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The Clematis Tree
'You want to go on reading, you want to know what happens; it isn't easy to put down' Ruth Rendell A powerful novel about a family, and how their lives are torn apart in a single, devastating moment.Mark and Claire seem an ideal couple. He is an accountant, she the daughter of a successful businessman. They live in a comfortable middle-class village in Surrey. Then, during a party for their daughter Pippa's baptism, their son Jeremy is knocked down on the road outside. It is their worst nightmare, something they thought could never happen, and the consequences will affect each one of them more than they could possibly imagine. What is Claire's guilty secret, and can her wealthy, self-made father help? Will Mark, desperate to escape, have the nerve to leave? And how will Pippa be affected by the turmoil that began on the day of her own christening?'A compelling story about the way a family copes with a catastrophe' THE TIMES'A delight, a very polished read' CATHOLIC HERALD'An accomplished first novel' TATLER'Humane, thoughtful' HARPERS AND QUEENS
- GenresFiction
301 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 1, 2000
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
May 6, 2013
For many years I have listened to Ann Widdecombe holding forth on any manner of themes and subjects in her capacity as a politician and though I do not find myself agreeing with her on an enormously regular basis she always strikes me as a woman of sincerity and integrity who does not shy away from facing up to and discussing difficult subjects. She is not the mealy mouthed politician who changes with the wind or who cowers behind obfuscation and lurks in shadows but is a woman of a courage and forthright shooting from the hip. So I approached this novel with interest and fascination but also with a certain level of ' hmmmm, not sure'.
It is a story full of upper middle class men and women none of whom have any money worries, all of whom have lovely houses, many of whom have silly names but that, I suppose, is the upper middle class for you. Widdecombe sensibly restricts herself to this strata of society, writers write of what they know and she knows these people, thus her story focuses on them. However, if this makes you think the story is not for you because they are not your type of people then think again because these rich, snobby, out of touch wealth-magnets are also struggling with questions we may all encounter either directly or through the lives of those we love or those with whom we work. The tragedy of a sudden death, the loss of job, confidence, purpose, the heartbreak of a healthy child's future being struck into nothingness by a drunken driver and his parents, wealthy and self obsessed though they may appear, suddenly having the tragedy of his imagined future being shrunken to that of a child unable to respond, to move, to speak .
Another theme of the novel , linked but not obviously so is the whole question of the right to die of terminally ill people. Widdecombe's own position on this would be very well known to any from the UK, her opposition to Euthanasia is not one of her quietly held opinions and on this one I would wholeheartedly agree with her but the thing I found excellent about the book was the fact that she was not writing a book attacking Euthanasia. The book read as a balanced and fair attempt to open out the question without hysteria or feigned outrage or scaremongering.
Her main character was Mark, the father of Jeremy the disabled lad and his sister Pippa. His marriage to Claire depresses him, his job crushes him with its boredom and he struggles with an emptiness he cannot fathom. He overhears people speaking of his son or he catches sight of momentary looks of sympathy towards him and his wife and he is fired with indignation, he loves his son but part of his struggle and therefore of his angry repsonse to the sympathy is he hears echoes of his subconscious musings in their words and looks.
On two occasions he is tempted to be unfaithful to his wife; one would be a vibrant and energetic romp with a healthy, sexy young woman but the other is much more dangerous because it is a woman in whom he sees sanctuary and peace and a longed for stability. Here is one of the big demerit points in the novel. She is called Smith, her first name, and this is a stupid piece of nonsense by Widdecombe which really annoyed me, it served no purpose other than to be ridiculously pretentious smacking of the author trying desperately to make this woman seem different but the whole point of her in the story I thought was that it was her supreme normality which Mark was drawn to and her stupid name was a massive own goal by Ms Widdecombe.
It is from Smith that the book title comes. 'The Clematis tree' is an image she gives to Mark. A tree which once was enlivened with beautiful blooms and leaves of its own had suddenly lost all life and thus seemingly its purpose and yet a clematis, planted under it, had threaded itself up and through its dead branches and burst forth into beauty , held up and supported by the thought to be useless frame of the tree. The significance being that things thought dead or useless may sometimes turn out to be the means for other unimagined beauty, unplanned and unexpected, to burgeon and grow. It is perhaps a clumsy image, certainly the way i have spoken of it here but in the novel it worked.
