What do you think?
Rate this book
Clara's Daughter
A psychological thriller about the archetypal mother-daughter duel for power, from the author of Magda.
A successful businesswoman, Michele has a high-powered job, a family, a husband, yet she is defined by a term of possession: she is Clara's daughter.
A successful businesswoman, Michele has a high-powered job, a family, a husband, yet she is defined by a term of possession: she is Clara's daughter.
- GenresFiction
133 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2014
2 people are currently reading
39 people want to read
About the author
Meike Ziervogel
7 books10 followersMeike Ziervogel (b. 1967) is a novelist and founder of Peirene Press, an award-winning independent UK publishing house specialising in contemporary European fiction in English translation. In 2012 Meike was voted as one of Britain's 100 most innovative and influential people in the creative and media industries for the h.Club 100 list devised by Time Out London and the Hospital Club. From 2009 to 2018 she hosted the Peirene literary Salon.
Ziervogel came to London in the UK in 1986 to study Arabic language and literature. She received a BA and MA from The School of Oriental and African Studies. She speaks four languages: German, English, Arabic and French.
Ziervogel came to London in the UK in 1986 to study Arabic language and literature. She received a BA and MA from The School of Oriental and African Studies. She speaks four languages: German, English, Arabic and French.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
November 23, 2021
Sometimes we’re never so alone as when we’re with other people; and yet even in solitude we can find it next to impossible to form a relationship with our inner selves. Meike Ziervogel’s novella cleverly plays with the disconnect between the several roles we play—as parents, partners, professionals, siblings, children—and our authentic selves.
The title hints at that disconnect. So too does the narrative, told now in third-, now in first-person, conveying immediacy in its consistent use of present tense but disorientating with some scenes told out of chronological sequence. And as we flit from observing the points of view of one character and then another we find them adrift in emotional seas, the distances between them widening as they float further apart.
Described as a ‘psychological thriller’ — though there aren’t any major shocks, I feel, nor are we confronted with individuals who are psychologically complex — this is really a family tragedy with an ending that, retrospectively, feels almost inevitable. That incipient inevitability doesn’t however stop one engaging with the narrative as it unfolds.
Clara in fact has two daughters, but we focus on Michele and hardly at all on Hilary. Michele is married to Jim, who has a friend called Gus, whom we see a bit of. Clara was married to Edward, but he’s dead now. They all live in affluent parts of North London, but being well off doesn’t mean they can’t be any less prey to their insecurities as the rest of us may be. And each of the main trio’s insecurities result in feelings of being lost, feelings which impact hugely on the others.
Clara, who is half German, keeps her late husband’s clothes in the wardrobe, but things aren’t going well for this 80 year old — not only can she not settle back down to working with clay, as she used to, her daughters now have to fetch her from the hospital after a fall downstairs. Michele and Hilary argue about whether a residential home or a granny flat is the way forward, but Clara is angry and resentful that she faces losing her independence.
Meanwhile, Michele and Jim’s 25-year marriage is nearing a hidden reef: she has a prestigious job, he’s a part-time teacher, and their lives now seldom intersect. Plans for her mother’s future may be the rock upon which their relationship founders, blown there by delayed or postponed gratification. Is this story then about Clara or Michele? And where and how do Clara’s other daughter or, indeed, Jim fit in?
As the reader tries to plot a route through intersecting stories moving back and forward in time, certain motifs transform into metaphors or symbols. One is Clara’s clayworking, with her one masterpiece a mother-and-child sculpture; another is liquid water which, as we all know, is necessary for keeping clay malleable, and which is variously reiterated in sudden angry tears or when a shower turned on and off, in a rainstorm or in foreboding sweats, and finally with the ladies’ pond on Hampstead Heath.
Meike Ziervogel’s tale is about many things — loneliness, the elderly, marriage ties breaking, childhood memories and more — but the final pages suggest a theme that may draw a bit on the author’s own concerns or anxieties: in hanging on to possessions which represent a previous relationship is Michele in danger of turning into her mother? In other words, is blood somehow thicker than the watery images that suffuse this novella?
