Reviews

Clara at Sixty serves up a deep dive into emotional complexity and middle-aged angst.  Yvette Nachmias-Baeu has fashioned a poignant and, at times, gut-wrenching tale of one woman's struggle to find fulfillment amid the demands of aging and the heartbreak of loss. A primer on negotiating that period when one realizes their best times are behind them, Clara at Sixty seeks to provide a formula for hope and a recipe for happiness against all odds.  Deeply moving and emotively captivating, this is a tale of insightful introspection at its best.

—Jon Land, USA Today bestselling author

CLARA AT SIXTY TELLS THE STORY OF AN INTELLIGENT AND PASSIONATE WOMAN'S SEARCH FOR MEANING IN LIFE AFTER THE DEATH OF HER HUSBAND. MS. NACHMIAS-BAEU'S LOVELY PROSE IS AS ENCHANTING AS IS THE STEADFAST CLARA, A WOMAN WHO WAIVERS IN THE HANDS OF A PLETHORA OF UNSUITABLE SUITORS. THE AUTHOR NOT ONLY HAS AN ACUTE SENSE OF THE EMOTIONAL AND PHYSICAL NEEDS OF WOMEN LEFT ALONE IN WHAT IS STILL ARGUABLY A MAN'S WORLD, BUT A KEEN INSIGHT INTO WHAT MAKES MEN TICK AS WELL. CLARA'S JOURNEY IS AN EMOTIONAL ROLLER-COASTER, SOMETIMES CAREENING OUT OF CONTROL AND LEAVING A LOT OF BITTER FEELINGS STREWN ABOUT HELTER-SKELTER ON A BARREN PSYCHIC LANDSCAPE. BUT THE ROUGH RIDE IS SOFTENED BY THE AUTHOR'S DEFT USE OF THE LANGUAGE AND THE ALWAYS ENGAGING CLARA. LOYAL AND STRONG, SENSITIVE AND PASSIONATE, CLARA IS A CHARACTER SO FINELY DRAWN THAT YOU CAN'T HELP BUT BE PULLED INTO HER COMPLEX WORLD OF DISCOVERY. AND THERE IS A LOT TO BE DISCOVERED!

—David Christner, Playwright

From the first paragraph, I thought “Oh Clara!” This book is full of loss and pain and phrased so perfectly that I felt Nachmias-Baeu had stolen my life. But the book is not about pain and loss. It is about moving on. Getting over the hurdle of overcoming dreams never to be and dealing with who to be when we grow up. I can understand Clara’s need to be needed and fretted each time she let herself be swept away with possible romance and happily-ever-afters. Her downs are spot-on and her ups are…as are most at any age… fleeting. I cried a great deal reading this book and feel a better person for it. You will cheer for her, feel for her and most of all, love her.

—Cat Shannon, Internet blog reviewer

What a powerful writer! I am weeping again. In her first book, “A Reluctant Life,” she broke my heart at the first page; in this one, near the last. She shows us, in a real and visceral way, that love, compassion, and forgiveness are all that really matters.

The well drawn episodes, allow us to feel the palpable futility of looking outside oneself. If I were to compare this book to Eat, Pray, Love, I would only say this: Clara is true and authentic. No one understands what burning a life down to ashes feels like until it happens. Clara’s wisdom is earned through suffering.

—Mark Hammond, Author, M in the Demon Realm

Clara At Sixty is the fictional memoir of a sensitive and still sensual woman who finds herself stranded on that particular desert island that's reserved for the slightly-more-than-middle aged,

Still looking for connection after the death of her beloved husband, unwilling to go gently into sexual oblivion, Clara rather fearlessly reaches outward but instead of finding solace or even finding herself, she finds herself getting lost in a turbulent series of emotional misadventures.

Painfully honest, sharply insightful, the narrative is mined with golden nuggets of prose and occasional explosives that burst on the page as reminders that living is a dangerous occupation.

—Linda Stewart, Author

Seldom does even exceptional writing allow us to actually join a narrator on a truly full journey complete with diverse experience and growth. Yvette Nachmias-Baeu accomplishes this in her tour de force "Clara at Sixty". Nachmias-Baeu shares meaningful insights and exposure into various cultures and social events within these cultures. "Clara" takes us with her as she explores friendships, relationships, love, sensuality and sexuality throughout "various" benchmarks of age and times of grief both redefined and maturing. The book attacks ageism by generating very personal heat associated with women "of a certain age" who society and culture have historically and consistently marginalized.

The book also allows us to share the experiences and growth of a refugee become immigrant and vital American in every way. Nachmias-Baeu uses the textures and colors of this palette to enhance an already rich story line. Readers diminish a rare, incredible opportunity for personal development and understanding if they fail to read and fully explore Clara at Sixty

—Jeff Bielicki, Rochester, NY

I admire the poetic, lyrical quality of much of  her writing.  Some passages took my breath away.  What a careful observer she is and how admirably she records what she observes.  I've never had the experience of reading an extended text by a friend that feels so personal!  It was truly an unusual experience and one that's given me a lot to think about I felt myself shifting my stance as I read.  

—E. Landay. Author, Brown University, Providence, RI

Unique, extraordinary, impressive, absorbing, and a story that will linger in the mind and memory long after the book itself has been finished and set back upon the shelf, "Clara at Sixty" by Yvette Nachmias-Baeu is strongly recommended for community library collections

—Midwest Book Review