Book Review-Clara

Clara is a young lady who was sold into slavery by her mother as a child to settle a financial

debt. Before being taken into captivity, she crosses paths with a young boy named Emmerich who attempts to save her from the cruel fate her mother has sent her to. After that fateful night, Emmerich vows to find her and become her hero. Years pass before their paths shall cross again and in the midst of a civil war. Emmerich is the Captain of the Guard to a beloved king who is viciously murdered by a sorcerer named Marduk. In hopes of changing the world to his liking, Marduk seeks a Seer, the slave Clara, to proceed with his plan. Clara’s powers of premonition keep her safe, adding value to her life. The question sought is whether Emmerich can be the hero Clara needs and the leader the Rebellion need to defeat the evil Marduk.

Suzanna Linton delivers a very solid storyline with Clara. Clara is a young woman plagued by betrayal and forced to live through the horror of slavery. She is betrayed several times in the story, Her mother betrays her love by selling her into slavery, Haggard by agreeing to do so and violently snatching her away to get the job done, and Gavin who had lied to her on more than one occasion. The story is full of thrills at every turn and also keeps the reader guessing. The emotion Linton invokes within her characters can be fully felt by the audience. Clara is the strongest of the characters and the most relatable.   

“Fleetingly, she thought of the gowned ladies with long, braided hair, some of it with silk ribbons intertwined with the tresses. Theirs was a style of art--hers, solely utilitarian. She savored a small taste of pride at knowing that word.”

Clara’s admiration of the ladies’ fancy appearance goes beyond their wealth and station but mostly to their freedom. The anger she feels when she saves Lord Dwervin’s life only to be further humiliated by the name “Mouse” and forced to eat on the floor like a dog is immeasurable. Through her captivation and humiliation of her slavery, she embraces the anger within her thus making her silence louder than any scream. The innocence of the child she once was has disappeared with the abuse she has had to endure. Clara has the appearance of a vulnerable individual who should be handled with care but she grows through her experiences, showing much strength during times of trouble.

Emmerich, I observed, is the opposite of Clara. He is physically and mentally strong. He is also brave but what readers are surprised to learn throughout the story is that he does have a soft side. Linton embodies the characteristics of a stereotypical male. Showing weakness or rather emotion, is not a masculine trait according to many but Linton times this revelation at a perfect point where we don’t become annoyed by him but rather admire his moment of sensitivity.

“This whole war was started because I wanted revenge. This is not a man who needs to be king.”

There is uncertainty in his tone but also again, a sense of duty. He recognizes his flaws, accepts them, but mistakes it for being a bad leader. He doubts himself in the role of king because he has a human heart. With this dialogue this has brought the image of Emmerich’s identity as a hero full circle. A hero not only admits his faults but also embraces it.

Suzanna Linton chose to focus major strengths  in her main characters. Though some of them grew for the better good, some characters remained flawed which caused their demise. What I enjoy about the characters in Clara is that they are relatable and diverse. Clara and Emmerich are the epitome of literary characters. They are the opposite of each other thus surprising each other with their strengths and sensitivity. However as the heroes of the story they accept their flaws, learning from them. They did not, for the most part, allow their emotions to get in the way. They carried out their duty but for some minor characters such as Gavin, they allowed their emotions to rule them too much. Gavin fell too hard too fast and in turn became an annoyance. I was not sorry to read of his outcome because he allowed this infatuation with Clara to rule him. Some things can be said for his desire to protect her but I felt his “love” for her was over the top. I must give Suzanna credit for creating him all the same because without Gavin, who would be the flawed fool?

I have always been a fan of magical medieval stories and this one is one of the great ones in my book. The only main complaint I have is for more proofreading before publication. Some of the grammatical errors made it difficult to follow the story causing me to read a line more than once to administer its meaning. For instance in chapter 11, page 39 Linton writes;

“Men and women dressed in costumes danced roamed the streets and alleys as children ran through the crowds, shrieking with joy.” 

There should be a comma between “danced” and “roamed” or the sentence should be rewritten such as “Men and women in costume roamed the alleyways and danced in the streets while children ran through the crowds, shrieking with joy.”

Another point of confusion came in chapter 13, page 46 where it is said,

“She thanked the Child that Emmerich had started giving her an allowance.” 

I’m not sure if I missed something but “the Child” should be explained. I feel this sentence needs more explanation. The final example of these errors occurs on chapter 15, page 55, 

“Emmerich giving the finally orders to the captains.” 

Obviously, “finally” should be “final” to exhibit a smoother flow to the sentence. The number of grammatical errors I found in the work is the only reason I choose to give it four stars instead of five but Suzanna Linton’s Clara is a wonderful read and I feel she will be one of the great writers in our day.