The title hints at that disconnect. So too does the narrative, told now in third-, now in first-person, conveying immediacy in its consistent use of present tense but disorientating with some scenes told out of chronological sequence. And as we flit from observing the points of view of one character and then another we find them adrift in emotional seas, the distances between them widening as they float further apart.
Described as a ‘psychological thriller’ — though there aren’t any major shocks, I feel, nor are we confronted with individuals who are psychologically complex — this is really a family tragedy with an ending that, retrospectively, feels almost inevitable. That incipient inevitability doesn’t however stop one engaging with the narrative as it unfolds.
Clara in fact has two daughters, but we focus on Michele and hardly at all on Hilary. Michele is married to Jim, who has a friend called Gus, whom we see a bit of. Clara was married to Edward, but he’s dead now. They all live in affluent parts of North London, but being well off doesn’t mean they can’t be any less prey to their insecurities as the rest of us may be. And each of the main trio’s insecurities result in feelings of being lost, feelings which impact hugely on the others.
Clara, who is half German, keeps her late husband’s clothes in the wardrobe, but things aren’t going well for this 80 year old — not only can she not settle back down to working with clay, as she used to, her daughters now have to fetch her from the hospital after a fall downstairs. Michele and Hilary argue about whether a residential home or a granny flat is the way forward, but Clara is angry and resentful that she faces losing her independence.
Meanwhile, Michele and Jim’s 25-year marriage is nearing a hidden reef: she has a prestigious job, he’s a part-time teacher, and their lives now seldom intersect. Plans for her mother’s future may be the rock upon which their relationship founders, blown there by delayed or postponed gratification. Is this story then about Clara or Michele? And where and how do Clara’s other daughter or, indeed, Jim fit in?
As the reader tries to plot a route through intersecting stories moving back and forward in time, certain motifs transform into metaphors or symbols. One is Clara’s clayworking, with her one masterpiece a mother-and-child sculpture; another is liquid water which, as we all know, is necessary for keeping clay malleable, and which is variously reiterated in sudden angry tears or when a shower turned on and off, in a rainstorm or in foreboding sweats, and finally with the ladies’ pond on Hampstead Heath.
Meike Ziervogel’s tale is about many things — loneliness, the elderly, marriage ties breaking, childhood memories and more — but the final pages suggest a theme that may draw a bit on the author’s own concerns or anxieties: in hanging on to possessions which represent a previous relationship is Michele in danger of turning into her mother? In other words, is blood somehow thicker than the watery images that suffuse this novella?
July 28, 2024
this was good a short read, i keep seeming to read books about old/middle aged women who are falling apart lol. i did like the relationship between mother and daughter but it wasn’t a psychological horror as i was led to believe. anyways wasn’t anything too special.
August 29, 2016
The description on the back of the book did not (and possibly could not) do justice to the story. The story of Michele (Clara's daughter) is told alongside that of her husband and mother. This novella length work is atmospheric and intense at its best. I felt like I was with the husband and wife sitting in the kitchen, arguing in the bedroom. The dialogue between the two felt real, like a scene from "real" life.
The story deals with the responsibilities of caring for an elderly parent as well as the falling apart of a marriage (which can easily go hand-in-hand.) The plot is non-linear, but this only adds to creating the urgent feeling of the novella.
I will certainly seek out Ziervogel's other work. She founded Peirene Press, which features short contemporary European and translated novels. Interestingly, the books are meant to take 2 hours to read, about the time it takes to watch a DVD.
The story deals with the responsibilities of caring for an elderly parent as well as the falling apart of a marriage (which can easily go hand-in-hand.) The plot is non-linear, but this only adds to creating the urgent feeling of the novella.
I will certainly seek out Ziervogel's other work. She founded Peirene Press, which features short contemporary European and translated novels. Interestingly, the books are meant to take 2 hours to read, about the time it takes to watch a DVD.
July 30, 2015
Described in the blurb as a thriller, this is in truth a domestic three-hander, dividing its attention between a woman, her husband, and her ageing mother. The marriage is failing; the mother is growing incapable of living alone. The plot - such as it is - unfolds in confines of North London.
