Madame Claire

by Susan Ertz

1923. Susan Ertz, American short story writer and novelist begins Madame Claire: If you wish to be relieved form the worries of housekeeping; if you wish to cultivate the society of retired army folk, or that of blameless spinsterhood, ask for a room (inclusive terms) at the Kensington Park Hotel, Kensington. It is unprogressive, it is Early Victorian-though of late that term has lost some of its reproach-but it is eminently safe and respectable.

Genres: Fiction

342 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1924

About the author

British fiction writer and novelist known for her "sentimental tales of genteel life in the country." She was born in England to American parents and moved back and forth between both countries during her childhood. At 18, she chose to live in the UK. In 1932 she married British Army officer Major John Ronald McCrindle, British barrister.

One of her most highly praised books was The Porcelain, the story of a London woman who marries a Mormon missionary and moves with him to Utah.
One of her later works, "In the Cool of the Day" was made into a movie in 1963 starring Jane Fonda, Peter Finch, and Angela Lansbury.

Reviews

[Megan Baxter · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very charming book. It didn't set my life on fire, but it was one of those entertaining reads with endearing characters and happy endings that are just what the doctor ordered, sometimes.

Madame Claire, the eponymous character, is enjoying her 80s. She can finally step aside from the ebb and flow of the world and spend time with the children and grandchildren she likes, and avoid the child and grandchild she finds boring. (This is all done with great charm, although perhaps it should cause a little pause.)

Note: The rest of this review has been withheld due to the recent changes in Goodreads policy and enforcement. You can read why I came to this decision here.

In the meantime, you can read the entire review at Smorgasbook

[Alisha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set sometime after World War I. Madame Claire is around 80, and is the confidante and adviser of the younger generations. Whether it's her son who is unhappily married, her daughter who is just returning from a series of scandals and a ruined reputation, or her spinster granddaughter who can just barely imagine what kind of man she'd like to marry but hasn't found yet, Madame Claire observes all and does her best to set things straight, all the while exchanging letters with a lifelong gentleman friend who once proposed to her and is now living on the Riviera.

[Theresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

A light and easy read, with an enjoyable story of an extended family headed by its matriarch, 80-something Mme. Claire. Reminds me a bit of All Passion Spent, by Vita Sackville-West.

[Emily-Jane Orford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Madame Claire's philosophy about life is to just live it. And she does, with great care and with great dignity and a lot of love, love of family and friends. This is a delightful story, mostly told through Madame Claire's point of view. What I find especially endearing are the lengthy, newsy letters, so 1920-ish, that help tell the story. Gone are the days of the story-letter, sadly. Madame Claire certainly has mastered the art of great story-telling through her letters. This book is definitely a classic, written in the uncomplicated style of the 1920s. Highly recommended by Emily-Jane Hills Orford, award-winning author of "The Whistling Bishop".

[Andy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was really rather delightful. If you threw Nancy, Mitford, Vita Sackville-West’s All passion spent, and possibly a little bit of Elizabeth von Arnim into a cauldron and mixed them up, you might come out with Susan Ertz’s Madame Claire.

It’s a very neat book, with a lovely range of characters, wistful wisdom, and insights galore (so many in fact that I guessed it was a first novel).

Even though you’ve never heard of this book, I think you’d really enjoy it.

[Louise Culmer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lady Gregory - known as ‘Madame Claire’ to her grandchildren, is a Widow and lives in a hotel in London when she is not at her little house in Sussex. She takes an interest in the lives of her children and grandchildren, and writes to her old friend Stephen, who still nurses a hopeless passion for her, and lives in France. She helps to sort out the various problems that her descendent have, and everything turns out to be quite satisfactory in the end. It is a mildly interesting story, though there are no outstanding characters. I do wonder why Penguin Books chose this pleasant but quite bland volume for one of their first ten publications.

[Eevi · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed the story. Pretty much a light romance with some interesting characters. Showed how one little thing can affect lives.

[Mbuye · Rating 4 out of 5]

Published in 1923, ‘Madame Claire’ is a charming, beguilingly romantic novel that explores the idea of love at different ages, different generations and different temperaments even within one family. It also examines the psychological and physical effects of a war that ended five years previously - unemployment for the uninjured, unemployability for the maimed, change of minds and hearts towards the gung-ho foolhardiness of a political war, and the poverty that invariably is an outcome of war.

Despite all this in the background, the characters of Madame Claire, a near octogenarian, and her sons and daughters remain pleasantly in your mind long after the book is closed.

Much of the action is off-stage, since Madame Claire herself is nearly eighty, but it is recounted in letters - and such letters! Just imagine receiving this one:

“ How is the phlebitis? No one ought to suffer from something that has such a pretty name. Did you ever stop to think that the names of diseases and the names of flowers are very similar? For instance, I might say, ‘Do come and see my garden. It is at its best now, and the double pneumonias are really wonderful. I suppose the mild winter had something to do with that. I’m very proud of my trailing phlebitis, too, and the laryngitises and deep purple quinzies I put in last year are a joy to behold. The bed of asthmas and malarias that you used to admire are finer than ever this summer, and the dear little dropsies are all in bloom down by the lake, and make such a pretty showing with the blue of the anthrax border behind them!’ ”

A great, unsentimental romance, one to enjoy and laugh over.

[Kaz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Number 4 in the penguin classics, really enjoyed this. Such a different pace to other books I've read recently.

[Phil Barker · Rating 3 out of 5]

love lives of the rich and privileged ca. 1920.