What do you think?
Rate this book
Claire
In Linnet Hall, surrounded by its huge park and ancient trees, a penniless girl is hired as a governess, cruelly treated and then, suddenly, disgraced and driven out into the world alone and friendless.
Years later, fate brought Claire back to Linnet Hall. She had been a woman of the streets, mistress of powerful men. Now she is determined to punish the man responsible for her shame.
Told in the tradition of REBECCA , against the elegance of the 19th century country house and the brawling London streets, here is a spellbinding novel of romance and terror, of a passionate love affair rent by violence and fear.
Years later, fate brought Claire back to Linnet Hall. She had been a woman of the streets, mistress of powerful men. Now she is determined to punish the man responsible for her shame.
Told in the tradition of REBECCA , against the elegance of the 19th century country house and the brawling London streets, here is a spellbinding novel of romance and terror, of a passionate love affair rent by violence and fear.
- GenresGothic
287 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1956
23 people want to read
About the author
Dorothea Malm
13 books3 followersDorothea Malm, whose Gothic romance novels were compared favorably to those of Daphne Du Maurier, Rebecca West and Jane Austen, died July 17 in Minneapolis. She was 88.
"Her passion was historical research," said her niece, Anne Malm Hossfeld of Minnetonka. Malm's heroines endured their dangerous love liaisons, the trademark of Gothic novels, in locales from 18th-century Boston to 19th-century Paris.
Born in Minnesota in 1915, Malm spent her childhood in Minot, N.D., where her family had moved to join relatives. They returned to Minnesota in 1924 and lived for many decades in Glen Lake, later incorporated into Minnetonka.
She earned bachelor's and master's degrees at the University of Minnesota. She taught for a year in a junior high school before moving to Philadelphia to work as a manuscript editor for the Ladies Home Journal magazine.
She returned to Glen Lake to teach freshman English at the university in 1942-43. After that, she found herself "able to make a small but sufficient living writing fiction and have done so ever since," she wrote in 1959 in biographical data for Minneapolis Tribune files.
Her first novel, "Pamela Foxe," appeared in 1947, after she had already enjoyed success with short stories in women's magazines.
"To the Castle," which appeared in 1957, "is the stuff of which Du Maurier novels are made," a Minneapolis Tribune reviewer wrote, "and, to be successful, must be told with great style and complete sincerity. These are gifts which Miss Malm . . . has in generous supply."
"The Paper Mistress" was not as well received in 1959. In 1963, a Tribune reviewer of "Every Third Thought" noted that Malm "is little known here" but that critics in England had compared her to West and Austen. The book was "a masterful portrait" of three octogenarian siblings "with their disjointed memories and interesting bits of philosophy."
A disciplined, private woman, Malm wrote daily for about five hours, starting each book by writing out a rough draft and revising it by hand.
"I usually feel that I have done all that I can to it the fourth time through," she wrote in 1959. "I also find it advisable to let each new version stand and cool undisturbed for as long a time as possible."
Until the 1970s, three Malm sisters were living and writing at home, her niece said. Dorothea, who was published first, encouraged Frances Malm to follow her in writing fiction. The third sister, Marguerite Malm, a professor of psychology and education, wrote nonfiction related to her work.
http://www.startribune.com/obituaries...
"Her passion was historical research," said her niece, Anne Malm Hossfeld of Minnetonka. Malm's heroines endured their dangerous love liaisons, the trademark of Gothic novels, in locales from 18th-century Boston to 19th-century Paris.
Born in Minnesota in 1915, Malm spent her childhood in Minot, N.D., where her family had moved to join relatives. They returned to Minnesota in 1924 and lived for many decades in Glen Lake, later incorporated into Minnetonka.
She earned bachelor's and master's degrees at the University of Minnesota. She taught for a year in a junior high school before moving to Philadelphia to work as a manuscript editor for the Ladies Home Journal magazine.