Ann Widdecombe is a woman of faith and belief in God certainly does feature in the book but not in a way that it strangles the story in piety or easy answers. There is love here of all kinds; love of God certainly and the searching for God's love for them; unrequited and unacknowledged love, self-serving and arid love, selfless and life-giving, generous and faithful. She has not painted a series of plaster saints here though, nor has she drawn clumsy pantomime villains. Her characters, though not from my social circle, still made me think, they did seem breathing creatures even if on some occasions I would have been very happy to have throttled that breath out of them.
One difficulty was that they were, perhaps, too wealthy. Money, owing to Mark's ridiculously wealthy father-in-law, did not really feature, it was never an issue and indeed the enormous amounts bandied about did slightly remove them from sympathy not so much from an envy point of view but just because it made them appear less human, less real. And novels which remove us from our normal life into places of fantasy or romance are fine, I do not go to a romance or fantasy to find my own life but to have an escape route for an hour or so but this novel was dealing with real human questions of guilt and responsibility, of life and death and the pressures of illness and social expectation. For this novel to work perfectly i needed to believe and sympathise and I did but maybe up to a point and with slight hesitation.
ps. As I began to read the novel and it became clear that Mark was dissatisfied in his marriage and then the first possible infidelity appeared on the horizon I did begin to break out in a cold sweat. To have read a sex scene written by Ann Widdecombe would have been tantamount to watching porn with my granny next to me on the sofa, it would just feel horribly wrong. Praise God and all the saints she stuck to the writer's mantra quoted above 'Write only of what you know".............I know that is me making a massive assumption about Ms W but i feel i may be on a fairly safe wicket there.
It is a story full of upper middle class men and women none of whom have any money worries, all of whom have lovely houses, many of whom have silly names but that, I suppose, is the upper middle class for you. Widdecombe sensibly restricts herself to this strata of society, writers write of what they know and she knows these people, thus her story focuses on them. However, if this makes you think the story is not for you because they are not your type of people then think again because these rich, snobby, out of touch wealth-magnets are also struggling with questions we may all encounter either directly or through the lives of those we love or those with whom we work. The tragedy of a sudden death, the loss of job, confidence, purpose, the heartbreak of a healthy child's future being struck into nothingness by a drunken driver and his parents, wealthy and self obsessed though they may appear, suddenly having the tragedy of his imagined future being shrunken to that of a child unable to respond, to move, to speak .
Another theme of the novel , linked but not obviously so is the whole question of the right to die of terminally ill people. Widdecombe's own position on this would be very well known to any from the UK, her opposition to Euthanasia is not one of her quietly held opinions and on this one I would wholeheartedly agree with her but the thing I found excellent about the book was the fact that she was not writing a book attacking Euthanasia. The book read as a balanced and fair attempt to open out the question without hysteria or feigned outrage or scaremongering.
Her main character was Mark, the father of Jeremy the disabled lad and his sister Pippa. His marriage to Claire depresses him, his job crushes him with its boredom and he struggles with an emptiness he cannot fathom. He overhears people speaking of his son or he catches sight of momentary looks of sympathy towards him and his wife and he is fired with indignation, he loves his son but part of his struggle and therefore of his angry repsonse to the sympathy is he hears echoes of his subconscious musings in their words and looks.
On two occasions he is tempted to be unfaithful to his wife; one would be a vibrant and energetic romp with a healthy, sexy young woman but the other is much more dangerous because it is a woman in whom he sees sanctuary and peace and a longed for stability. Here is one of the big demerit points in the novel. She is called Smith, her first name, and this is a stupid piece of nonsense by Widdecombe which really annoyed me, it served no purpose other than to be ridiculously pretentious smacking of the author trying desperately to make this woman seem different but the whole point of her in the story I thought was that it was her supreme normality which Mark was drawn to and her stupid name was a massive own goal by Ms Widdecombe.
