Good Things I Wish You: A Novel by A. Manette Ansay

Buy on Amazon

Summary:

Battling feelings of loss and apathy in the wake of a painful divorce, novelist Jeanette struggles to complete a book about the long-term relationship between Clara Schumann, a celebrated pianist and the wife of the composer Robert Schumann, and her husband’s protégé, the handsome young composer Johannes Brahms. Although this legendary love triangle has been studied exhaustively, Jeanette—herself a gifted pianist—wonders about the enduring nature of Clara and Johannes’s lifelong attachment. Were they just “best friends,” as both steadfastly claimed? Or was the relationship complicated by desires that may or may not have been consummated?

Through a chance encounter, Jeanette meets Hart, a mysterious, worldly entrepreneur who is a native of Clara’s birthplace, Leipzig, Germany. Hart’s casual help with translations quickly blossoms into something more. There are things about men and women, he insists, that do not change. The two embark on a whirlwind emotional journey that leads Jeanette across Germany and Switzerland to a crossroads similar to that faced by Clara Schumann—also a mother, also an artist—more than a century earlier.

Accompanied by photographs, sketches, and notes from past and present, A. Manette Ansay’s original blend of fiction and history captures the timeless nature of love and friendship between women and men.

My Review:

Can a man and a woman be just friends?

This is the question approached in this book – and even though the answer, at first glance, is a simple one – the actions that lead to that answer are not quite so clear.

In Good Things I Wish You the story switches between that of Jeanette and Hart, a man and woman living in today’s world, and the story between Johannes Brahms and Clara Schumann. Jeanette is researching for a book written on these two famous composers/pianists and, in learning about her own relationships, stumbles across her own interpretation of what must have occurred between Brahms and Clara years ago.

This was not a cheerful read, but the musician and artist in me loved the story. Through times of grief and sorrow some of the best works can be done – whether it’s writing that perfect book, or composing that perfect piece of music .. or, in my own experience, performing a piece with every ounce of your heart put into it.

Have you listened to Brahms’ music? What about Schumann’s, Clara or Roberts? So much passion is contained, so much heartbreak and this story does a beautiful job with quotes and pictures and a fictionalized story that inspires my imagination to soar when I listen again to my favorites.

In a way I think that I appreciated this book more because of my background in music, but I think any lover of history or of the arts would enjoy the story put down here and the inspiration it causes to seek out more on the lives of these extraordinary people.

To reiterate on my earlier question though: What do you think? Can a man and a woman be “just friends”?

About the Author

A. Manette Ansay is the author of eight books, including Vinegar Hill, Midnight Champagne (a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award), and Blue Water. She has received the Pushcart Prize, two Great Lakes Book Awards, and a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. She teaches in the MFA writing program at the University of Miami.

To learn more please visit A. Manette Ansay’s website.
Follow A. Manette Ansay on Facebook and Twitter.

For more reviews of the book, please follow the book tour.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from TLC Book Tours. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”