What do you think?
Rate this book
Good Things I Wish You
The acclaimed author of Vinegar Hill returns with a story of two unlikely romances—one historical, the other modern-day—separated by thousands of miles and well over a century.
Battling feelings of loss and apathy in the wake of a painful divorce, novelist Jeanette struggles to complete a book about the long-term relationship between Clara Schumann, a celebrated pianist and the wife of the composer Robert Schumann, and her husband's protégé, the handsome young composer Johannes Brahms. Although this legendary love triangle has been studied exhaustively, Jeanette—herself a gifted pianist—wonders about the enduring nature of Clara and Johannes's lifelong attachment. Were they just "best friends," as both steadfastly claimed? Or was the relationship complicated by desires that may or may not have been consummated?
Through a chance encounter, Jeanette meets Hart, a mysterious, worldly entrepreneur who is a native of Clara's birthplace, Leipzig, Germany. Hart's casual help with translations quickly blossoms into something more. There are things about men and women, he insists, that do not change. The two embark on a whirlwind emotional journey that leads Jeanette across Germany and Switzerland to a crossroads similar to that faced by Clara Schumann—also a mother, also an artist—more than a century earlier.
Accompanied by photographs, sketches, and notes from past and present, A. Manette Ansay's original blend of fiction and history captures the timeless nature of love and friendship between women and men.
Battling feelings of loss and apathy in the wake of a painful divorce, novelist Jeanette struggles to complete a book about the long-term relationship between Clara Schumann, a celebrated pianist and the wife of the composer Robert Schumann, and her husband's protégé, the handsome young composer Johannes Brahms. Although this legendary love triangle has been studied exhaustively, Jeanette—herself a gifted pianist—wonders about the enduring nature of Clara and Johannes's lifelong attachment. Were they just "best friends," as both steadfastly claimed? Or was the relationship complicated by desires that may or may not have been consummated?
Through a chance encounter, Jeanette meets Hart, a mysterious, worldly entrepreneur who is a native of Clara's birthplace, Leipzig, Germany. Hart's casual help with translations quickly blossoms into something more. There are things about men and women, he insists, that do not change. The two embark on a whirlwind emotional journey that leads Jeanette across Germany and Switzerland to a crossroads similar to that faced by Clara Schumann—also a mother, also an artist—more than a century earlier.
Accompanied by photographs, sketches, and notes from past and present, A. Manette Ansay's original blend of fiction and history captures the timeless nature of love and friendship between women and men.
272 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2009
33 people are currently reading
950 people want to read
About the author
A. Manette Ansay
22 books154 followersA. Manette Ansay grew up in Wisconsin among 67 cousins and over 200 second cousins. She is the author of six novels, including Good Things I Wish You (July, 2009), Vinegar Hill, an Oprah Book Club Selection, and Midnight Champagne, a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award, as well as a short story collection, Read This and Tell Me What It Says, and a memoir, Limbo. Her awards include a National Endowment for the Arts Grant, a Pushcart Prize, the Nelson Algren Prize, and two Great Lakes Book Awards. She lives with her daughter in Florida, where she teaches in the MFA program at the University of Miami.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 153 reviews
July 4, 2015
So I've long been fascinated by the relationship between Clara Schumann and Johannes Brahms (due to Personal Issues,) but my greatest takeaway from this novel is, in the end, who can explain these things? I'm not sure if that was A. Manette Ansay's point (and if it was, I completely missed it) but I felt afterwards that it's really none of our business if their obvious affection for one another ever turned into a physical affair. Because how does it affect us? How is their privacy less important than our prurient (as let's face it, there's no way one can label it as high-minded) interest? Every love story, like every family, happy or otherwise, is unique and dynamic and understandable really only to the people involved, though if we're lucky, one of them is gifted enough to translate it for us. But again, what is the point of speculation, particularly in this case? They were best friends for decades, passionately attached to one another. Need we know more? This is a serious question: please chime in if you have an opinion.
As to the book itself, I found the fictionalization of Clara and Johannes far more convincing, and engrossing, than the modern half. Which I found odd, given the first-person narrative of the latter. It's hard to be sympathetic to Jeanette's self-sabotage, or to fathom Hart's unreliably clinical attitude to their relationship, harder still to understand the necessity of using them to frame the narrative at all. Their story felt like filler in an already slight book. But I'm glad I read it, if only to lay to rest my own curiosity regarding Clara and Johannes with a firm "yep, none of my business." Perhaps there's a dash of transference there, but this exhaustive study of their relationship quite cured me of my need to know more.
As to the book itself, I found the fictionalization of Clara and Johannes far more convincing, and engrossing, than the modern half. Which I found odd, given the first-person narrative of the latter. It's hard to be sympathetic to Jeanette's self-sabotage, or to fathom Hart's unreliably clinical attitude to their relationship, harder still to understand the necessity of using them to frame the narrative at all. Their story felt like filler in an already slight book. But I'm glad I read it, if only to lay to rest my own curiosity regarding Clara and Johannes with a firm "yep, none of my business." Perhaps there's a dash of transference there, but this exhaustive study of their relationship quite cured me of my need to know more.
