CLARA CALLAN

Richard B. Wright's celebrated novel is the powerful and moving story of two small-town sisters and their life-changing experiences on the eve of the Second World War - a masterpiece of fiction.

Clara Callan, a strong and independent-minded woman, struggles to observe the traditional boundaries of her small Canadian town after her sister, Nora, embarks on a glamorous career as a radio-soap opera star in 1930s New York. It's a time when the growing threat of fascism in Europe is a constant worry, and people escape from reality through radio and the movies. Meanwhile, the two sisters - vastly different in personality, yet inextricably linked by a shared past - try to find their places within the complex web of social expectations for young women in the 1930s.

Clara struggles to observe the traditional boundaries of a small and tight-knit community without relinquishing her dreams of love, freedom, and adventure. However, things aren't as simple as they appear - Nora's letters eventually reveal life in the big city is less exotic than it seems, and the tranquil solitude of Clara's life is shattered by a series of unforeseeable events. These twists of fate require all of Clara's courage and strength, and finally put the seemingly unbreakable bond between the sisters to the test.

RICHARD B. WRIGHT was the bestselling author of fourteen novels. Following the critically-acclaimed Clara Callan (2001), his novel Adultery (2004) was nominated for the International Dublin Literary Award. Adultery and the Giller Prize-nominated October (2007) were both bestsellers. Wright passed away in February 2017.