This is quite a difficult book to review for me - in retrospect I think I enjoyed it more than I did during the actual reading. I found it very slow to get started and I had to really persevere to get to the end but I'm glad I did.

The story revolves around Claire Clairmont, stepsister of Mary Shelley, and concentrates on three intervals of her life - 1816, where she visits Lord Byron at Lake Geneva with Percy and Mary Shelley during the stormy summer that followed a volcanic eruption, a later period working as a governess in Russia in 1825 and later again in Paris in 1843 where she has settled. The impact of her affair with Byron in 1816, the child that followed, her complicated relationship with her sister and Percy Shelley are the heart of the story.

So far, so good, this is an interesting story and the author has researched it well. However, I had real problems with some of it. The story jumps around a lot between the time frames and this takes a while to get used to - as the book goes on it became less of an issue but I found it made the start quite hard to follow and it made it difficult to get fully invested in the story.

The bigger problem though was how unlikeable all the characters are. Each of them seems entirely self absorbed, quite sure of how special they are and showing little or no empathy to each other. The character of Claire seems highly unusual for the time and this does seem to have some historical accuracy but I never had any idea of why she was like that and what made her tick. A little further reading into the background of her and Mary Shelley makes more sense of it but it was never clear in the novel. Nobody in the novel comes out well and it's hard to care about people you just don't like.

Sticking with it did pay off, though, and once I got into the style of writing of the author, it became much easier to follow and I was interested enough to want to know what happened. It's not an easy read but it's an interesting subject and unusual, and ultimately worth the effort.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy in return for an honest review.

#Clairmont #NetGalley

There be none of Beauty’s daughters with a magic like thee...

So begins one of Byron's lesser known works, and the one that McDowell here gifts to Claire. This become something of a motif throughout the first few chapters before more or less being forgotten for the rest of the novel.
I want to preface this by saying that I was always going to enjoy Clairmont. Frankenstein is one of my favourite books, and I have always found the strange quintet that came together in Geneva and produced two of the most recognisable monsters of the modern age to be fascinating no matter what. And I did enjoy it. Although I found the start to be quite weak, and it did a poor job of setting Claire up - she comes across as both shallow and painfully stupid, which was probably supposed to read as youthful naivity - once it settles into itself, it's eminently readable. I disagreed with a lot of the characterisations, and especially the way that Mary Shelley is presented, but I also understood that as a novel from the perspective of her younger stepsister, Clairmont was not necessarily going to be sympathetic towards Mary. But, to be honest, Mary is why we're reading. If it weren't for the fame of her stepsister, Claire would be at best a footnote in biographies of Lord Byron.

If you are a fan of Mary Shelley, and how "Frankenstein" came into being then I'd urge you to read "Clairmont" by Lesley McDowell. This fictionalised life history of Claire Clairmont gives you an extra insight into those days when a carefree trio of Mary, Shelley and Claire travel Europe. It covers three periods of her life and I was grateful that it did flit between each of these periods as you begin to realise how awful some of these people were. Byron is depicted quite vile, and I'm appalled at how he took Allegra away from Claire. In fact, none of the characters really come across as overly pleasant. However, I did think it was a nice way to increase my knowledge of Mary Shelley's family.

This feels frenetic, chaotic and dramatic. Claire is written as a very jumpy character, who seems slightly unhinged and hysterical. None of the characters are particularly likeable people, but I think this somewhat reflects their true life counterparts, who if you know anything about them, seemed to be largely unlikeable themselves. McDowell has captured this well. A small amount of knowledge of the Byron, Shelley and Clairmont history would be useful for most readers, I had to refresh my own memory on some of the information, particularly in the first few chapters.

I read an eARC of this so thank you to Net Galley, the author and the publisher.

If you’re a big fan of Lord Byron then be aware he’s quite monstrous in this. His behaviour towards Claire is sickening. Rude, abusive, he is deeply unpleasant. In fact, I’m struggling to think of any of the adult characters who aren’t unpleasant in this. Claire is better than most but still can be manipulative.

