Clara and Mr. Tiffany

Bestselling author Susan Vreeland once again brings life to a work of art with this extraordinary novel, which brings a woman who was once lost in the shadows into vivid color, set against the unforgettable backdrop of New York near the turn of the twentieth century, from the Gilded Age world of formal balls and opera to the immigrant poverty of the Lower East Side.

In 1893, Louis Comfort Tiffany makes his debut at the Chicago World's Fair with a brilliant display of avant-garde stained-glass windows. He thinks that this would honor his family's company and establish him as a prominent figure in the global creative arena. However, the free-thinking Clara Driscoll, who oversees his women's section, works behind the scenes at his New York studio. Though mostly unknown outside of Tiffany, Clara is responsible for the conception and design of almost all of the recognizable leaded-glass lights for which he is well-known.

Clara battles her need for creative validation and the apparently insurmountable obstacles she encounters in her career, which finally drives her to demonstrate against the business she has laboriously built. In addition, she yearns for love and company and is in various ways dedicated to five men, one of them is Tiffany, who upholds the stringent rule that he does not hire married women and that those who do so must quit right away. Like many women, Clara will eventually have to choose between her personal and professional lives in order to choose which brings her the most joy.