Clara and Mr. Tiffany: A Novel
Clara and Mr. Tiffany: A Novel book cover

Clara and Mr. Tiffany: A Novel

Audio CD – Unabridged, January 11, 2011

Price
$13.72
Publisher
Random House Audio
Publication Date
ISBN-13
978-0307876706
Dimensions
5.11 x 1.64 x 5.88 inches
Weight
13.6 ounces

Description

PRAISE FOR SUSAN VREELAND Clara and Mr. Tiffany “The book brims with fascinating information about Tiffany's glassmaking and about New York as its gilded age gives way to a more progressive era. ...Vreeland's ability to make this complex historical novel as luminous as a Tiffany lamp is nothing less than remarkable.” — Washington Post xa0“Vreeland's writing is so graceful, her research so exhaustive, that a reader is enfolded in the world of Tiffany and Driscoll….fascinating.”xa0 — xa0Los Angeles Timesxa0“Vreeland offers a fascinating look at at turn-of-the-century New York City.” — People Magazine (4 stars) xa0“[H]ot as a glass factory…Give Vreeland credit for shedding light on a little-known slice of women’s history.”xa0 — xa0USA Today xa0“You’ll never look at a Tiffany lamp or window the same way.” — xa0Daily Candy Nationalxa0 “Weekend Guide”xa0“Fascinating.”— Newark Star Ledgerxa0“Vreeland has done a good job describing the tensions within the business and between creative artistry and a desire for a personal life… An interesting book about a woman deservedly rescued from obscurity.” — xa0Fredericksburg, Va. Free Starxa0“If you’re a fiction reader, you are going to want to pick up at least one of these early 2011 novels.”xa0 — xa0The Christian Science Monitor, “5 Novels for the New Year”xa0“The author of Girl in Hyacinth Blue here imagines a woman torn between art and love in a novel based on the real-life creator of the iconic Tiffany lamps.” — xa0O Magazine, “10 Titles to Pick Up Now”xa0“Who knew Tiffany’s iconic lamp was designed by a woman? Perfect fodder for historical novelist Vreeland, who travels back to New York City’s Gilded Age to imagine how it all unfolded.”xa0 — xa0Good Housekeepingxa0“Vreeland brings 1890s Manhattan to vibrant life…Vivid descriptions of window and lamp production will surely bring readers a new appreciation for stained glass.xa0 And Clara’s battles for the rights of her female workers and for artistic originality versus mass production are compelling, as is her complicated relationship with Mr. Tiffany.xa0 This charming woman is a memorable heroine and, just as Clara’s art enhanced the images of nature that it depicted, Vreeland’s illuminating vision of Clara’s story is a pleasure to experience.”xa0 -xa0 BookPagexa0xa0xa0"As sparkling and alluring as the lost story of the woman who created the famed Tiffany glass lamps, Clara and Mr. Tiffany is a masterpiece of a novel.xa0 In it fin de siècle New York jumps to life in all its gaudy and heartbreaking grandeur and opportunities.xa0 As much a character study of a city and a time as of a woman, Susan Vreeland shows us the new technology that enabled people to craft the magnificent lamps so sought after today, and the artist’s eye of Clara Driscollxa0 that brought them to perfection."-- Margaret Georgexa0xa0“For the first time in my long life of reading novels, Susan Vreeland made me cry over the gloryof women's work. Clara and Mr. Tiffany is a noble and necessary book, lest we allow ourselves tobe ignorant of the struggle, courage, and vision of women who have come before us. Readers will never look at a Tiffany lamp or window in the same way again.”xa0xa0xa0xa0xa0 --Sena Jeter Naslund, author of Ahab's Wife and Adam & Eve Girl in Hyacinth Blue “[A] beautifully written exploration of the power of art.”— Parade “Stunning . . . haunting.”— San Francisco Chronicle Luncheon of the Boating Party “A masterwork.”— The San Diego Union-Tribune “Vreeland takes the big, bold brush-strokes of Renoir’s personal and artistic oeuvre and displays them with her usual vividness in this eponymous novel. . . . Sensual and provocative.”—Baltimore Sun “The book brims with fascinating information about Tiffany's glassmaking and about New York as its gilded age gives way to a more progressive era. ...Vreeland's ability to make this complex historical novel as luminous as a Tiffany lamp is nothing less than remarkable.” — Washington Postxa0“Vreeland's writing is so graceful, her research so exhaustive, that a reader is enfolded in the world of Tiffany and Driscoll….fascinating.”xa0 — Los Angeles Timesxa0“Vreeland offers a fascinating look at at turn-of-the-century New York City.” — People Magazine (4 stars)xa0“[H]ot as a glass factory…Give Vreeland credit for shedding light on a little-known slice of women’s history.”xa0 — USA Todayxa0“You’ll never look at a Tiffany lamp or window the same way.” — Daily Candy Nationalxa0 “Weekend Guide”xa0“Fascinating.”— Newark Star Ledgerxa0“Vreeland has done a good job describing the tensions within the business and between creative artistry and a desire for a personal life… An interesting book about a woman deservedly rescued from obscurity.” — Fredericksburg, Va. Free Starxa0“If you’re a fiction reader, you are going to want to pick up at least one of these early 2011 novels.”xa0 — The Christian Science Monitor, “5 Novels for the New Year”xa0“The author of Girl in Hyacinth Blue here imagines a woman torn between art and love in a novel based on the real-life creator of the iconic Tiffany lamps.” — O Magazine, “10 Titles to Pick Up Now”xa0“Who knew Tiffany’s iconic lamp was designed by a woman? Perfect fodder for historical novelist Vreeland, who travels back to New York City’s Gilded Age to imagine how it all unfolded.”xa0 — Good Housekeepingxa0xa0“Vreeland brings 1890s Manhattan to vibrant life…Vivid descriptions of window and lamp production will surely bring readers a new appreciation for stained glass.xa0 And Clara’s battles for the rights of her female workers and for artistic originality versus mass production are compelling, as is her complicated relationship with Mr. Tiffany.xa0 This charming woman is a memorable heroine and, just as Clara’s art enhanced the images of nature that it depicted, Vreeland’s illuminating vision of Clara’s story is a pleasure to experience.”xa0 -xa0 BookPagexa0xa0xa0"As sparkling and alluring as the lost story of the woman who created the famed Tiffany glass lamps, Clara and Mr. Tiffany is a masterpiece of a novel.xa0 In it fin de siècle New York jumps to life in all its gaudy and heartbreaking grandeur and opportunities.xa0 As much a character study of a city and a time as of a woman, Susan Vreeland shows us the new technology that enabled people to craft the magnificent lamps so sought after today, and the artist’s eye of Clara Driscollxa0 that brought them to perfection."-- Margaret Georgexa0xa0“For the first time in my long life of reading novels, Susan Vreeland made me cry over the gloryof women's work. Clara and Mr. Tiffany is a noble and necessary book, lest we allow ourselves tobe ignorant of the struggle, courage, and vision of women who have come before us. Readers will never look at a Tiffany lamp or window in the same way again.”xa0xa0xa0xa0xa0 --Sena Jeter Naslund, author of Ahab's Wife and Adam & Eve From the Hardcover edition.