July 3, 2009
I've read a couple of books - SISTER, MIDNIGHT CHAMPAGNE - by A. Manette Ansay, and always enjoyed them. When her new book came up on my HarperCollins list, I was pretty excited and knew that I wanted to read and review it.
This book weaves in the love story of Clara Schumann and Johannes Brahms with that of the narrator, Jeanette, and a German man, Hart, that she meets through a dating service. Jeannette is writing a book on the two, and over dinner learns that Hart also has an interest in the two composers. They become friends and he helps her translate letters and diary entries.
I found both love stories compelling, though I didn't necessarily understand them. I felt like I was trying to understand Jeannette and Hart's relationship, just as Jeannette was trying to understand Clara and Brahms'. In both relationships, the couple starts out intending only for a friendship over a shared passion - in Brahms and Clara's case, the piano; Jeannette and Hart both have an interest in Brahms and Clara's story and in their music. As time goes on, they become closer and deal the age-old question of whether or not men and women can ever be friends.
Ansay includes pictures of Schumann and Brahms and excerpts from those letters and diaries in her novel, which I liked. Aside from giving the reader a little of the history, it made Jeannette's research feel more real and more authentic.
There are a couple of sections where the conversation between Hart and Jeannette is put on the left and right side of the page, respectively, so that the reader can see where interruptions occur (and frequently are ignored). At first, I thought there was something wrong with my book and found it a little distracting. However, it was kind of interesting to read a conversation like that; it felt a bit more real.
One thing that I really liked is the title of the book. It's taken from a letter that Brahms wrote to Schumann, and it's so bittersweet - this longing and wishing for intimacy and closeness, while knowing that it's futile. Also, being an English nerd, I get a kick out of metafictional things; I enjoyed the fact that the narrator is writing the novel that the reader is reading.
Overall, I would recommend this. It's a quick, interesting and thought-provoking read.
This book weaves in the love story of Clara Schumann and Johannes Brahms with that of the narrator, Jeanette, and a German man, Hart, that she meets through a dating service. Jeannette is writing a book on the two, and over dinner learns that Hart also has an interest in the two composers. They become friends and he helps her translate letters and diary entries.
I found both love stories compelling, though I didn't necessarily understand them. I felt like I was trying to understand Jeannette and Hart's relationship, just as Jeannette was trying to understand Clara and Brahms'. In both relationships, the couple starts out intending only for a friendship over a shared passion - in Brahms and Clara's case, the piano; Jeannette and Hart both have an interest in Brahms and Clara's story and in their music. As time goes on, they become closer and deal the age-old question of whether or not men and women can ever be friends.
Ansay includes pictures of Schumann and Brahms and excerpts from those letters and diaries in her novel, which I liked. Aside from giving the reader a little of the history, it made Jeannette's research feel more real and more authentic.
There are a couple of sections where the conversation between Hart and Jeannette is put on the left and right side of the page, respectively, so that the reader can see where interruptions occur (and frequently are ignored). At first, I thought there was something wrong with my book and found it a little distracting. However, it was kind of interesting to read a conversation like that; it felt a bit more real.
One thing that I really liked is the title of the book. It's taken from a letter that Brahms wrote to Schumann, and it's so bittersweet - this longing and wishing for intimacy and closeness, while knowing that it's futile. Also, being an English nerd, I get a kick out of metafictional things; I enjoyed the fact that the narrator is writing the novel that the reader is reading.
Overall, I would recommend this. It's a quick, interesting and thought-provoking read.
June 30, 2010
From My Blog...
Is it possible for men and women to be just friends and in the same vein how does one define art? Two seemingly arbitrary questions are proven to be inter-related in Good Things I Wish You by A. Manette Ansay through her use of relationships both historical and contemporary. These questions and many more are covered in this novel, rich in lyrical prose, charming characters with similar lives centuries apart. Jeanette is recently divorced and misses her husband Carl. When not at the University, spending her time with her daughter or playing piano, Jeanette is working on her book about the 40-year relationship between Clara Schumann and her husband’s protégé Johannes Brahms. As Jeanette begins her story, she is waiting for her date to appear. Reinhardt Hempel, a scientist from Leipzig, the birthplace of Clara, intrigues her and is the first man she has dated in nineteen years. Ansay writes in a beautiful and lyrical manner, alternating from her childhood as a piano student, to present, and back to the 1850s with Clara and Robert Schumann and his protégé, Johannes Brahms. As the stories unfold one becomes involved in two affairs, the present with Jeanette and Reinhardt and the past between Clara, Robert and ultimately Johannes. There are similarities in the two parallel relationships and even though this is a work of fiction one gets a glimpse at the complex relationship between the Schumanns and Brahms through letters and photos Ansey weaves into the story. Good Things I Wish You is a beautiful, tender, and wonderful read and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a delightful book to read in an afternoon.
