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A novel in three movements
Jul. 14th, 2024 08:54 pmBook Review: The Gustav Sonata, by Rose Tremain
This was either a book swap shelf or a second-hand purchase. It is a long time since I read The Road Home, but I remember it fondly, so I was curious to read another book by the same author. Gustav and Anton grow up in a small town in Switzerland in the years after the war. Gustav is brought up by a single mother, and it's a loveless home; Anton is a musical prodigy in a wealthy Jewish home. Gustav's mother resents the Jews, but it's not clear why; it has something to do with his father's death.
Tremain then chooses to back-track to the late 1930s and early 1940s, filling in the relationship between Erich and Emilie Perle. Erich was deputy police chief in the town, and among other tasks, was at times responsible for handling the paperwork of Jewish refugees. Although not directly related to his death, it links to an inflection point and a decline in the relationship.
In the final part, Tremain fast-forwards to the 1990s. Gustav and Anton have been successful in their respective ways, though they are perhaps not always happy about it. Gustav runs a hotel, and Anton has become a music teacher. Some truths need to be discovered.
I found one or two episodes in the book disturbing and not necessary to the plot, but overall Tremain draws the story together successfully. There is a resolution of sorts, but nothing quite takes the form expected, like the real world.
This was either a book swap shelf or a second-hand purchase. It is a long time since I read The Road Home, but I remember it fondly, so I was curious to read another book by the same author. Gustav and Anton grow up in a small town in Switzerland in the years after the war. Gustav is brought up by a single mother, and it's a loveless home; Anton is a musical prodigy in a wealthy Jewish home. Gustav's mother resents the Jews, but it's not clear why; it has something to do with his father's death.
Tremain then chooses to back-track to the late 1930s and early 1940s, filling in the relationship between Erich and Emilie Perle. Erich was deputy police chief in the town, and among other tasks, was at times responsible for handling the paperwork of Jewish refugees. Although not directly related to his death, it links to an inflection point and a decline in the relationship.
In the final part, Tremain fast-forwards to the 1990s. Gustav and Anton have been successful in their respective ways, though they are perhaps not always happy about it. Gustav runs a hotel, and Anton has become a music teacher. Some truths need to be discovered.
I found one or two episodes in the book disturbing and not necessary to the plot, but overall Tremain draws the story together successfully. There is a resolution of sorts, but nothing quite takes the form expected, like the real world.