I have quite mixed feelings on this book. I found it really well-written, evocative, compelling. The novel jumps between three separate times in Claire’s life, each one defined by a love affair with an unsuitable man. I found the time jumps confusing for the first three chapters but after that I had the shape of the narrative and it was fine.

Throughout the novel we are uncovering the story of what happened to Claire’s child. This defines her entire life. It is also deeply unfair. The behaviour of men towards women in this is horrifying. Women and their children seen as the property of men and the extreme cruelty shown. This is a historical novel so it’s reflective of the time period, but it’s still deeply uncomfortable to read.

I had some prior knowledge of Byron and Mary Shelley but I knew very little of Claire Clairmont so much of what happened was a surprise to me. No-one comes off well in this book. Mary Shelley who I’d always thought of a positive figure is frequently portrayed as selfish and manipulative.

I did think this was very well written and I was fully engaged with this story. My mixed feelings come from how bleak it felt. I struggled to find any points of hope or brightness. It was tragedy after tragedy, littered with cruelty and injustice. While most likely very accurate it did make it a hard read emotionally.

I would recommend this for being a well-crafted, interesting and engaging story. It’s not for when you want a light hearted read, but if you’re in the mood for something darker, emotionally challenging and unnerving then this is worth a read.

As brooding and atmospheric as the writing of those at the centre of events, this is the intriguing story of Claire Clairmont, stepsister of Mary Shelley, and how the actions of Byron and Shelley and their entourage one stormy summer in the Alps reverberated throughout the lives of all involved. Told from Claire's point of view, the novel deftly paints a picture of the social constraints of the nineteenth century, whether in Britain or on the continent, and the difficulties faced by those who tried to challenge them: women in particular. Full of passion, cruelty, jealousy and complex family relationships, this is above all a story of maternal love, the pain of loss and the spirit of a woman who refused to be defeated.

The unphilosophizer ★★☆☆☆

Told in three timelines, the story of Mary Shelley’s stepsister Jane “Claire” Clairmont is a complex tale of love, despair, and jealousy.

Centring on Claire’s affair with Lord Byron, we are thrown into the strange world of the Shelleys’ radical circle.

Byron is erratic and cruel, Percy is the renegade lover who adores Mary yet has an unnatural closeness to Claire, and Mary is surprisingly proud and straight laced given her views and her teenage elopement with still-married Shelley.

The two sisters are bitter rivals all their lives yet share the same keen losses and keep being pulled back together.

Between the multiple timelines and points of view, Claire’s bitter secrets, the odd and often drugged nature of the characters, which is felt in the dialogue, and the sister’s push and pull relationship, the narrative is both slow and difficult to follow.

A complex dreamy narrative which exposes the darker sides of Byron and the Shelleys.

Clairmont by Lesley McDowell - 3/5 ⭐

Unfortunately, I had to DNF Clairmont. Although the writing style was amazing and McDowell done a great job in her descriptive writing I just couldn't get into the story. I made it 28% before calling it a day. I was confused by the layout of the story and the peoples POVs.

Thank you to NetGalley and Headline for allowing me to read this ARC - this is an HONEST review from my own personal opinion.

Lesley McDowell's writing style is absolutely magical; it captures the lyricality of Byron's works, just like the little Byron-Shelley group this story revolves around. The author evolves each character beautifully and there's this magnetism created about them that so easily draws readers in, at least for me.

The fluctuating relationship between Mary and Claire is so, so complex and twisty but so incredibly real at the same time. There's this whole trove of resentment lying between them, and I think the author does a great job of exploring why, how, and why it can never really be resolved.

Claire, by herself, is a fascinating mix of seductress and dreamer which makes for an extremely intriguing story as she navigates life before and after Byron. I adored the recollections, and how deftly the writer crafts the ghosts of her past. It was definitely an adventure, with all the new people met; all the risks and dangers and of course, Miss Trewin of Galitzin dishonour. That chapter with her appearance was quite revitalising, in that it provided a clear, lighter difference to the sombre, emotionally-charged events.

