The “sonata” title is apt, too, in that, like the great classical composers, Tremain shows happiness and sorrow can collide – there are moments when the two are interchangeable. And the marriage could not hope to prosper because Emilie was not born with the temperament to rally in adversity, the stoicism to rise above circumstances, nor is her intelligence equal to her husband’s.Įrich’s saturated unhappiness seems unavoidable. It was a chance encounter, a random swipe, an unlucky dip.
Emilie won her handsome husband by boldly asking him to kiss her at a local fete to stop him paying attention to her prettier friend – a snog that became a marriage. What Rose Tremain understands, above all, is the tragedy of temperament and the way it plays havoc with choice. And yet, at the same time, we see that everything that happens is beyond blame it could hardly have been otherwise. Tremain does not judge – so we, inevitably, do: Emilie has not earned her son’s unfailing love. The narrative skill and subtlety are exemplary. What Gustav is not permitted to express or fully admit to himself, we feel for him. At every turn, Tremain knows when and how to let us read between the lines and see beneath the Swiss surfaces.
0 kommentar(er)
