Good Things I Wish You - Hardcover

Ansay, Manette

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0755329902 ISBN 13: 9780755329908

Publisher: Headline Review, 2009

Synopsis

Two extraordinary women, and two love stories separated by centuries - an ingenious fusion of fiction and fact, inspired by the story of Clara Schumann.

Forty-two and newly divorced, Jeanette Hochmann is trying to reassemble her life with her young daughter. Lately, the world seems bereft of the passion that's always inspired and sustained her, first as a child prodigy at the piano, later as a novelist.

Now, she's struggling to write a novel based on the relationship between nineteenth-century German pianist Clara Schumann and her husband's handsome young protégé, the composer Johannes Brahms. Was theirs just a close friendship, or was it something more?

As Jeanette delves deeper into Clara's story, she uncovers uncanny parallels with her own life. And just when she's least expecting it, she embarks on a love affair of her own.

About this title

Review:

"Ansay's novel addresses the important question of what role art plays in life. . . . The photos convey a more intimate account of history, as if the reader were flipping through a personal scrapbook belonging to Clara's or Robert's descendants."--Minneapolis Star Tribune

"In this pleasure of a book, two love stories are entwined. . . . Photos, scraps from letters and diaries, make this book a fascination. The questions posed by Hart and Jeannette are timeless, as Ansay has them debate the true nature of the Clara-Johannes relationship."--Providence Journal-Bulletin

"GOOD THINGS I WISH YOU leaves no variation unexplored, and its delicate melody lingers after the final page."--South Florida Sun Sentinel

"A poignant and arresting duet of the historic and the contemporary. . . . Ansay sprinkles bits of letters, photographs and drawings throughout the novel, a deft touch that adds to the book's evocative moods of past and present."--Miami Herald

"A meditation on art and love in the European mode. . . . [Ansay] is a gifted and sure-handed storyteller."--Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

""Good Things I Wish You" is a lyrical, haunting exploration of loves past and present. Witty, sprightly, surprising, this deeply original and utterly captivating new novel by A. Manette Ansay beguiles the senses and dazzles the heart. A beautiful book."--Diana Abu-Jaber

"Intriguingly accompanied by reproductions of Schumann-Brahms ephemera, Ansay's inventive exploration of this eternal romantic conundrum is equally paradoxical in its execution. Spare yet sumptuous, precise yet lavish, Ansay nimbly sifts historical fact through an admittedly autobiographical filter to deliver a richly textured study."--Booklist

"Reminiscent of "The French Lieutenant's Woman, Good Things I Wish You" employs a rich and daring metafictional spin on one of the great romances in history to investigate passion and love--and what doesn't change between women and men. Manette Ansay takes great risks to deliver great rewards."--Stewart O'Nan

"Good Things I Wish You" is a lyrical, haunting exploration of loves past and present. Witty, sprightly, surprising, this deeply original and utterly captivating new novel by A. Manette Ansay beguiles the senses and dazzles the heart. A beautiful book. --Diana Abu-Jaber"

Intriguingly accompanied by reproductions of Schumann-Brahms ephemera, Ansay s inventive exploration of this eternal romantic conundrum is equally paradoxical in its execution. Spare yet sumptuous, precise yet lavish, Ansay nimbly sifts historical fact through an admittedly autobiographical filter to deliver a richly textured study. --Booklist"

Book Description:

A novel that has been compared to THE FRENCH LIEUTENANT'S WOMAN and POSSESSION - an ambitious new literary departure for New York Times bestselling author Manette Ansay

About this edition

• Publisher: Headline Review
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0755329902
• ISBN 13: 9780755329908
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 272