Is it possible for men and women to be just friends and in the same vein how does one define art? Two seemingly arbitrary questions are proven to be inter-related in Good Things I Wish You by A. Manette Ansay through her use of relationships both historical and contemporary. These questions and many more are covered in this novel, rich in lyrical prose, charming characters with similar lives centuries apart. Jeanette is recently divorced and misses her husband Carl. When not at the University, spending her time with her daughter or playing piano, Jeanette is working on her book about the 40-year relationship between Clara Schumann and her husband’s protégé Johannes Brahms. As Jeanette begins her story, she is waiting for her date to appear. Reinhardt Hempel, a scientist from Leipzig, the birthplace of Clara, intrigues her and is the first man she has dated in nineteen years. Ansay writes in a beautiful and lyrical manner, alternating from her childhood as a piano student, to present, and back to the 1850s with Clara and Robert Schumann and his protégé, Johannes Brahms. As the stories unfold one becomes involved in two affairs, the present with Jeanette and Reinhardt and the past between Clara, Robert and ultimately Johannes. There are similarities in the two parallel relationships and even though this is a work of fiction one gets a glimpse at the complex relationship between the Schumanns and Brahms through letters and photos Ansey weaves into the story. Good Things I Wish You is a beautiful, tender, and wonderful read and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a delightful book to read in an afternoon.
October 5, 2012
I picked up this book because I am reading through my public library's fiction shelf alphabetically. This was a great find. I started it at 3:45 p.m on a Thursday and finished it before 8 p.m. -- and that was around me making dinner for my family and settling them all down for the night. It was a FAST read but it was not frothy, like a lot of fast reads are.
This book addresses the age old question "can women and men be friends" using the relationship of Clara Schumann and Johannes Brahms as the context around the romance that develops between the POV character, Jeannette, and her new romantic interest, Hart. The prose was absolutely beautiful and I loved the way that the author expressed her own observations of pain and longing, of dissatisfaction and desire and her own realities of facing life as a divorced mother. I wasn't too sure about Hart. I didn't like him. I thought he was too smug and aloof and I thought that this book might go into a controlling plot. It didn't.
Where it did go, was into discussion, and I always like dialogue between men and women, about what they want. The truth is, this couple, not unlike Clara and Johannes, want their first loves to stay, perhaps like it was in the beginning. The word "significance" was tossed around and I think, through the author's not-so-subtle attack on organized religion, that the author may believe that at times too much of our significance is fully wrapped up in our romantic relationships. This book does ask if we can be satisfied with ourselves in our work outside of people using Clara Schumann as an example, but I think that the main theme, while beautifully written, was that we owe it to ourselves to be selfish. Hart struck me as selfish, and I wanted him to redeem himself more. He was not a romantic hero, just a lost, rich, attractive man who didn't really love Jeannette, he was just tired of sleeping alone. Jeannette was like him, I thought, just more devoted to her child. She also struck me as hungry for reassurance by something outside of herself that she was valued, that she was significant. Hart could not give that to her.
I give this book 4 stars for the artisitic ways it asks these hard questions, for the inventive dialogue, for the historical context and research, for the fact that the author took such a heavy subject and wrote so economically that I could read it in one day and for the craftsmanship of the prose. Had the endings and philosophical conclusions aligned more clearly to my own believes -- that there is beauty and hope in self-sacrifice-- then maybe I would have given it five. Maybe.
This book addresses the age old question "can women and men be friends" using the relationship of Clara Schumann and Johannes Brahms as the context around the romance that develops between the POV character, Jeannette, and her new romantic interest, Hart. The prose was absolutely beautiful and I loved the way that the author expressed her own observations of pain and longing, of dissatisfaction and desire and her own realities of facing life as a divorced mother. I wasn't too sure about Hart. I didn't like him. I thought he was too smug and aloof and I thought that this book might go into a controlling plot. It didn't.
Where it did go, was into discussion, and I always like dialogue between men and women, about what they want. The truth is, this couple, not unlike Clara and Johannes, want their first loves to stay, perhaps like it was in the beginning. The word "significance" was tossed around and I think, through the author's not-so-subtle attack on organized religion, that the author may believe that at times too much of our significance is fully wrapped up in our romantic relationships. This book does ask if we can be satisfied with ourselves in our work outside of people using Clara Schumann as an example, but I think that the main theme, while beautifully written, was that we owe it to ourselves to be selfish. Hart struck me as selfish, and I wanted him to redeem himself more. He was not a romantic hero, just a lost, rich, attractive man who didn't really love Jeannette, he was just tired of sleeping alone. Jeannette was like him, I thought, just more devoted to her child. She also struck me as hungry for reassurance by something outside of herself that she was valued, that she was significant. Hart could not give that to her.
I give this book 4 stars for the artisitic ways it asks these hard questions, for the inventive dialogue, for the historical context and research, for the fact that the author took such a heavy subject and wrote so economically that I could read it in one day and for the craftsmanship of the prose. Had the endings and philosophical conclusions aligned more clearly to my own believes -- that there is beauty and hope in self-sacrifice-- then maybe I would have given it five. Maybe.
