Meike Ziervogel, Clara’s Daughter, book review: Author's prose is generally superb, with true flair and originality

Following on from her first novel, Magda – a well-received historical novel based on the life of Magda Goebbels – is Clara’s Daughter: a slim novella about a woman with a troubled private life.

We are introduced to Michele and her husband Jim as they visit Hampstead Heath in north London. Scenes are set with precision: short, sharp descriptive passages are key as the couple enjoy a quick dip. It’s a touching scene, slightly disrupted by the somewhat unconvincing dialogue. Although it is clear that in such a slim volume the author would want to get her characters sketched in quickly, the effect is of being ushered through to get to the good stuff.

The multiple narratives work well, although there are several occasions – particularly for Jim – when his character isn’t as believable as it should be. “Michele and I are going through a bit of a rough patch, but I’m not up for a fling,” he says to a mate.

Occasionally the timeline – which flits from past to present with casual abandon – makes the narrative feel disjointed: it takes a moment to realise that the current passage is part of an incident that was also described four chapters ago.

Michele’s relationship with her mother, Clara, is described in the publisher’s blurb as a “primeval stand-off between mother and daughter”, yet to the average reader it will seem more subtle – even a fairly typical relationship between two strong-minded people – and Ziervogel tackles it with aplomb. Is Clara controlled by her mother?

Scenes featuring conflict are abrupt and infrequent – “‘I know why you make that accusation,’ her mother suddenly says in an aggressive tone” – and are offset by Michele’s perception of her mother’s fragility: “Michele kneels down and puts her arms around her mother. Clara feels tiny and very thin.”

When the story is presented as a snapshot of an upper middle class couple struggling to hold on to their marriage it is hugely successful, but this is not, in the end, a sinister tale about a woman trapped in a loveless marriage with a monster for a mother, as the reader may have been led to believe.

Ziervogel’s prose is generally superb, with true flair and an originality that is rare when confronting such an everyday subject. Clara’s Daughter is essentially a misnomer, because the real struggle is between Michele and Jim, the latter of whom the reader is encouraged to feel the most sympathetic towards. If anything, it could have been called “Michele’s Husband”.

Clara’s Daughter, By Meike Ziervogel, (Salt Publishing £9.99)