Description

It is 1911, and a man boards a ship at the crowded docks in New York City. As he steps on board, the memories begin flooding back, and we learn he is no ordinary man, and this is no ordinary journey.

This transatlantic sailing is the poignant final journey of Gustav Mahler, a renowned composer at the end of his life. He considers the joy and loss he experienced with his wife, Alma, the meaning of art, and the significance of legacy. This culminates in a humbling meditation on the enduring impact of our choices.

Publisher Review

Praise for Robert Seethaler: ‘Filled with truth after truth, poignantly rendered and given to us with tender open-handedness. Seethaler is in his very own league, capturing a place and time that is ultimately universal’ — ELIZABETH STROUT A poet of the small, the random and the event without consequence, [Seethaler’s] is a world we can all enjoy * * Guardian * * Seethaler’s literary preoccupations [can be placed] alongside writers such as Claire Keegan, John Berger or John Williams * * Financial Times * * The prose has the stillness of a Vermeer . . . In a world of action movies and social media there’s little time for quiet contemplation. Seethaler reminds us we’re part of a whole * * Spectator * * Seethaler renders a life at once ordinary and exquisite, exploring the vagaries of solitude with a gentle humility * * Times Literary Supplement * * Seethaler’s prose is deceptively simple, filled with exquisite yet simple details. . . warm, fleeting, and profoundly human * * Independent Book Review * * A god of ordinary people’s feelings . . . characters and settings come alive without a single wasted word and with no undue heaviness * * Frankfurter Rundschau * *