July 7, 2009
Recently divorced Jeanette is trying to figure out how to juggle her book, her child, and suddenly being part of the "dating game" again. Especially the latter isn't going too well, until she meets German-born Hart. Although they both agree that the chemistry isn't there, they still feel some strange attraction, brought on - in part - by their mutual fascination by music.
As luck would have it, Jeanette's book is a fictionalized account of the lives of a German composer-trio, and she happily enlists Hart's assistance in translating letters and journal entries for her. Describing the friendship that grew between Clara Schumann and Johannes Brahms during and after Robert Schumann's sickness and death, Jeanette is convinced the friendship was completely appropriate, and that any love between the two was purely platonic or even that of a mother and a son. Hart scoffs at this. "A man and a woman can never just be friends," he claims, and as if following his command, circumstances set out to attempt to prove him right.
Good Things I Wish You is a pleasant book and a quick read, but it is as if it can’t really decide whether it wants to be a novel or a biography, so it twists and turns, and ends up becoming a bit of both. If I had any prior knowledge, or any personal interest in the lives of Clara and Johannes I think I would have absolutely adored this fictionalized account of their lives. As I don’t have either, I couldn’t help but feel that I was missing out on something, although it shows the quality of A. Manette Ansay’s writing that I still enjoyed the book, and wasn’t bored by the historical details. Instead I was charmed by the characters, and especially by the discovery of a book within the book.
As luck would have it, Jeanette's book is a fictionalized account of the lives of a German composer-trio, and she happily enlists Hart's assistance in translating letters and journal entries for her. Describing the friendship that grew between Clara Schumann and Johannes Brahms during and after Robert Schumann's sickness and death, Jeanette is convinced the friendship was completely appropriate, and that any love between the two was purely platonic or even that of a mother and a son. Hart scoffs at this. "A man and a woman can never just be friends," he claims, and as if following his command, circumstances set out to attempt to prove him right.
Good Things I Wish You is a pleasant book and a quick read, but it is as if it can’t really decide whether it wants to be a novel or a biography, so it twists and turns, and ends up becoming a bit of both. If I had any prior knowledge, or any personal interest in the lives of Clara and Johannes I think I would have absolutely adored this fictionalized account of their lives. As I don’t have either, I couldn’t help but feel that I was missing out on something, although it shows the quality of A. Manette Ansay’s writing that I still enjoyed the book, and wasn’t bored by the historical details. Instead I was charmed by the characters, and especially by the discovery of a book within the book.
July 12, 2015
There were moments when I was sure this book would merit a four star rating. Sometimes the luminous words from the correspondence between Clara Schumann and Johannes Brahms, best friends, musical prodigies and collaborators, combined with the scenes the author sets between Clara, her husband (the great composer Robert Schumann) and their close friend Brahms form such a lush sensory impression. The subplot, the story of a writer researching the relationship between Clara and Johannes and trying to determine if it was romantic or just an incredible closeness between two soul mates/best friends, is less mesmerizing, and her new love interest is not so likable.She travels to Germany to research the three Romantic era composers, and on her trip becomes involved with a mysterious doctor who offers to translate the Schumann/Brahms letters and other sources for her book. It is hard to say why the two pianists/composers did not marry or form some sort of union after the death of Robert Schumann, Clara's gifted but tormented composer husband. They were certainly expressive of a great love for each other, and supported each other's musical careers while both of them cared for Robert during his years of composing, mental illness, a suicide attempt, and voluntary commitment to a mental institution.Brahms stayed with the Schumann children when Clara would tour as an acclaimed concert pianist. Yet after her husband's death, Brahms seemed to have grown cool and detached to Clara, and moved on with his life instead of what seemed like an inevitable marriage and happy ending together. The world may never know what really happened between them. This book, above all, is an intriguing exploration of three fine and complicated souls immortalized by their music.
January 10, 2012
From My blog...[return][return]Is it possible for men and women to be just friends and in the same vein how does one define art? Two seemingly arbitrary questions are proven to be inter-related in Good Things I Wish You by A. Manette Ansay through her use of relationships both historical and contemporary. These questions and many more are covered in this novel, rich in lyrical prose, charming characters with similar lives centuries apart. Jeanette is recently divorced and misses her husband Carl. When not at the University, spending her time with her daughter or playing piano, Jeanette is working on her book about the 40-year relationship between Clara Schumann and her husband’s protégé Johannes Brahms. As Jeanette begins her story, she is waiting for her date to appear. Reinhardt Hempel, a scientist from Leipzig, the birthplace of Clara, intrigues her and is the first man she has dated in nineteen years. Ansay writes in a beautiful and lyrical manner, alternating from her childhood as a piano student, to present, and back to the 1850s with Clara and Robert Schumann and his protégé, Johannes Brahms. As the stories unfold one becomes involved in two affairs, the present with Jeanette and Reinhardt and the past between Clara, Robert and ultimately Johannes. There are similarities in the two parallel relationships and even though this is a work of fiction one gets a glimpse at the complex relationship between the Schumanns and Brahms through letters and photos Ansey weaves into the story. Good Things I Wish You is a beautiful, tender, and wonderful read and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a delightful book to read in an afternoon.
