National Network for Equitable Library Service

The clarion trumpet is the highest register. A "clarion call" is an urgent, singular request for something to occur, a longing. Peter is a musician. He longs for collective belonging. The Clarion covers five days in Peter's life -- Monday through Friday. On Monday, Peter goes to an audition. On Tuesday, he works prep in a kitchen. On Wednesday, he goes out clubbing. On Thursday, he meets his sister, Stasi, for lunch and gets a call about the audition. On Friday, he goes back to the restaurant where he performed on Monday. In a parallel narrative, Stasi's time runs over several months -- she loses a promotion to VP and spirals emotionally, going to therapy, revealing she has not yet grieved her mother's death. Stasi is also having an extramarital affair and worried about her daughter's heightened sensitivity (HSP), a family trait. While Peter's sensitivity is expressed as empathetic and kind, Stasi's is commanding and tough. As the eldest sibling, in childhood Stasi felt responsible for everyone, while Peter, the youngest, was cared for well into adulthood where he now struggles financially without a "traditional" job. Reminiscent of the literary realism of Alice Munro, Mavis Gallant, Miriam Toews, Rachel Cusk, and Jennifer Egan, The Clarion is ultimately about intimacy. In tone, The Clarion brings to mind the cinematic works of Frances Ha, and films such as Marriage Story, Lost in Translation, Can You Ever Forgive Me, Annie Hall, Moonstruck, and As Good As It Gets, in a style and vivid character scope continues to evoke the vague if hopeful melancholy of any generation that believes it was never "called" to something great.