The Poet's Wife
It is 1841.
Patty is married to John Clare: peasant poet, genius and madman.
Travelling home one day, Patty finds her husband sitting, footsore, at the side of the road, having absconded from a lunatic asylum over eighty miles away. She is devastated to discover that he has returned home not to find her, but to search for his childhood sweetheart, Mary Joyce, to whom he believes he is married.
Patty loves John deeply, but he seems lost to her. Plagued by jealousy, she seeks strength in memories: their whirlwind courtship, the poems John wrote for her, their shared affinity for the land. But as John descends further into delusion, hope seems to be fading. Will she ever be able to conquer her own anger and hurt, and reconcile with this man she now barely knows?
Praise for The Poet's Wife:
‘Affecting and beautifully written. Patty’s voice is at once homely and poetic, and her lyrical descriptions of the rhythms and customs of nineteenth century England – where it is unlucky to look at the moon through glass, and where a bundle of corn is left in the field at the end of every harvest, like an offering to the gods – are at the heart of the novel.’ The Times
‘This novel will leave you reaching for the nearest copy of John Clare’s powerful poems’ Daily Mail
‘A subtle and sympathetic portrayal of losing a loved one to mental illness’ Times Literary Supplement
‘A fascinating, compelling book, written with subtlety and a delicate touch, about the wife of John Clare, and the bewildering effects of her husband’s madness’ Clare Morrall
Judith developed a love for nature and poetry as a teenager and has been a fan of John Clare ever since. She was so moved by the letters he sent to his family while an inmate at Northampton General Lunatic Asylum, that she felt compelled to explore Patty’s story. What must it be like to be married to a man and have nine children with him, only to discover that he now believes himself married to someone else? This was something Judith just had to write to find out. She decided to give Patty a voice and the poet’s wife began to tell her story.