This is a slight novel in all respects: thin on incident, and related in simple, direct prose. The room this might leave for psychological insight isn't fully taken up. Although there is nothing here to actively dislike, neither is there enough going on to make it worth recommending. I doubt I will remember much of the story in a few weeks time.
This is a slight novel in all respects: thin on incident, and related in simple, direct prose. The room this might leave for psychological insight isn't fully taken up. Although there is nothing here to actively dislike, neither is there enough going on to make it worth recommending. I doubt I will remember much of the story in a few weeks time.
April 9, 2023
Dit is niet zozeer een boek dat gaat over de dochter van Clara, dan wel een boek waarvan Clara de spil is waar omheen alles draait, met als andere hoofdrolspelers de moeder en de echtgenoot van Clara.
En de kern van de zaak zou ik "mislukking" noemen. Geen mislukking op vlak van carrière of financiën, maar wel op persoonlijk en relationeel vlak.
En, als naar gewoonte, vertelt Meike Ziervogel - de oprichtster van Peirene Press - niet alles. Ze laat de verschillende hoofdpersonages aan het woord in de eerste, tweede of derde persoon, op verschillende momenten in de tijd. Aan de lezer om het verhaal te reconstrueren en om uit dat wat aangeboden wordt datgene te distilleren wat hem of haar direct aanspreekt.
En de kern van de zaak zou ik "mislukking" noemen. Geen mislukking op vlak van carrière of financiën, maar wel op persoonlijk en relationeel vlak.
En, als naar gewoonte, vertelt Meike Ziervogel - de oprichtster van Peirene Press - niet alles. Ze laat de verschillende hoofdpersonages aan het woord in de eerste, tweede of derde persoon, op verschillende momenten in de tijd. Aan de lezer om het verhaal te reconstrueren en om uit dat wat aangeboden wordt datgene te distilleren wat hem of haar direct aanspreekt.
March 8, 2018
Probably a 3.5.
A novella (a long short-story really), about relationships and ageing.
I do like the way Ms Ziervogel writes; nicely observed and crisp.
A novella (a long short-story really), about relationships and ageing.
I do like the way Ms Ziervogel writes; nicely observed and crisp.
May 12, 2015
This is a bittersweet novella about the relationships in families and especially the relationships between mothers and their daughters at the end of life. Michele is a successful business woman who has just split with her husband. At the same time, her mother is ailing and Michele and her sister have to make some tough decisions about where their mother will live out the rest of her life. They decide to convert the basement in Michele's house into a granny flat, which causes friction between mother and daughter.
This novella will resonate with anyone who has ageing parents or anyone facing their own ageing.
This novella will resonate with anyone who has ageing parents or anyone facing their own ageing.
February 16, 2015
An interesting novella which tells the story of a successful businesswoman who is confronted by caring for her mother, in what has clearly been a fraught relationship. The story also has the thread of her marriage falling apart very gradually. I enjoyed the story and the ending provided an interesting twist/poignant image.
November 26, 2015
I liked the Novella and Ziervogel did a great job in making the characters interesting and realistic. Often we think only from our point of view and make decisions based on it. We scarce considers what can be the consequence or seldom we think from other people's perspective. The clash of egos and characters makes the book really interesting hoping to read other books from the writer.
June 16, 2015
A short and psychologically challenging novella that will feel painfully real for anyone who has dealt with the decline of an elderly loved one. Michelle's arc is left a bit too unfinished for my tastes but the final line will make you gasp aloud.
September 14, 2014
Ziervogel plays with sequencing, so that any scene answers a reader's question rather than obeying chronology. Sketched in spare simple prose, the story stayed with me.
September 22, 2014
3.5 stars,interesting book, well written and now eager to read her first book.
November 18, 2017
A very powerful short read. For anyone who has had to or is currently caring for an elderly relative, this is a must read.
The power plays between the passive aggressive younger sister and her successful rich sister are very well written. So much is told in such a short story from all sides of the issue of caring for someone who struggles to care for themselves.
The ending was brilliantly moving too without being overly sentimental.
The power plays between the passive aggressive younger sister and her successful rich sister are very well written. So much is told in such a short story from all sides of the issue of caring for someone who struggles to care for themselves.
The ending was brilliantly moving too without being overly sentimental.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews