The Times (London), The Guardian (London),The Independent (London), The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, the New York Observer, Harpers Bazaar, People magazine and Entertainment Weekly. During the 1990's he was a regular contributor of book reviews to the Wall Street Journal. For six years was a professor of Creative Writing at New York University where he taught both graduate and undergraduate courses.

Joseph Olshan's other novels include Nightswimmer and Vanitas, as well as The Waterline, A Warmer Season, The Sound of Heaven and In Clara's Hands, a sequel to his acclaimed first novel, Clara's Heart.

Joseph Olshan is published in the U.S. by Saint Martin's Press and Berkley Books; and in the United Kingdom by Bloomsbury publishing and Arcadia Books. His work has been translated into sixteen languages.

Reviews

[Patty Mccormick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book that I received from NetGalley to read on my Kindle. It was originally published in 1985. It has been re-released as an e-book by Open Road Integrated Media 0n July 9th, 2013. This was made into a movie starring Whoopi Goldberg back in 1988. Whoopi played Clara and Neil Patrick Harris played the part of David. I am not a big movie watcher. I’ve never seen this movie. It wasn’t a box office smash. Olshan has written other novels and articles for magazines and newspapers. Clara’s Heart was his first novel and it won the Times/Jonathan Cape Young Writers’ Competition.

David is a young boy who is growing up in a family that is experiencing difficulties. David’s parents go to Jamaica after his baby sister’s death to try to salvage their relationship. His mother, Leona, strikes up a friendship with Clara a Jamaican woman. Leona knows that Clara has some secrets. She has heard some rumors. Leona brings Clara back to the states with her to help take care of the house and David.

David is unsure how to react to Clara’s sudden appearance in his life, but they quickly form a strong bond. David is your typical ornery boy and Clara doesn’t put up with his shenanigans. David is also very curious about Clara’s past after hearing things from her friends.

The novel comes to a climax at the end. David must decide whether to live with his mother or father when his parents decide to divorce. What will happen to Clara? What happened in her mysterious past? Will her secrets be exposed?

I really liked this book. I thought that it was well written. It is packed full of emotion and drama. I thought that the characters were realistic. This was a quick read for me. It only took a couple days. It’s too bad the movie didn’t do better. It is a really good story. I give this one 4 out of 5 stars.

[Gail · Rating 1 out of 5]

Once I start a book, I always need to finish it. I don't usually mind that personality quirk of mine because most books that I start are at least ok. This book was dreadful. The characters were unlikeable and the storyline was creepy. So glad I'm finished!

[Lyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading Clara's Heart after seeing the movie first. As usual, new insights are available, especially into character. What I liked about the book was the way Clara developed into truly the only person David could count on for a long time following the family crisis. To be emotionally abandonded is a horrible thing. I value the lessons learned from this book.

[Jennifer Paley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this in high school in New York and then came across it at a bookstore and read it again - loved it both times !

Jennifer paley
Los Angeles California

[Kmystraveler · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book because of good read opinions, but I had been avoiding it because the movie had such poor reviews. The question was why did Whoopi Goldberg make a movie from such a trashy script? Well, it appears that the script writers overrode the book. The book is very well written. The ending makes sense and the author prepares the reader, but I want to make the boy come back older. I think it is too much info to share with a boy on the edge of his own sexuality and not something I’d expect from Clara with her wisdom. I think the author wanted to tie the end with the beginning and wrap it in a velvet bow. The end felt forced and untrue

The rest of the book was a delight. The scenes in the beauty shop, the party, Clara’s friends were truly magical

Another problem with the book is that our vision of Clara is derived from the perspective of a 13 year old boy. Clara has had a complex and interesting life behind and ahead of her. I wanted to know more about how Clara really felt. I couldn’t tell. I loved this character and really wanted her fleshed out more.

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Het is niet vaak dat je een boek tegenkomt waarin alle personages je afstoten. Het ergste is het kind met zijn gespioneer, gesnuffel in privézaken en zijn woedeaanvallen gevolgd door spijtbetugingen. Je weet gewoon dat die als volwassene in problemen komt wegens familiaal geweld. Het verdriet van de moeder is begrijpelijk. Zeker omdat ze getrouwd is met een man die als rouwverwerking haar meeneemt op een reis waarbij hij al zijn tijd doorbrengt met golfen en zakenbesprekingen. Maar zoals ze later voor zichzelf kiest zonder te luisteren naar de noden van haar kind, dat is verregaand egoïsme. En heilige Clara? Die kwetsbare mensen manipuleert om de leegte in haar leven te compenseren.

