Clara Callan by Richard Wright

Clara Callan

Richard Wright

The story is told through letters and diary entries and reveals the challenges faced and overcome by a single woman living in Canada in the late 1930s, exposing her thoughts and fears to the reader. Although verging on the melodramatic in places and marred a little by the author's wish to tie up loose ends too hastily, it is a good read, with some humorous insights from other characters.

Extract
Dear Nora
Your letter arrived on Friday, but I put off replying because I was much annoyed by it, and I still am. I think it was presumptious of Helen Jackson to get in touch with you. I suppose her heart's in the right place as is yours, of course, but I wish people wouldn't fuss over me. Please keep the following in mind:
1. I don't want a telephone in my house.
2. I don't want to 'make more of an effort to get out and meet people'.
3. Helen Jackson leads a more pathetic life than you imagine I do.
4. Dr. Crispin is full of shit.
Clara
Parallels
  • The Future Homemakers of America by Laurie Graham
  • The Pursuit of Happiness by Douglas Kennedy
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Violence
Explicit sexual content