_emilialou's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
katmackie's review against another edition
3.0
Claire de Lune: A Novel by Jetta Carleton caught my attention with it's header: "A newly discovered Novel" which took me a second to process. It was found after the author's death in 1999, much to the surprise of everyone who thought it had been lost to a tornado. I'm very happy I decided to give this surprisingly fast read a chance.
Claire De Lune is first and foremost, a classic coming-of-age tale. Set as the second world war approaches the United States, the story follows the female protagonist as she begins her teaching career with some hesitation. She soon starts a seminar in which she develops a close friendship with two of her male students. This is all I will disclose in terms of synopsis.
This is a story of growth and innocence lost, yet it doesn't breach the caustic realm that one may imagine when student/teacher relationships become unhealthy. And unlike other coming of age tales, the protagonist is old enough to be a teacher, but still young (especially considering the meaning of innocence relevant to the time in which it's depicted) and attempting to figure out what she wants. If you're looking for a tale of romance, this one does not revolve around it, though it is present. The romance itself is really what begins her journey into better understanding what she wants for herself.
I thoroughly enjoyed this story. Though I didn't particularly relate to the actual protagonist, I have felt her uncertainties myself. Carleton crafted an interesting journey with beautiful metaphors. If I could I would give it 3.5 stars instead of just 3. My reason for not giving it 4 stars? ... I did enjoy the novel very much, but I felt it was not as resolved as it could have been had Carleton known it was going to be published. It was still a work in progress when she died, so it had to be pieced together by others. This, I think, is what kept it from reaching it's full potential.
All in all, recommended. This would be an interesting one for book clubs as well.
Claire De Lune is first and foremost, a classic coming-of-age tale. Set as the second world war approaches the United States, the story follows the female protagonist as she begins her teaching career with some hesitation. She soon starts a seminar in which she develops a close friendship with two of her male students. This is all I will disclose in terms of synopsis.
This is a story of growth and innocence lost, yet it doesn't breach the caustic realm that one may imagine when student/teacher relationships become unhealthy. And unlike other coming of age tales, the protagonist is old enough to be a teacher, but still young (especially considering the meaning of innocence relevant to the time in which it's depicted) and attempting to figure out what she wants. If you're looking for a tale of romance, this one does not revolve around it, though it is present. The romance itself is really what begins her journey into better understanding what she wants for herself.
I thoroughly enjoyed this story. Though I didn't particularly relate to the actual protagonist, I have felt her uncertainties myself. Carleton crafted an interesting journey with beautiful metaphors. If I could I would give it 3.5 stars instead of just 3. My reason for not giving it 4 stars? ... I did enjoy the novel very much, but I felt it was not as resolved as it could have been had Carleton known it was going to be published. It was still a work in progress when she died, so it had to be pieced together by others. This, I think, is what kept it from reaching it's full potential.
All in all, recommended. This would be an interesting one for book clubs as well.
melloves2read's review against another edition
3.0
I thought Moonflower Vine (which I loved) was Jetta Carleton's only book so I was thrilled to find that a second book had recently been discovered. I enjoyed it and its look into the past but it wasn't nearly as well developed as her first one.
unabridgedchick's review against another edition
4.0
Bittersweet. That's the lingering taste of this book, rich and redolent, and when I finished, I kind of wanted to spend the rest of my Sunday in a Claire de Lune-stupor, rereading the lovely passages and wallowing in the satisfyingly sad/happy mood of the novel.
Hope, optimism, and innocence are themes of this book, along with passion, delight in literature, and the joy of finding kindred souls. Barbara Allen Liles -- called Allen -- becomes a teacher at a junior college in an unnamed town in southwestern Missouri. ("It is an orderly town, bred of the mines, nurtured by agriculture and some manufacture, a blend of Southern gentility and Western enterprise, firmly set in the conservatism of Middle America.", p3) A lonely young woman with aspirations of becoming a poet or novelist in Greenwich Village, Allen finds herself captivated, enamored of, and charmed by two of her students, George and Toby. Surrounded by the shadow of the war in Europe, Allen's constrained life as a teachers seems somewhat bearable with George and Toby in her life.
I really expected a basic love triangle with this story, but Carleton sets up something even more challenging to navigate through: male-female friendship and teacher-student relationships. In an era when women were held up to a different standard than men, Allen's actions are judged without interest or concern in her feelings or motivations. Her colleagues and acquaintances see and expect one thing from Allen, who has the mantle of 'teacher', and with that, some perception of power. It was fascinating, frustrating, and heartbreaking to read -- I so empathize and liked Allen -- and made even more nuanced by the fact that there isn't a clear and handy villain in all this.
I don't know if this is a historical novel; while set in 1941, I don't know when Carleton wrote this novel. It was recently discovered and published by Harper Perennial, and will include their P.S. section with interviews, 'insights', and more.
This is a skinny novel -- just about 300 pages -- and it can read fast or slow, depending on whether you have the patience to linger or (like me) rush through to the giddy, glorious, delicious end. I think fans of WWII novels will enjoy this not-quite-war novel, and anyone who enjoys a good heroine and ambiguous moral situations will find much to chew on in this book.
Hope, optimism, and innocence are themes of this book, along with passion, delight in literature, and the joy of finding kindred souls. Barbara Allen Liles -- called Allen -- becomes a teacher at a junior college in an unnamed town in southwestern Missouri. ("It is an orderly town, bred of the mines, nurtured by agriculture and some manufacture, a blend of Southern gentility and Western enterprise, firmly set in the conservatism of Middle America.", p3) A lonely young woman with aspirations of becoming a poet or novelist in Greenwich Village, Allen finds herself captivated, enamored of, and charmed by two of her students, George and Toby. Surrounded by the shadow of the war in Europe, Allen's constrained life as a teachers seems somewhat bearable with George and Toby in her life.
I really expected a basic love triangle with this story, but Carleton sets up something even more challenging to navigate through: male-female friendship and teacher-student relationships. In an era when women were held up to a different standard than men, Allen's actions are judged without interest or concern in her feelings or motivations. Her colleagues and acquaintances see and expect one thing from Allen, who has the mantle of 'teacher', and with that, some perception of power. It was fascinating, frustrating, and heartbreaking to read -- I so empathize and liked Allen -- and made even more nuanced by the fact that there isn't a clear and handy villain in all this.
I don't know if this is a historical novel; while set in 1941, I don't know when Carleton wrote this novel. It was recently discovered and published by Harper Perennial, and will include their P.S. section with interviews, 'insights', and more.
This is a skinny novel -- just about 300 pages -- and it can read fast or slow, depending on whether you have the patience to linger or (like me) rush through to the giddy, glorious, delicious end. I think fans of WWII novels will enjoy this not-quite-war novel, and anyone who enjoys a good heroine and ambiguous moral situations will find much to chew on in this book.
libbet's review against another edition
4.0
Interesting one. Apparently she was a Harper Lee type with one big publication until this was discovered long after she died.
katrinaburch's review against another edition
2.0
I'm not sure what to make of this book... the writing was good and while there sections that were really not needed, overall, it was fine. However, the story went nowhere! The "hook" of some mystery and something bad happening, just did not pan out. Not to mention, this to me was advertised as a historical fiction novel where WWII would play a central role. Its mentioned briefly in parts but in no way was it central to the book. Very disappointed in this book.
lindagreen's review against another edition
2.0
I love to sink my teeth into a good literary history novel but this one fell surprisingly short. I had high hopes for it but it seems that no one bothered to edit this. The bones of a quality read are all here – depth of characters, setting, descriptions- but the amount of extraneous information nearly buries it. There is the “wall of text” failing where it is just pages and pages of no movement, no action, no revelations…just some inner monologue that adds nothing or a description of a building. The characters have been given names not at all in line with the time period of the novel and the way characters act aren’t congruent with the times either. The most annoying of things, though, was the preaching to the reader. Quite often the story would be broken into and the author would state something similar to “I wrote this down and its how it was.” Well, now, that was a bit unnecessary, don’t you think? There was just no legitimate point to it. Even worse were the “literary discussions” that read like essays on Hemingway, Faulkner and the like. They were thrown in and disguised as seminars or lectures but instead were just the author’s espousing of personal opinions that added nothing to the story itself. Unfortunate really because I had had high hopes for this novel.
ARC Galley Proof
ARC Galley Proof
kimd66's review against another edition
2.0
Didn't Meet Expectations
For some reason, I just couldn't get into this book. It's actually quite a boring read. I understand and appreciate the intended subtext, but it wasn't enough to justify reading the entire book.
For some reason, I just couldn't get into this book. It's actually quite a boring read. I understand and appreciate the intended subtext, but it wasn't enough to justify reading the entire book.
amysariego's review against another edition
2.0
Pretty sad I wasted time reading this. It was short and read easily, but the whole time I kept waiting for something to happen and nothing ever did. The main character was pathetic and whiny and I couldn't find any redeeming qualities in her at all. The only potentially interesting characters disappeared halfway through (cause for a lot of the whining) and came back at random towards the end. The two stars are for the style of writing and description which I did enjoy.