"Clara Wieck met Robert Schumann when she was eight years old and he was seventeen and in time they would seduce each other and the world. Their love affair was famous, fervent, and ultimately tragic, and it blossomed during a time when passion and music were the stuff of life itself.". "Robert shocked audiences with music that heralded the beginning of the modern era while he drove his mind, his body, and the people who loved him to their limits. At the piano, the enchanting and brilliant Clara was the most celebrated woman of her age, while at home, she braved the volcano that was her husband. The couple's emotional landscape included the musical giants of the time - Liszt, Chopin, Mendelssohn, and in time, Brahms, the man with whom both Clara and Robert were in love.". "Longing explores the nature and danger of passion - artistic and physical - with precision, sympathy, and wisdom."--BOOK JACKET.