November 15, 2009
Ansay seems to have initially intended to write a fictionalized treatment of the much studied and wondered about set of relationships between three important figures in 19th century classical music, Clara and Robert Schumann and Johannes Brahms. Particularly, the very close relationship between Clara and Brahms (were they lovers or not?) seems rich in possibility for a historical novel, raising issues of desire, madness, ambition, and genius.
The story of the Schumanns and Brahms is told close to the established historical record at first, complete with references to Ansay's research sources. This is done just fine, and when Ansay later extends the story with her imaginings of scenes that occurred between them, the story really works quite well.
Unfortunately Ansay chose to combine that story with the story of a modern day novelist and professor of literature who is researching a historical novel about the Schumanns and Brahms while having her own relationship of uncertain intentions with a German man. This apparent indulging of authorial ego weakens the book, inserting a pale shadow of the Clara/Johannes relationship that does not have the space to be fleshed out satisfactorily.
The story of the Schumanns and Brahms is told close to the established historical record at first, complete with references to Ansay's research sources. This is done just fine, and when Ansay later extends the story with her imaginings of scenes that occurred between them, the story really works quite well.
Unfortunately Ansay chose to combine that story with the story of a modern day novelist and professor of literature who is researching a historical novel about the Schumanns and Brahms while having her own relationship of uncertain intentions with a German man. This apparent indulging of authorial ego weakens the book, inserting a pale shadow of the Clara/Johannes relationship that does not have the space to be fleshed out satisfactorily.
December 5, 2013
An engaging look at two relationships, one historical, the other contemporary. It asks and examines the question "Can men and women be friends?" through the lens of the the relationship between Clara Schumann and Brahms. This book was interesting - it certainly took chances, as we read about an author in an modern day relationship writing the book we are reading. Ansay also formatted dialogue in a way I hadn't seen done before. It kind of annoyed me, but it was new and daring, and I can admire that.
The plot moved along nicely, and I couldn't seem to put it down. However, for me, something was missing. I know that's not helpful, but I couldn't help wishing for more "meat". Even though the question seemed to be about friendships, we don't actually SEE the main character pursuing or attempting to maintain any true friendships with men. It seems to be a one-sided examination of the issue, to me, that maybe, in the end just shrugs its shoulders and says that maybe the question doesn't really matter all that much.
The plot moved along nicely, and I couldn't seem to put it down. However, for me, something was missing. I know that's not helpful, but I couldn't help wishing for more "meat". Even though the question seemed to be about friendships, we don't actually SEE the main character pursuing or attempting to maintain any true friendships with men. It seems to be a one-sided examination of the issue, to me, that maybe, in the end just shrugs its shoulders and says that maybe the question doesn't really matter all that much.
October 3, 2009
To be fair,
I love A. Manette. I have read everything she's ever written, and I own most of it. I have her books ranked in my head, and one is in my top ten books ever.
This one falls in the experiment category. I really like it when authors break their usual molds. I want them too. There is nothing I hate like reading the same book over and over with different characters (hello, Mary Higgins Clark, I am talking to you).
The experiment mostly works. The central idea, that desire is much more powerful than achievement or gain is unique. I haven't seen this explored much. I am also not an expert in the Brahms/Schumann connection. I liked how she chose to narrate this, and I like what's left up in the air because to resolve it neatly would ruin the book. I also liked the photo collages, and how this line of text added to the story.
The modern character works for me, but I was less sure of her guy, Hart.
I'd recommend the book generally, though ;)
I love A. Manette. I have read everything she's ever written, and I own most of it. I have her books ranked in my head, and one is in my top ten books ever.
This one falls in the experiment category. I really like it when authors break their usual molds. I want them too. There is nothing I hate like reading the same book over and over with different characters (hello, Mary Higgins Clark, I am talking to you).
The experiment mostly works. The central idea, that desire is much more powerful than achievement or gain is unique. I haven't seen this explored much. I am also not an expert in the Brahms/Schumann connection. I liked how she chose to narrate this, and I like what's left up in the air because to resolve it neatly would ruin the book. I also liked the photo collages, and how this line of text added to the story.
The modern character works for me, but I was less sure of her guy, Hart.
I'd recommend the book generally, though ;)
August 19, 2013
"I wish I could write you as tenderly as I love you and tell you all the good things that I wish you"
I loved this beautifully written book about love, music, and relationships.
A recently divorced writer, Jeanette is trying to write a book about the relationship between the famous musical couple, the Schumann's and their friend genius pianist Johanns Brahms. While writing, she is set up with Hart, a mysterious German millionaire who may have things in his past that he wishes to hide, and who doesn't believe that men and women can ever be just friends.
I love how Brahms relationship with Clara Schumann was juxtaposed against the modern relationship of Jeannette and Hart. This book was touching and sweet..... and very beautifully written.
I loved this beautifully written book about love, music, and relationships.