It is from Smith that the book title comes. 'The Clematis tree' is an image she gives to Mark. A tree which once was enlivened with beautiful blooms and leaves of its own had suddenly lost all life and thus seemingly its purpose and yet a clematis, planted under it, had threaded itself up and through its dead branches and burst forth into beauty , held up and supported by the thought to be useless frame of the tree. The significance being that things thought dead or useless may sometimes turn out to be the means for other unimagined beauty, unplanned and unexpected, to burgeon and grow. It is perhaps a clumsy image, certainly the way i have spoken of it here but in the novel it worked.
Ann Widdecombe is a woman of faith and belief in God certainly does feature in the book but not in a way that it strangles the story in piety or easy answers. There is love here of all kinds; love of God certainly and the searching for God's love for them; unrequited and unacknowledged love, self-serving and arid love, selfless and life-giving, generous and faithful. She has not painted a series of plaster saints here though, nor has she drawn clumsy pantomime villains. Her characters, though not from my social circle, still made me think, they did seem breathing creatures even if on some occasions I would have been very happy to have throttled that breath out of them.
One difficulty was that they were, perhaps, too wealthy. Money, owing to Mark's ridiculously wealthy father-in-law, did not really feature, it was never an issue and indeed the enormous amounts bandied about did slightly remove them from sympathy not so much from an envy point of view but just because it made them appear less human, less real. And novels which remove us from our normal life into places of fantasy or romance are fine, I do not go to a romance or fantasy to find my own life but to have an escape route for an hour or so but this novel was dealing with real human questions of guilt and responsibility, of life and death and the pressures of illness and social expectation. For this novel to work perfectly i needed to believe and sympathise and I did but maybe up to a point and with slight hesitation.
ps. As I began to read the novel and it became clear that Mark was dissatisfied in his marriage and then the first possible infidelity appeared on the horizon I did begin to break out in a cold sweat. To have read a sex scene written by Ann Widdecombe would have been tantamount to watching porn with my granny next to me on the sofa, it would just feel horribly wrong. Praise God and all the saints she stuck to the writer's mantra quoted above 'Write only of what you know".............I know that is me making a massive assumption about Ms W but i feel i may be on a fairly safe wicket there.
August 8, 2025
2.5 stars 🌟
May 9, 2013
I read this book in one day, and I cannot complain about the plot, it was gripping, though reminiscent of a soap as so much happened to this one family. We moved from dramatic scene to dramatic scene, but that was about all there was, descriptions of dramatic scenes. I didn't like Mark or Claire, but they didn't really seem real, none of it seemed real. It was tell, not show, narrative rather than dialogue, and all so old fashioned. Mark took work home in his briefcase, not on a memory stick. He queued to use a coin operated pay phone, when he owned a mobile. His wife called an attractive man a dish. Blacmonge was served at a children's party, and I can't spell it or find it in my iPod dictionary!
I also felt that the dazzlingly beautiful and intelligent MP sister of Claire who manages to get a euthanasia law passed was unnecessary, and an intrusive reminder of the credentials of the author which didn't belong in this story.
In writing books, the advice on plot goes something like this: take some people, have something happen to them, watch them change, come to some resolution. Well this book shows why that advice is valuable as we have some people to whom a string of big things happen, but they don't change, and there is no resolution, and it is so flat as a result.
I won't be hurrying to buy another one of Widdecombe's books.
I also felt that the dazzlingly beautiful and intelligent MP sister of Claire who manages to get a euthanasia law passed was unnecessary, and an intrusive reminder of the credentials of the author which didn't belong in this story.
In writing books, the advice on plot goes something like this: take some people, have something happen to them, watch them change, come to some resolution. Well this book shows why that advice is valuable as we have some people to whom a string of big things happen, but they don't change, and there is no resolution, and it is so flat as a result.
I won't be hurrying to buy another one of Widdecombe's books.
July 12, 2024
Full marks to Ann Widdecombe for tackling this difficult subject - children in accidents and assisted dying. However, she is no writer of literary merit and occasionally she has been heavy-handed. I wonder if it wise to insert so much anxiety into a single novel. Maybe it would be a better novel with fewer medical emergencies? Dream sections should have been edited out too.
Having said all this, it is clear that Widdecombe has thought a great deal about this important issue, as the number of road accidents is on the increase. I liked her depiction how a perfectly ordinary marriage tends to crumble under the strain.
Having said all this, it is clear that Widdecombe has thought a great deal about this important issue, as the number of road accidents is on the increase. I liked her depiction how a perfectly ordinary marriage tends to crumble under the strain.