Features & Highlights

  • Against the unforgettable backdrop of New York near the turn of the twentieth century, from the Gilded Age world of formal balls and opera to the immigrant poverty of the Lower East Side, bestselling author Susan Vreeland again breathes life into a work of art in this extraordinary novel, which brings a woman once lost in the shadows into vivid color. It’s 1893, and at the Chicago World’s Fair, Louis Comfort Tiffany makes his debut with a luminous exhibition of innovative stained-glass windows, which he hopes will honor his family business and earn him a place on the international artistic stage. But behind the scenes in his New York studio is the freethinking Clara Driscoll, head of his women’s division. Publicly unrecognized by Tiffany, Clara conceives of and designs nearly all of the iconic leaded-glass lamps for which he is long remembered. Clara struggles with her desire for artistic recognition and the seemingly insurmountable challenges that she faces as a professional woman, which ultimately force her to protest against the company she has worked so hard to cultivate. She also yearns for love and companionship, and is devoted in different ways to five men, including Tiffany, who enforces to a strict policy: he does not hire married women, and any who do marry while under his employ must resign immediately. Eventually, like many women, Clara must decide what makes her happiest—the professional world of her hands or the personal world of her heart.
  • From the Hardcover edition.

Customer Reviews

Rating Breakdown

★★★★★
30%
(531)
★★★★
25%
(442)
★★★
15%
(265)
★★
7%
(124)
23%
(407)

Most Helpful Reviews

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Technical, descriptive, but not dramatic

It may be unfair to criticize Susan Vreeland for not writing the book I expected. Some reviewers have already panned it without saying anything constructive.
If you're going to write a novel, you need to build toward some kind of climax with tension, failure, humor, and unexpected twists. And you are allowed to make stuff up to do this. Vreeland seems to have had access to volumes of info on Tiffany and Clara and is determined to use it all.
If you are an artist interested in Tiffany's techniques, this book is great. But for most of us, once you've described in detail how to make a stained glass daffodil, we don't need the same treatment for a dragonfly. But Vreeland does it with encyclopedic thoroughness.
If you are nostalgic for a travelogue through turn of the century New York, this book is for you. It contains descriptions of living in a bohemian boarding house, taking the surf at Coney Island, and riding the first subway. But the descriptions drown any hope of drama or love story.
It may be realistic that Clara accepts sexist practices like prohibiting the employment of married women, and restricting jobs based on the "Natural abilities" of each sex, but it could have provided more drama to get into Clara's and Tiffany's heads to examine their feelings in the context of the times they lived in. Again, this is fiction. Vreeland is free to speculate.
It is possible to combine historical detail with characters you can fall in love with. Look at Herman Wouk's wartime stories, Frank McCort's description of troubled Ireland, T.C.Boyle's story of Frank Lloyd Wright's women.
Maybe a framing of the story, with a fictional description of the 2005 discovery of the documents about Clara's work, either at the beginning or the end, or both, would have tied the story up better than the flat afterword. [[ASIN:0812980182 Clara and Mr. Tiffany: A Novel]]
6 people found this helpful
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Choosing Art and Love

