I Am Clarence

Elaine Kraf

$22.99

Paperback

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English

Penguin Classics
10 July 2025

Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945); Fiction: special features

A haunting novel exploring a mother's fierce love for her disabled son as she grapples with her own mental health, by the author of the feminist cult classic The Princess of 72nd Street

For Clarence's mother, life revolves around her young son; she takes him to see specialists to find the cause of his blindness and developmental delays, protects him from the cruelty of other children, and loves him tenderly. But she has her own struggles too. Her sanity is precarious and fractured, making caregiving increasingly difficult.

When her mental health reaches a breaking point, she checks herself into an institution so that she can get better and, she tells herself, be a better mother to Clarence. As she is forced to decide between his well-being and hers, Elaine Kraf poses the essential question- can a mother's love for her child soothe her own emotional upheaval? How much can she sacrifice for her son?

Through this unforgettable journey into one woman's mind and relationships, Kraf paints a harrowing portrait of motherhood which remains timely and inventive over fifty years after its initial publication.

By: Elaine Kraf
Imprint: Penguin Classics
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 129mm, Width: 130mm, Spine: 13mm
Weight: 170g
ISBN: 9780241766859
ISBN 10: 0241766850
Pages: 224
Publication Date: 10 July 2025
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Elaine Kraf (1936-2013) was a writer and painter. She was the author of four published works of fiction- I Am Clarence (1969), The House of Madelaine (1971), Find Him! (1977) and The Princess of 72nd Street (1979)-as well as several unpublished novels, plays and poetry collections. She was the recipient of two National Endowment for the Arts awards, a 1971 fellowship at the Broad Loaf Writers' Conference and a 1977 residency at Yaddo. She was born and lived in New York City.

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I Am Clarence

Elaine Kraf

$22.99

Paperback

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