Clair de Lune: A Novel (P.S.) (edition 2012)

One-book-wonder Jetta Carleton was actually a two-book wonder, as it turns out. A draft manuscript for Clair de Lune (then called The Back Alleys of Spring), was discovered in the custody of an old friend of Carleton’s and published in 2012 by Harper Perennial after some “cleaning up.”

It’s a slighter work than The Moonflower Vine, but for me more enjoyable to read, simply because I identified with the main character, Allen, a community college instructor, and her desire to escape the small-minded philistines of rural America and pursue a life of learning and art. I liked how Carleton played with the teacher-student relationship and challenged the reader to defend traditional notions of propriety. (Carleton wrote two novels and both involve inappropriate student-teacher relationships…what’s that about?). As I said, I enjoyed it, but at the end of the day, my impression of the book was that it was a hair jejune, maybe a little self-serving, definitely of its time – not timeless. ( )

I thought Moonflower Vine (which I loved) was Jetta Carleton's only book so I was thrilled to find that a second book had recently been discovered. I enjoyed it and its look into the past but it wasn't nearly as well developed as her first one. ( )

I really, really wanted to love this book instead of merely liking it. It is set in my neck of the woods of Southwest Missouri and is about a teacher in the 1940s. All pluses in my reading world that were offset by the three strikes against it: too sentimental, too dramatic, and a disappointing ending.

The moon cast its spell on the main character, Barbara Allen Liles, known by her middle name in honor of her deceased father. She was away from home for the first time and made some bad decisions. I wavered between forgiving her inappropriate behavior and wanting to shake some sense into her! Hope of redemption for the book came in the middle when her "lunacy" was overtaken by the growing awareness of World War II and the threat of American involvement. Too little, too late, however, to raise it out of its mediocrity.

In Ms. Carleton's defense, this manuscript (in draft form) was discovered after her death. She had been working on it for over twenty years. Perhaps it was unfair to publish a work in progress that had to be tweaked by an editor. It certainly didn't measure up to the excellence of The Moonflower Vine, which garnered a rare 5-star rating from me. ( )

It's 1941, and Allen Liles is beginning her first teaching job at a junior college in a small southwest Missouri town. She has dreams of going to New York, but for now, this is where she's at. She's twenty-five, and a bit of a free spirit, and this leads her, in innocence, to put her job and entire career in jeopardy.

Jetta Carleton's Moonflower Vine is one of my very favorite books of all time, so it goes without saying that this one did not hit the standard. It was enjoyable enough, and well-written, but it just didn't come together for me. The impending war, which tries to be a bit player, falls flat in the face of Allen's behavior (really? she didn't know that what she was doing was improper?). There is redemption in the end, when Allen finally realizes that she is "the gambler's daughter" and that sometimes taking a chance beats security.

Worth reading for Carleton's wonderful way with language, but a weak story. ( )

This book charmed the pants off of me. Not literally, but you get what I'm saying.

I found an instant connection with Allen Liles -her love of reading, her passion for teaching. Set in a time period that boasts of innocence we've lost today, Clair de Lune also deals with adult themes that threaten the charming atmosphere of the book in a way that provides just the right amount of tension without overpowering the story.

Honestly, I felt like I was transported back into the world of my grandparents. Jetta Carleton, having lived through this time period, was so vivid in her descriptions and her characters had such an incredible voice that I couldn't help but get lost in the story. I devoured this one so quickly and as soon as I put it down, knew that it was a keeper.

It's not often I want to re-read books again as soon as I finish them, but I wanted to with Clair de Lune. If time had allowed... but perhaps it will another day soon. ( )