February 22, 2023
I have to say I didn't have high hopes for this - a novel about a family under strain written by a former politician who's famously never married, had children or even had a relationship since university. How wrong can you be? She wrote well and convincingly of a failing marriage. She also gave a thought-provoking account of what it's like to care for a severely physically and mentally disabled child. Highly recommended!
June 17, 2011
Sadly for me I'm one of those readers who doggedly finishes a book even if doing so means I'm simultaneously willing my life to end. Ruth Rendell claims of this book that, 'you want to go on reading [yes, Ruth, you do, just so you can say you've finished the wretched thing], you want to know what happens [because nothing does for a lot of the book except whining]; it isn't easy to put down [REALLY Ruth, are we talking about the same book?]'. That is the LAST time I trust Ruth Rendell.
I admire Ann Widdecombe's blatant disregard for other's views about her own life but I disagree with so many of her conservative personal views that I found this book and its characters rather tedious. We all know that the author disagrees with abortion but seriously, a novel is not the place to labour the ins and outs of the 1967 Abortion Act and the author's thinly veiled views not once, but twice (yawn). There is also a priceless sentence where a nun remarks that, a 'life of poverty, chastity and obedience had little charm for the young', totally disregarding that holy life is supposed to be a calling, not a career choice (tut, tut, Ann, you're a practising Catholic as well).
So, main reasons this book got on my wick: it is verbose; has too many characters (none of which have enough character to be either memorable or interesting); is painfully twee (I'm not even going to waste time typing out some of the comedy Yorkshire twang for you); is full of characters with distractingly silly names; is set around an upper middle class family who fail to engage any of the reader's emotions because they're so irritatingly pompous, whiney and privileged; is supposed to be set in the current time but the characters at times behave in a very antiquated way (the main male character who must be in his 40s referred to a 'polytechnic' (of course he was put straight by the comedy Yorkshireman who is presumably working class enough to know these things)) and is painfully rooted in religion. And to top it all off, you get to the end of the book and just think, 'is that it?'.
I'm at a loss to know what to do with this book. As I see it I have only one option which is to Bookcross it. I've not decided where though but it's a toss-up between a local church and my compost heap.
I admire Ann Widdecombe's blatant disregard for other's views about her own life but I disagree with so many of her conservative personal views that I found this book and its characters rather tedious. We all know that the author disagrees with abortion but seriously, a novel is not the place to labour the ins and outs of the 1967 Abortion Act and the author's thinly veiled views not once, but twice (yawn). There is also a priceless sentence where a nun remarks that, a 'life of poverty, chastity and obedience had little charm for the young', totally disregarding that holy life is supposed to be a calling, not a career choice (tut, tut, Ann, you're a practising Catholic as well).
So, main reasons this book got on my wick: it is verbose; has too many characters (none of which have enough character to be either memorable or interesting); is painfully twee (I'm not even going to waste time typing out some of the comedy Yorkshire twang for you); is full of characters with distractingly silly names; is set around an upper middle class family who fail to engage any of the reader's emotions because they're so irritatingly pompous, whiney and privileged; is supposed to be set in the current time but the characters at times behave in a very antiquated way (the main male character who must be in his 40s referred to a 'polytechnic' (of course he was put straight by the comedy Yorkshireman who is presumably working class enough to know these things)) and is painfully rooted in religion. And to top it all off, you get to the end of the book and just think, 'is that it?'.
I'm at a loss to know what to do with this book. As I see it I have only one option which is to Bookcross it. I've not decided where though but it's a toss-up between a local church and my compost heap.
July 28, 2013
This book was a lot sadder than I expected. At times I got a little tired with all the tragedy rather than sympathetic to a family in a hard situation. Although a sense of duty comes through in this book, there is a bit of a feeling left within me that the main characters lack a bit of backbone to stick to their decisions but perhaps that's what marriage is!
February 1, 2024
Book Bingo 2024: A book that is author’s first novel.
A somber book detailing the spiralling effects on a marriage and a family following a tragic accident that befalls their young son. This well written, debut novel by Ann Widdecombe, was thought provoking and the weight of their situation was easy to empathise with and felt heartbreakingly real.