A recently divorced writer, Jeanette is trying to write a book about the relationship between the famous musical couple, the Schumann's and their friend genius pianist Johanns Brahms. While writing, she is set up with Hart, a mysterious German millionaire who may have things in his past that he wishes to hide, and who doesn't believe that men and women can ever be just friends.
I love how Brahms relationship with Clara Schumann was juxtaposed against the modern relationship of Jeannette and Hart. This book was touching and sweet..... and very beautifully written.
July 30, 2009
This plot was right up my alley, but I don't know, I thought it was badly done. The heroine = unlikable. The new boyfriend = really, really unlikable. I even hated his little kid. And the book is chock-full of pictures that don't appear to go with the ensuing chapters, like a photo marked "2006" as an intro to a chapter about how Clara Schumann visits her husband's grave more than 100 years before. Hated it.
April 9, 2013
Due to the poor ratings and negative reviews I wasn't expecting much, but this book was such a pleasant surprise!
Manette Ansay is brilliant at depicting that roller coaster emotional ride that a relationship between scarred middle aged people would inevitably be. The very intriguing story of Brahms and the Schumanns was masterfully interwoven with the contemporary story.
Manette Ansay is brilliant at depicting that roller coaster emotional ride that a relationship between scarred middle aged people would inevitably be. The very intriguing story of Brahms and the Schumanns was masterfully interwoven with the contemporary story.
January 21, 2024
Jeanette and Hart’s story becomes more and more boring the more you read. This book dives into the question of whether men and women can just be friends. There are parallels between Jeanette's own love life and Clara Schumann and Johannes Brahm's relationship. As Robert Schumann’s young protégé, Clara has to walk a fine line between her love for Johannes and her responsibilities as a wife to Schumann (albeit him going insane and quite literally stopping her from pursuing her piano career). It is unclear whether the two ever acted on their feelings, but Brahm’s letter to Clara, noting “I wish I could write to you as tenderly as I love you and tell you all the good things I wish you” makes it all clear - even if the two never acted upon their feelings, they were lovers at heart.
As for Jeanette’s love life, it leads back to the question of whether love is explicable in the first place. Jeanette self-sabotages while Hart takes a cold approach to their relationship. I won’t go much into detail because the most interesting takes during her perspective is just her investigating Clara Schumann’s relationship. Jeanette simply ends up going back to the father of her child, exhibiting the parallel between her love life and that of Clara’s - sometimes, love is held back by the realities of life.
As for Jeanette’s love life, it leads back to the question of whether love is explicable in the first place. Jeanette self-sabotages while Hart takes a cold approach to their relationship. I won’t go much into detail because the most interesting takes during her perspective is just her investigating Clara Schumann’s relationship. Jeanette simply ends up going back to the father of her child, exhibiting the parallel between her love life and that of Clara’s - sometimes, love is held back by the realities of life.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 2, 2023
Another double story which takes place in the past and the present. I didn’t know much about Clara Schumann, the pianist and composer, so that was interesting. I preferred the present day story about 2 divorced people finding each other and trying to decide if their relationship will work out.
January 5, 2011
I think I feel so irritated, so set up......because the premise of this novel (novella?) is so good. The story is interwoven between an account of the much written about life long passion or soulmate-ness of Clara Schulman and Johannes Brahmes, with a contemporary writer who is researching this and her companion. Sound familiar? Just reading the jacket blurb had me racing to the check out desk, with visions of "Possession" dancing in my head. No way. The alternating sections about Schulman/Brahmes reads like a wikiapedia entry, petering out to just passages from their letters to each other, no imaginative re-creation, bringing to life, etc. I thought that's what historical fiction is supposed to be about. The main character, the contemporary writer, is banal and superficial. The new love interest so contrived, it's difficult to imagine how this got published.
January 1, 2010
I picked this up in the new books display in the library and gave it a fair go. I've never read anything by Ansay before, hadn't heard of her either, but it looked interesting.
Overall, I was really disappointed. Most of the book read okay, although it certainly was not insightful or all that interesting. The parts about Schumann and Brahms felt like a bad freshman Intro English biography assignment.
Overall, I was really disappointed. Most of the book read okay, although it certainly was not insightful or all that interesting. The parts about Schumann and Brahms felt like a bad freshman Intro English biography assignment.
September 30, 2010
As it turns out, USF has two claims to fame in the former student arena: the guy who invented the game whack-a-mole and A. Manette Ansay, the latter of whom I recently met and who gave an absolutely lovely reading from this book.
--------
Enjoyable, but I wish that the two narratives (Clara/Robert Schumann Jeanette-the-present-day-narrator/Hart-the-love-interest) had been explicitly intertwined from the beginning rather than tacked together at the very end.
--------
Enjoyable, but I wish that the two narratives (Clara/Robert Schumann Jeanette-the-present-day-narrator/Hart-the-love-interest) had been explicitly intertwined from the beginning rather than tacked together at the very end.
