Description

What is the difference between friendship and love?

Gustav grows up in a small town in Switzerland, where the horrors of the Second World War seem a distant echo. But Gustav’s father has mysteriously died, and his adored mother Emilie is strangely cold and indifferent to him. Gustav’s life is a lonely one until he meets Anton. An intense lifelong friendship develops but Anton fails to understand how deeply and irrevocably his life and Gustav’s are entwined until it is almost too late…

‘A perfect novel about life’s imperfection… Tremain is writing at the height of her inimitable powers…’ Kate Kellaway, Observer

‘Heartbreaking, unsentimental and beautifully written, and it reinforces my opinion that there are few writers out there with the dexterity or emotional intelligence to rival that of the great Rose Tremain.’ John Boyne, The Irish Times

Publisher Review

This is a perfect novel about life's imperfection... Tremain is writing at the height of her inimitable powers... Remarkable and moving novel. -- Kate Kellaway * Observer * The Gustav Sonata is a magnificent novel, heartbreaking, unsentimental and beautifully written, and it reinforces my opinion that there are few writers out there with the dexterity or emotional intelligence to rival that of the great Rose Tremain. -- John Boyne * The Irish Times * Beautifully tender and brilliantly written novel... A tale of the most powerful part of any friendship: love. ***** * Stylist * In The Gustav Sonata, Tremain once again proves herself to be a writer of exceptional talent ... Previous novels like The Road Home have already showcased her staggering sensitivity and capacity for empathy but they're here again, magnificently undiminished. Tremain is a writer who understands every emotion ... and it's ultimately this understanding that has produced another exquisite book -- Matt Cain * i * Tremain has the painterly genius of an Old Master, and she uses it to stunning effect... Glorious. -- Melissa Katsoulis * The Times *