Along her journey, there were snippets of what life is like within each society she progresses into; the typical English society of that time; the Russian nursery, Russian home, for instance. I think that McDowell has managed to flesh out each of these places, plus make each introduced character so much more than simply plot devices to facilitate Claire's development.

It was a lovely read, and highly recommended for fans of mystique-charged eighteenth century England!

It is difficult to enjoy a book where every character is depicted as being thoroughly unpleasant, and so I cannot say I enjoyed Clairmont. I did , however, find I wanted to continue reading it as it shed, for me, a new light on Shelley, the poet and his wife Mary and their coterie of friends, in particular Mad, Bad, Baron.
The main character, however is Claire, Mary's step sister and mother of Byron's illegitimate daughter. I had no idea of the tragic story surrounding this little girl and it would seem no one comes out of it blameless.
I learned much as I read on, but the storytelling seemed quite disjointed and this, together with the lack of sympathy for any of the protagonists, made for a hard read.
If you love Shelley's poetry, or admire Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, keep your illusions intact and don't read this novel, but, if you want to cement your view of the vain and arrogant Lord Byron, then this one is definitely for you!

Clairmont has an incredibly interesting premise with intriguing characters but sadly this was not for me. I couldn't gel with the writing style and felt confused in a lot of places. However I do think a lot of people will love this unique historical fiction.

I’m afraid I had to give up on this, I wanted to love it as I was really intrigued by the real life characters but the jumping around in time with no explanation of who people were or their relationships was just too confusing. If I’d been gripped I might have persevered but I really couldn’t follow it. This is not necessarily a criticism of the writing, it just obviously wasn’t for me.

This was an interesting read, in that it told the story of an unknown character who was intimately entwined in the lives of three of 19th century Britain's most famous literary stars. This book prompted me to read a bit more about these four people and their rather sordid histories and that was fascinating. Despite the heartbreak inherent in a story of this kind, the narrative did feel lacking somewhat in depth. I have not read Booth, but I don't understand the comparison to Wolf Hall and Hamnet. Overall, the premise is a good one, but the execution could be better.

It's interesting to read this novel in conjunction with Emma Donoghue's forthcoming novel about an even lesser-known historical character, Eliza Raine.

I liked Clairmont. But I liked it because (and this no doubt dates me) I am fascinated by the whole Shelley-Byron circle; and I completely agree that Clair Clairmont deserved attention of her own. You do need to know about them all - this novel relentlessly assumes, I think, that the reader will be familiar with the historical 'reality; I'm not sure it would work without that. Which means, in slightly Philistine fashion, I'd have appreciated a bit of a biographical note at the end even as someone who knows about them all.

I enjoyed reading it, though.

I was excited to read this book, being a fan of the old poets, but I found the writing very clumsy. It was almost like reading something a teenager would have written for a school project. Sadly I had to DNF it as I just don't have the time to read books that don't grip me. Its such a shame, as the cover really drew me in - but you know what they say about books and covers! Maybe I'll try it again at some point, but for now, it's not a book I can continue with. Giving two stars because the cover is beautiful, but the content is not.

Loved this. It was easy to read and I didn't want to stop. I didn't know much about the original story but this has made me want to read more.

A tale of privileged and entitled people on an indulgent trip in Italy - the fact that they are famous characters from literary history doesn’t make them any more likeable. The premise is interesting but the writing jumps about and I found it hard to follow the story. Not a book I particularly enjoyed, although it was interesting to learn more about Shelley and his cohorts.

I knew nothing of Claire before this book, and very little about the three other main players, other than they were very famous.
To have her story told as the least famous of the foursome is inspired.
The way all their lives are tangled is messy.
Their artistic temperament makes it dramatic.
An enjoyable telling of a life that had so much happening.

Very good.

Clairmont by Lesley McDowell

1816. 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.

A wonderful telling of a story I knew nothing about. It held my interest enough to research the history of these people . Fascinating and well researched.

I had to DNF this one. I tried, it was such an interesting premise, but the writing style and jumping about regularly lost me. I wasn't clear who was talking, where we were, and gave up at 16%