December 22, 2014
My book club read and discussed: nobody loved it, but we liked the unusual format including the photo collages. "Metafiction", a book about the process of writing a book, was a new one for us. We liked learning about the big musical mystery - did Clara Schumann and Johannes Brahms consummate their love affair after the death of Clara's husband Robert?? No one liked the contemporary characters who provided a counterpoint to the question, "Can a man and a woman be just friends?"
March 9, 2017
This is the last A. Manette Ansay book as I have read all her books. I love her writing and this book was no exception. The switching from a historical romance to a modern day one added great interest. I also enjoyed the history of Clara Schumann a pianist, her husband composer Robert Schumann, and Johannes Brahms a story of love and music! It may be a hard book to find but will worth the search!
August 5, 2018
A thoroughly enjoyable read; fascinating background on Johannes Brahms’ complicated lifelong relationship with Robert and Clara Schumann and their family, wrapped in a contemporary woman’s search for her own direction and passionate creativity. I plan to spend the next few weeks at the piano with the music of these interesting composers who were bound together by their undeniable passion for music.
December 15, 2016
Jeanette is writing the story of Clara Schumann and Johannes Brahms. She is going through a painful divorce and has met a man, Hart, who has gone through much pain in his personal life as well. I thoroughly loved this book. The detail to real history and the pitfalls and emotions that go along with any relationship between men and women.
July 10, 2014
In this novel, Jeanette faces several challenges as she attempts to write a story about the relationship between Clara Schumann and Johannes Brahms. The chapters alternate between each woman's story. The chapters about Schumann and Brahms are interesting, but Jeanette's story is tedious.
October 10, 2018
What a fascinating interweaving of a contemporary story and a historical one... mostly true. The concepts of love, relationships, and family. It wove time simple with the complicated to show how both are as much the first as the latter.
November 9, 2018
Beautifully written. Looking forward to read more of her.
July 30, 2025
"Ugly landscape. Ugly words. I was tired of this. Tired of him."
- "Good Things I Wish You", Page 173
This quote could sum up a lot how I felt about this book.
When I bought this book at a book sale years ago, I was IMMEDIATELY sold on the premise, as the description on the back promised a unique blending of past and present relationships, a possible newfound romance after a divorce, and a romantic tour to relevant historical places in Germany and Switzerland. Great, sounded like a good summer romance to read this time of year; I was ready to go! When I finally decided to read it, however...what the back of the book teased what not what I got.
I'll admit, I was initially going to be generous and give this 3 stars on the premise alone, despite it starting out a bit slow. I thought perhaps the pace would pick up over time, and the story would become more engaging.
But as I read on...3 stars became 2...and 2 became 1.
I don't think I have EVER read a book that was so cynical and hopeless in its views of life, friendships, and love.
Some key points from my notes:
- The story itself felt both fast and slow at the same time. How it managed to accomplish that feeling, I'll never know. Then it came to me: the content of the story was shallow and the writing was choppy; the two narratives did not blend well together. It was a bit boring and confusing as well at times. Maybe Ansay's style of writing has an audience somewhere, but do not count me among them, I genuinely did not like it.
- Speaking of the historical narrative, it was INFINITELY more interesting than the modern day story line; it really made me wish the author had just focused on that, as opposed to try and shoehorn in a contemporary plot line that, in the end, did not parallel Clara's and Johannes' story very well. It felt contrived and unnatural; like the author desperately wanted to come up with a modern day equivalent to Clara's and Johannes' story but it just fell flat.
- This book also should not have been marketed as a romance as there was no romance to be found here. Both of the characters were unlikable, but Hart especially infuriated me. Jaded, overly-critical, and throwing mixed signals at Jeanette, I was begging her to break ties with him, especially after he had the audacity to ask her to marry him despite making it pretty clear he had no love for her. I didn't even pick up much of a "connection" between them, otherwise, despite being told they supposedly had one. How she developed feelings for him I still don't understand.
Whereas with the last book I finished before this one, I burned through it in two days because I was genuinely invested in the plot and literally could not put the book down, this book I brute-forced through in three days because I just wanted the story to be over already. Even then, it left me feeling disgusted, depressed, and disappointed - especially with that sudden ending. It was really not worth it.
If I had to pull ONE good thing from my godawful experience in reading this book, it's that it's made me more determined to not become a bitter and jaded person once I hit my forties. THAT, I can at least be grateful for.
But good gravy, I wish I had DNF'd this book.
- "Good Things I Wish You", Page 173
This quote could sum up a lot how I felt about this book.
When I bought this book at a book sale years ago, I was IMMEDIATELY sold on the premise, as the description on the back promised a unique blending of past and present relationships, a possible newfound romance after a divorce, and a romantic tour to relevant historical places in Germany and Switzerland. Great, sounded like a good summer romance to read this time of year; I was ready to go! When I finally decided to read it, however...what the back of the book teased what not what I got.
I'll admit, I was initially going to be generous and give this 3 stars on the premise alone, despite it starting out a bit slow. I thought perhaps the pace would pick up over time, and the story would become more engaging.
But as I read on...3 stars became 2...and 2 became 1.
