Brahms Comes to Dinner, an historical novel set in Germany in the mid-19th century tells the story of renowned composer Johannes Brahms and his lifelong friendship and love for Clara Schumann, widow of Robert Schumann. The Schumanns were early champions of the young composer, and the novel brings to life the interaction among the three, circling around the intimate dinners Brahms enjoyed as a guest of the Schumannsthe .Boman Desai has deftly recreated the unrequited love between the younger composer and the widowed Clara, who chose instead to give her life and passion over to memorializing her late husband's work and art at the expense of her own.
Music and love intertwine in this compelling historical novel of a romance that never dies—yet burns unrequited for a lifetime— between the great composer Johannes Brahms and Clara Schumann, the widow of his musical champion Robert Schumann.