Clairmont
The sensuous hidden story of the greatest muse of the Romantic period
1816
A massive volcanic eruption has caused the worst storms that Europe has seen in decades, yet Percy Shelley and Mary Godwin have chosen to visit the infamous Lord Byron at his villa on Lake Geneva. It wasn’t their idea, though: Mary’s eighteen year old stepsister, Claire Clairmont, has insisted.
But the reason for Claire’s visit is more pressing than a summer escape with the most famous writers in the world. She’s pregnant with Byron’s child – a child Byron doesn’t want, and scarcely believes is his own.
Claire has the world in her grasp. This trip should have given her everything she ever dreamed of. But within days, her life will be in ruins.
History has all but forgotten her story – but she will not be silenced.
About the Book
What they said
‘Riveting – a clever portrait of a fascinating woman’ The Times
‘Claire Clairmont hasn’t often been given her due and McDowell restores her to thrilling, palpitating life’ The Spectator
‘A must-read. McDowell brings Claire to vivid, embodied life; a flirtatious, flawed woman fighting for her place in a man’s world’ The Herald
‘Clairmont emerges as a brave and sympathetic heroine in this engrossing novel’ The Scotsman
‘Enthralling’ The Observer
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