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is so much tragedy in this book. A baby daughter dies and the mom does not cope well with the death. The parents have issues, a betrayal, and a divorce. An interesting personality is introduced as Clara, a Jamacian woman.

[Teresa Crane · Rating 5 out of 5]

The only person I liked in this book was Clara. lol
This story broke my heart but I'm glad I read it.

[Sonia Silgado · Rating 1 out of 5]

Fue bastante aburrido, no pasaba nada especial en el libro

[Laurie Larson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Joseph Olshan's Clara's Heart is probably best known as the 1988 movie starring Whoopi Goldberg, which, coincidentally, I've not seen. So it was with fresh eyes and ears that I read the novel, recently released as an ebook. The story centers on David and his parents as the family navigates the death of a newborn sister, depression, infidelity, and divorce. It is Clara--a fiercely loyal and loving Jamaican woman--who comes to care for David and steers him through those years of turmoil.

Suspicious of her at first, eight-year-old David quickly bonds with Clara who also seems to have resurrected his mother after baby Edith's death. A chubby little boy with few friends, his world centers on home ... and Clara. The two watch her soap operas together, David learns to love

Jamaican food, and he can even imitate her patois flawlessly. He visits her apartment in Brooklyn and spends time at the beauty parlor where her friends gather. But soon enough, we also see the flip side to such closeness. David fails to respect many boundaries, disobeying Clara repeatedly, snooping in her room--driven by an intense longing to know as much about her has he can, to plumb the depths of her life and its secrets.

And just as David is drawn to Clara after the family's tragedy, David's mother Leona is pulled toward Eastern philosophy (and her teacher), giving up her smart skirts, sweaters, and pearls for peasant skirts and blouses (it is the early 70s, after all). David's father retreats into his work as an international lawyer (and his young assistant). Clara pleads with Leona to put her child above all else. In some parenting advice that is at once out-of-fashion, but perhaps oh-so-wise, Clara implores David's mother to put her son before her lover, "A child is de only real thing you have, Mrs. Hart ... a child is constant. Whereas love wid a lover is a most strange thing. Some days you so sure it's dere and then tomorrow it suddenly gone like sandpiper."

Eventually, David must give up Clara and move on, something he doesn't think he has the courage to do. Clara promises she will answer all his questions about her life, but only after he has grown to be a man and she sends him a sign. But Olshan's novel ends only four years after it began, and David does learn Clara's secrets.

While David's voice was not consistently child-like (gifted child or no), and Clara's secret seems (to me) a bit contrived, Clara's Heart is a fairly satisfying read--and Clara proved an interesting counterpart to Gloria (link). Two powerful Jamaican women to grace your e-reader this summer.
[Read more at thisismysymphony.blogspot.com]

[Dana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book to be well written and captivating, but rather disturbing. It is the story of David, who ages from 8 to 13 during the story, and Clara, the Jamaican housekeeper who is his best friend. David's parents have a troubled marriage and eventually they divorce leaving David spending more time with Clara than with his parents during the time the story takes place. Venturing into voodoo and sexuality, the story takes some bizarre twists and turns which I found rather disturbing. I have not seen the movie, but I looked at a trailer for it and the characters are not the way I pictured them from the book. It looks like the movie may be lighter than the book, which has some dark parts. I plan to watch the movie soon. I got this book free to review from Netgalley.

[Laura Stevens · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good book. It's the story of a Jamacian housekeep's relationship with the only child of the family she works for. His parents divorce, and both his parents neglect him. He is her heart and she is his. But she has a dark secret and he hurts her in trying to find it out. As he finds out little pieces of the secret he becomes more and more curious. and goes to evermore extremes to know the whole secret. what will happen when he knows it all? read this book and find out.

[Lydia Presley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m really torn on this book, because the writing was solid, the descriptions full of life, and the story was interesting, but there was something else that was difficult to put my finger on until I had ruminated on the book for a few days.

For the rest of this review, visit The Lost Entwife.

[Suzette · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a read. There are many levels to this novel which explains the awards it has won. The troubled parents of a young boy, the hidden past of a hotel employee/ pseudo mother, and of course, David who is approaching adolescence fully unprepared. I laughed, I cried. I watched life unfold in its many am zings twists and turns. The characters were beautifully developed.

[Kelley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was even better than the movie! I loved the dynamic between David and Clara and the childlike imagination of David as he is approaching adolescence.

[Penny (Literary Hoarders) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 somewhat heartwarming but still frustrating to read about poor young David being pulled in all different directions.

[Rachelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was good until the end.... did not like the ending....

[Katia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book 0

Movie (1988)

Whoopie Goldberg
Neil Patrick Harris (Teen)