I don't think I have EVER read a book that was so cynical and hopeless in its views of life, friendships, and love.
Some key points from my notes:
- The story itself felt both fast and slow at the same time. How it managed to accomplish that feeling, I'll never know. Then it came to me: the content of the story was shallow and the writing was choppy; the two narratives did not blend well together. It was a bit boring and confusing as well at times. Maybe Ansay's style of writing has an audience somewhere, but do not count me among them, I genuinely did not like it.
- Speaking of the historical narrative, it was INFINITELY more interesting than the modern day story line; it really made me wish the author had just focused on that, as opposed to try and shoehorn in a contemporary plot line that, in the end, did not parallel Clara's and Johannes' story very well. It felt contrived and unnatural; like the author desperately wanted to come up with a modern day equivalent to Clara's and Johannes' story but it just fell flat.
- This book also should not have been marketed as a romance as there was no romance to be found here. Both of the characters were unlikable, but Hart especially infuriated me. Jaded, overly-critical, and throwing mixed signals at Jeanette, I was begging her to break ties with him, especially after he had the audacity to ask her to marry him despite making it pretty clear he had no love for her. I didn't even pick up much of a "connection" between them, otherwise, despite being told they supposedly had one. How she developed feelings for him I still don't understand.
Whereas with the last book I finished before this one, I burned through it in two days because I was genuinely invested in the plot and literally could not put the book down, this book I brute-forced through in three days because I just wanted the story to be over already. Even then, it left me feeling disgusted, depressed, and disappointed - especially with that sudden ending. It was really not worth it.
If I had to pull ONE good thing from my godawful experience in reading this book, it's that it's made me more determined to not become a bitter and jaded person once I hit my forties. THAT, I can at least be grateful for.
But good gravy, I wish I had DNF'd this book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 18, 2023
I loved the experimental collage format of this book which included written excerpts from letters (1856-1889) between Robert Schumann, Clara Schumann and Johannes Brahms, all world renowned musical prodigies and composers, along with photos of them, their homes and lives. It has always been thought, based on their letters but never proven, that Clara and Johannes had a love affair that began either at the time Robert was admitted to a mental institution, or shortly after when he died. However, they never married, and though they continued to work together and Johannes remained close to the Schumann children as they grew up, both insisted that the relationship was based on friendship mutual respect for their musical talents.
Ansay also develops a side by side narrative of a modern day writer who is researching and writing a book about Clara and Johannes, and as she gets through a divorce and tries to create a new life for herself, she meets a man who is also interested in the music of Schumann and Brahms and they begin an affair where they spend a great deal of time returning to the relationship of Clara and Johannes, discussing how/if/under what circumstances can men and women can be friends and whether desire and longing are outside of human control and if the musical/creative connection made it possible for them to maintain their long friendship when most men and women do not seem to be able to be friends at all.
I enjoyed the history as well as the modern day perceptions on love and relationships. It was a perfect long afternoon read.
Ansay also develops a side by side narrative of a modern day writer who is researching and writing a book about Clara and Johannes, and as she gets through a divorce and tries to create a new life for herself, she meets a man who is also interested in the music of Schumann and Brahms and they begin an affair where they spend a great deal of time returning to the relationship of Clara and Johannes, discussing how/if/under what circumstances can men and women can be friends and whether desire and longing are outside of human control and if the musical/creative connection made it possible for them to maintain their long friendship when most men and women do not seem to be able to be friends at all.
I enjoyed the history as well as the modern day perceptions on love and relationships. It was a perfect long afternoon read.
December 29, 2019
This is a quick and thought-provoking read. As a musician, I was particularly interested in the portions about Clara Schumann and Johannes Brahms. I enjoyed the layout, each chapter interspersed with excerpts from their letters, and, in the second half, the two-column conversations between Jeanette and Hart.
So why three stars? It seemed... Too light, too quick, too shallow, and a bit too cliche. A nice story, but it all moved so quickly that it was hard to really feel like you knew any of the characters.
It was okay. And it certainly has inspired me to read more about Clara.
So why three stars? It seemed... Too light, too quick, too shallow, and a bit too cliche. A nice story, but it all moved so quickly that it was hard to really feel like you knew any of the characters.
It was okay. And it certainly has inspired me to read more about Clara.
October 26, 2021
I really liked this story about Jeanette, an author who is writing about the questionable love triangle of Robert and Clara Schumann and Johannes Brahms. At the same time she is questioning her own relationships with divorced husband Carl and a new interest, Hart. While trying to uncover the historical lives of the three musicians, I found my own thoughts about how many creative artists have difficulty understanding their passions. What is more important, love, or the passion for their creative genius? It proved to be a complicated mix.
May 26, 2017
Terrible book. The narrative is constantly broken by in text footnotes. The breaking adds nothing to the story itself. The story is not well written. The current day and the past don't mirror each other in any meaningful way. These devices are difficult for excellent writers, in the hands of Ansay the are destructive rather than constructive. Could not recommend this book to anyone.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 153 reviews