A somber book detailing the spiralling effects on a marriage and a family following a tragic accident that befalls their young son. This well written, debut novel by Ann Widdecombe, was thought provoking and the weight of their situation was easy to empathise with and felt heartbreakingly real.
July 13, 2018
I wasn't really sure what I was going to make of this one, but I enjoyed the pace, the writing and most of the characters. At times it felt like there was a bit too much going on and there were a few phrases repeated a bit too often for my liking (though this may have been intentional to give the mood of the moment). Solid novel with no easy 'end'.
May 9, 2017
This author was new to me and I did find this an enjoyable read.I'd rate this a 3-3 1/2 star read. Mark and Claire have what appears to be a perfect life with two young children, Jeremy and newborn Pippa, whose lives change at Pippa's christening, when a terrible accident happens. We see over the years how the accident and its aftermath change each of them. They learn to cope but at a terrible toll on each other and their marriage. Not a bad little read.
June 7, 2019
Book group choice. Characters did not feel real and none of them were sympathetic. The story was a good one, but it needed a good edit to make it less rambly and to produce a better end, as it seemed to just run out of steam.
May 24, 2020
Such a sad tragic story. To have your beautiful four year old to be accidentally hit by a car and become completely disabled would be heart-breaking but then to lose him to another accident about 10 years later. Sob!
March 5, 2021
Extremely easy book to read
First book l have read of hers, look forward to reading them all. A book to bury yourself in and enjoy.
First book l have read of hers, look forward to reading them all. A book to bury yourself in and enjoy.
June 5, 2021
I enjoyed it and found the story engaging
May 29, 2023
A compelling read, as it said in the reviews I wanted to know what was going to happen. However the ending wasn't very satisfying for me.
May 22, 2025
a bit too dark and negative for my tastes
February 1, 2013
What I liked about the book was that the author had plunged me (the reader) straight into the deep end and I watched in horror as the plot began to unfold. Everything was a mess. Their lives were turned upside down. The youngest child was thrown into a chaotic upbringing. And everyone around them had to adjust to the new complexities that surrounded their lives.
What I did not like about the book was the main male protagonist. Not that I could have changed the way the story went but boy, that man really needed to grow a spine and learn to use his guts! He was supposedly the man of the house. The husband who should have been the pillar of strength and support for his wife. The father who should have been there for his daughter. He failed in both duties. Yet he had the audacity to talk about getting a divorce. Granted his wife didn't exactly make life any easier to live but hey, she's saddled with all the housework and the care of her severely-disabled son fell to her jurisdiction too, how is it possible that she has to care for her equally addle-brained husband?
The book was decent. Kept me occupied for almost a week. I'd read it again if possible. Not now. Perhaps another time. Unless I decide to offload it to the nearest children's home.
What I did not like about the book was the main male protagonist. Not that I could have changed the way the story went but boy, that man really needed to grow a spine and learn to use his guts! He was supposedly the man of the house. The husband who should have been the pillar of strength and support for his wife. The father who should have been there for his daughter. He failed in both duties. Yet he had the audacity to talk about getting a divorce. Granted his wife didn't exactly make life any easier to live but hey, she's saddled with all the housework and the care of her severely-disabled son fell to her jurisdiction too, how is it possible that she has to care for her equally addle-brained husband?
The book was decent. Kept me occupied for almost a week. I'd read it again if possible. Not now. Perhaps another time. Unless I decide to offload it to the nearest children's home.
November 20, 2015
First thing first, this is not a book that teenagers or young people should read. It gives an air of depression and although it describes the events in detail from the christening of Pippa to the accident with Jeremy, and what comes thereafter for Mark and Claire. It is a good plot but it did not get my utmost attention. I'm sure that it is really very difficult for families when there is a disabled child they have to take care of, yet not many mothers turn into psychics nor daughters when they see their skeletal mother. The book gives an air of sadness and depression and it might be due to the plot but it could have been a bit good to the end. A fairly average read, but as I mentioned esrlier, elderly people or specifically housewives would like this book, not younger ones.
June 10, 2010
The story is interesting because of my family background
March 5, 2013
It was a pleasant weekend sort of read. Liked the characters but not great fiction.
May 15, 2013
Interesting good for thought
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews