Mark fews kids8/3/2023 ![]() ![]() Her mother’s health was declining and her younger sister‚ Jean‚ suffered from epilepsy. After Susy’s death‚ Clara found herself in the emotionally draining position of keeping the family together. Her hopes of becoming an opera star were never fulfilled‚ but she had a somewhat successful career as a recital soloist.Ĭlara was the daughter who found it easiest to function independently of her family‚ and longed to break away and start her own life. Clara was a fine pianist and also performed as a singer. Clara’s My Father: Mark Twain is largely concerned with describing their travels on that lecture tour. As a young woman‚ she accompanied her parents on their round-the-world trip in 1895-96. Their broken hearts would never fully recover.Ĭlara was more adventurous than her older sister and more prone to mishaps‚ breaking her ankle while sledding on the steep slope where the Hartford house sits. Her family never returned to the Hartford home to live‚ and it was sold in 1903. She remained in Elmira‚ N.Y.‚ with her mothers’ family and her youngest sister‚ Jean.īefore the family was reunited a year later‚ Susy fell ill with spinal meningitis and died at their Hartford home before her mother was able to return to be with her. When Clemens was forced to go on a round-the-world lecture tour in order to raise money and pay off his debts in the summer of 1895 Susy did not go. During this time‚ Susy concentrated her efforts on becoming an opera singer‚ but that‚ too‚ was unsuccessful. The family closed up the home in Hartford and spent the better part of the next four years in Europe. In June 1891 Mark Twain’s investment in the Paige typesetting machine was approaching failure‚ and his publishing company‚ Charles Webster and Company‚ was struggling. That emotional loss‚ and the family’s worsening financial status‚ are thought to be the main reasons Susy returned home. Both her grandmothers died that fall‚ and the girls were particularly close to Livy’s mother. Historians have speculated on the reasons for her departure‚ but the strongest is probably that of being separated from her family during trying times. Susy Clemens entered Bryn Mawr College outside of Philadelphia in the fall of 1890 but did not remain there long. Susy herself wrote a play called The Love Chase that she and her sisters and friends performed in the drawing room of the house. They turned their father’s The Prince and the Pauper into a stage play in which Susy played a starring role. (Today Susy’s words can be read in a stunning children’s version of her book called The Extraordinary Mark Twain (According to Susy) by Barbara Kerley.) The children entertained themselves and family friends with games of charades and acted out their favorite stories. Much of Susy’s writing is included in Mark Twain’s autobiographical writings‚ where he preserves her grammar and spelling and reflects on her version of events. When she was 13‚ Susy began writing a biography of her father‚ incorporating family stories‚ letters he had written‚ articles about him and her own thoughts about her father. All these skills were expected of young upper middle-class women.Īs a teenager Susy was prone to bouts of depression and other illness‚ which limited some of her activities. The girls also studied piano‚ singing and social dancing. Olivia employed a German nurse who always conversed with the children in German so they could practice their skills. Clemens wanted them to read German books before English books – his reason being that they would learn English no matter what‚ and it would be easier for them to learn other languages while they were young. Livy conducted most of the lessons at first‚ but later employed tutors and governesses to teach reading‚ writing‚ history‚ arithmetic‚ literature and science. All three Clemens girls were taught at home. ![]()
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