She returned to Glen Lake to teach freshman English at the university in 1942-43. After that, she found herself "able to make a small but sufficient living writing fiction and have done so ever since," she wrote in 1959 in biographical data for Minneapolis Tribune files.
Her first novel, "Pamela Foxe," appeared in 1947, after she had already enjoyed success with short stories in women's magazines.
"To the Castle," which appeared in 1957, "is the stuff of which Du Maurier novels are made," a Minneapolis Tribune reviewer wrote, "and, to be successful, must be told with great style and complete sincerity. These are gifts which Miss Malm . . . has in generous supply."
"The Paper Mistress" was not as well received in 1959. In 1963, a Tribune reviewer of "Every Third Thought" noted that Malm "is little known here" but that critics in England had compared her to West and Austen. The book was "a masterful portrait" of three octogenarian siblings "with their disjointed memories and interesting bits of philosophy."
A disciplined, private woman, Malm wrote daily for about five hours, starting each book by writing out a rough draft and revising it by hand.
"I usually feel that I have done all that I can to it the fourth time through," she wrote in 1959. "I also find it advisable to let each new version stand and cool undisturbed for as long a time as possible."
Until the 1970s, three Malm sisters were living and writing at home, her niece said. Dorothea, who was published first, encouraged Frances Malm to follow her in writing fiction. The third sister, Marguerite Malm, a professor of psychology and education, wrote nonfiction related to her work.
http://www.startribune.com/obituaries...
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 22, 2012
" Claire " written by Dorothea Malm, was originally published in 1956. It had several printings, the last one in 1972. This would be classified under romance, perhaps the sub genre being Gothic Romance. It is a very unique book, and most likely a rare find.
Claire was poor, with not many options. She was hired as a governess, but was treated badly. She loses her job in disgrace and has no other choice but to become a mistress.
Now she seeks her revenge on the man responsible for her being turned out into the streets.
This book has an atmosphere that we don't see in too many of today's novels. The book has been compared in style to "Rebecca", and I can see the similarity, but this book seems to defy all genres. It has all the qualities of a good Gothic novel, so I think I'll stick with that.
I picked this up at a local paperback bookstore that was having a massive clearance sale. Many old and OOP print books were only a quarter, so anything that looked old, I snapped it up. I didn't find this one in the Goodreads database, so you may have a hard time finding this book. Possibly Amazon, or Ebay. If you do find it, by all means pick it up. If it's in good shape it may even be worth something.
Claire was poor, with not many options. She was hired as a governess, but was treated badly. She loses her job in disgrace and has no other choice but to become a mistress.
Now she seeks her revenge on the man responsible for her being turned out into the streets.
This book has an atmosphere that we don't see in too many of today's novels. The book has been compared in style to "Rebecca", and I can see the similarity, but this book seems to defy all genres. It has all the qualities of a good Gothic novel, so I think I'll stick with that.
I picked this up at a local paperback bookstore that was having a massive clearance sale. Many old and OOP print books were only a quarter, so anything that looked old, I snapped it up. I didn't find this one in the Goodreads database, so you may have a hard time finding this book. Possibly Amazon, or Ebay. If you do find it, by all means pick it up. If it's in good shape it may even be worth something.
June 25, 2020
This is my second read by Dorothea Malm. The first one I felt cheated at the end because the narrator turned out to be completely unreliable when I had trusted her the whole time. (I know better now with Gothics, but it was one of the early ones from my dive into Gothics, so I wanted to give the author another try.)
Well written, great pacing--as was the other book--but I didn't connect to the narrator. Might be my emotional baggage from the other read a few years back, but I didn't have that deep connection I prefer. I did cry once and tear up a few other times, so that gives it the fourth star from just being an I "liked it" read. Tears are my reasoning when it comes to rating books.
Well written, great pacing--as was the other book--but I didn't connect to the narrator. Might be my emotional baggage from the other read a few years back, but I didn't have that deep connection I prefer. I did cry once and tear up a few other times, so that gives it the fourth star from just being an I "liked it" read. Tears are my reasoning when it comes to rating books.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews