Clairemont by by Lesley McDowell

Book Blurb

1. A massive volcanic eruption has caused the worst storms that Europe has seen in decades, yet Percy and Mary Shelley have chosen to visit the infamous Lord Byron at his villa on Lake Geneva. It wasn’t their idea: Mary’s eighteen year old step-sister, Claire Clairmont, insisted.

But the reason for Claire’s visit is more pressing than a summer escape with the most famous writers in the world. She’s pregnant with Byron’s child – a child Byron doesn’t want, and scarcely believes is his own.

Claire has the world in her grasp. This trip should have given her everything she ever dreamed of. But within days, her life will be in ruins.

History has all but forgotten her story – but she will not be silenced.

My Review
Clairmont is the fascinating story of Claire Clairmont, a women who was step-sister to Mary Shelley, sister-in-law to poet Percy Bysshe Shelley and lover to Lord Byron. Her story is lost in time, a women whose life was influenced by these famous writers, but now she tells her story. In three different periods of her life, beginning in 1816, we are witness to how that summer in Geneva marked the rest of Claire’s life.

Over the years, both in fiction and non-fiction, Claire Clairmont is a figure I have come across, so I was excited when Wildfire Books kindly sent me a copy of Clairmont to review. Reading this book I felt that Claire was a pawn in a game where she was the ultimate loser. Shelley used her to gain access to Byron, she wrote flirty letters to ingratiate herself to him so she could introduce the poets. This relationship had shocking consequences for Claire, pregnant with a child that Byron didn’t want, then convinced by Shelley that it would be better to give her child to Byron to raise. This decision mars the rest if her life, and we see the result of this when we catch up with her in 1825, working as a governess in Russia, and becoming very attatched to the young daughter she looks after. We also see her 1843 when she is living in Paris, having an affair with a younger man. Her realationship with Mary is still important, still wanting to please her, but found lacking. Of all the characters it is Byron who comes across the worst, he is vindictive, manipulate and plain cruel to Claire, she was just used for sex, something to be thrown away when he bored of her.

I love that Lesley McDowell has brought Claire Clarment to life as her story is intriguing and incredible in it’s own right. From the bibliography at the end of the book you can see how much research Lesley has done before writing this book. I thought the inclusion of quotes from letters, mainly between Claire and Mary gave authenticity to the book and gave great insight into their lives and relationship. The idea of freedom for women is discussed between the characters, giving historical insight into the role of women in this period, how they were perceived and treated, by both male and female, by their contemporaries. The disriptive writing captures the beauty of the three main lcations of Geneva, the lake and the awe inspiring mountains, Russia’s contrast of the heat of the summer, then the swim change to the cold and the snow, and the bonhomie of Paris, the different political factions and the more liberal lifestyle. There are some difficult scenes in this book but they refelect the reality of life of that period in history.

I thoroughly enjoyed readong Clairmont, it was a compelling and intriguing read about a remarkable woman. I liked how this book celebrated the life of Claire Clarmont, putting her as the voice in her won story where her famous relatives and lover took a back seat. Her life was remarkable, she was forever haunted by the events of 1816, but still she set out on her own to live the life she wanted, not living with Mary and Shelley who would have smothered her. Fascinating, enlighten and engaging, this is a brilliant read.