Overview
Love and music intertwine in this historical novel by award-winning author Boman Desai that depicts the unrequited romance between composer Johannes Brahms and Clara Schumann, the widow of Robert Schumann, his musical champion.The passion of unrequited love propels this lovingly drawn novel set in mid-19th century Germany, depicting a complex emotional relationship among giants of classical music. Robert and Clara Schumann, recognizing his genius, champion Johannes Brahms at the onset of his career and nurture his ascendance to its pinnacle, where he joins Bach and Beethoven as the third B of the genre’s immortals.
Author Boman Desai brings to life the complex relationship between Brahms and the Schumanns, the most influential people in his life, as the story circles around the intimate dinners Brahms enjoyed over the years as a guest in their country home. Following the descent into madness and tragic death of maestro Robert Schumann, widowed Clara and Brahms continue their passionate yet uneasy relationship. Clara devotes her career as a brilliant pianist to performing her deceased husband’s music, memorializing Robert’s music at the expense of her own, while Brahms tries but never succeeds in finding a wife.
Desai’s narrative displays a keen understanding of what made the music so great, and in lyrical language and a keen eye for the telling detail and image, he’s imagined these figures with subtlety and wit and a universal compassion for the human spirit and ways of the heart as only a great novelist can.
Author Bio
Boman Desai:
Boman Desai is the author of two novels, THE MEMORY OF ELEPHANTS, which was published first in the UK by the legendary editorDiana Athill, and then published by the University of Chicago Press; and TRIO , a Novel Biography of the Schumanns and Brahms which was awarded the Kirkus star and listed among their Best Books of 2016. The book was subsequently transcribed into an opera, titled "Clara," and may now be seen on youtube. Desai has won about a dozen awards and taught fiction at Truman College and Roosevelt University (both in Chicago), and the University of Southern Maine. He is also a composer, with (among other things) a symphony and piano and violin concertos to his credit (though yet to find performances). You may learn more about him at bomandesai.com.