Clara and Mr. Tiffany - Susan Vreeland
Audio version read by Kimberly Farr
4 stars
Clara Driscoll was one of a select group of woman who worked in the glass studios of Louis Comfort Tiffany in the early 20th century. Early in this century, letters written by Clara Driscoll revealed her personal contribution to the Tiffany legend. Susan Vreeland has used this information to write an entertaining novel of Clara's life in turn of the century New York City.

Based on her letters, Clara Driscoll has finally been recognized as the primary designer of the iconic Tiffany lamps. Vreeland uses this information to imagine Clara's artistic process. She has invented probable settings and interactions that were the source of Clara's inspiration and details the elaborate process of manufacture.

In addition to her artistic endeavors, Clara was the manager of the women's division of the Tiffany studio. Vreeland gives individual personalities to the formerly anonymous women who produced these beautiful works of art. In Clara's voice, she honors their talent, their camaraderie and the underlying hardship of their lives. It is the time of the burgeoning women's movement. One overriding theme of the book is Mr. Tiffany's rule that no married woman may continue to work in the studio. Clara struggles throughout the book with the conflict between her ordinary desire for love and marriage and her satisfaction in her artistic work.

This is a fascinating period of time in the history of New York City. Vreeland contrives to put Clara and her boarding house friends in many of the city's prominent settings. They ride the first subway, tour the Flat Iron building before its official opening and witness the first ball to drop in Times Square on a New year's Eve. My only complaint with the book, is that it does seem contrived. I could always feel the touch of the author causing the historical figures to act as she chose. I could never quite believe in the character's behavior and conversations. I was very interested in the lengthy descriptions of how the works of art were produced, but these passages might become tedious to some readers. Even though the book is flawed in some ways, it was for the most part a very interesting and enjoyable read.
2 people found this helpful
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Terrific story; Great Audiobook

Clara and Mr. Tiffany was an addictive novel based on the true story of Clara Driscoll. Clara was an independent, creative artist who actually designed the gorgeous Tiffany lamps so many know and love. These are the same lamps which made Louis Comfort Tiffany famous.

The story begins in the 1890s and covers a period of about sixteen years. Clara's husband has just died and she needs a job to support herself. She takes a room at a boarding house in New York and returns to work at Tiffany Glass and Decorating, where she had worked prior to her marriage. (Mr. Tiffany does not hire married women, and women who do marry while working there, must leave their jobs). At Tiffanys Clara heads the woman's department. She has an amazing creative instinct, and Mr. Tiffany encourages her to to use her creative talents to explore new designs, yet once she displays her creative genius, Mr. Tiffany takes all the credit. Nothing stops the ambitious Clara, even when the men of the Glass Cutter's Union demand that the Women's Department be shut down. Clara continues to flourishes in her job, and her personal life. A woman born before her time, she has several handsome suitors, is a successful career woman, and has earned the respect of the women who work in her department. She has also formed meaningful friendships with a fun group of artists.

It has been a while since I read a book by Susan Vreeland, yet I loved, Girl in Hyacinth Blue when I read it about ten years ago. Once again, Vreeland has written a truly amazing story, that held my interest beginning to end. I love the rich history, the details about stained glass design, the richly drawn characters, and the vivid portrait of life in New York City during this period in history. Vreeland paints a clear picture of the class differences, the immigrant experience, and what working women had to endure during this period in history. This is truly a memorable and worthwhile read. The audio book was read by Kimberly Farr, who was spectacular. If you love historical novels, don't miss this one.
1 people found this helpful
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Five Stars

Really love Susan Vreeland's delightful & insightful novels about the Impressionist Art movement & the Artists of the time!
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EXCELLENT STORY

Well written story. Loved knowing how women were to involved in designing Tiffany windows and lamps and all the perseverance it took to maintain women artisans. I have enjoyed sharing it with friends. Delivery was quick and was delivered on time to the correct address of a friend.
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Clara and Mr. Tiffany audiobook

A wonderful story in audiobook that I certainly enjoyed hearing. Lots of insight into the world of womens labor laws. Interesting to hear about the real Luis Comfort Tiffany and the wonderful women that worked for him.