The Gustav Sonata, by Rose Tremain

As I sit here, shawl around my shoulders and afghan across my lap, rocking in my rocking chair and gazing over my granny glasses at the first real snowstorm of the winter, my thoughts turn naturally toward Switzerland, the setting of The Gustav Sonata.

Author Rose Tremain, 74, is an English novelist, short story writer, and former Chancellor of the University of East Anglia. She is the award-winning author of fourteen novels, five short story collections, and one children’s book. With a special liking for historical novels, Tremain saw one of her works, Restoration, made into a successful motion picture in 1995, featuring Robert Downey, Jr.

The Gustav Sonata, published in 2016, like many of her works has been greeted with effusive critical praise, and for good reason. Tremain is an excellent, engaging writer who is not afraid to tackle difficult subjects. Inspired by a true incident in World War II, the novel begins in 1947 and centres on young Gustav, aged 5. Gustav lives alone with his mother, Emilie Perle, affectionately known to him as Mutti, in the town of Matzlingen, Switzerland. Emilie works in the local dairy cooperative that produces the world famous Emmental cheese. She also holds a second part-time job as a cleaner in the local church, where she is often accompanied by little Gustav. Emilie’s husband, Erich Perle, was Matzlingen’s assistant chief of police, but died before Gustav had the chance to know him. It is the relationship between Erich and Emilie which forms the core of the second section of the book, but the first part, spanning the years 1947 to 1952, is centred on Gustav’s childhood, his strained relationship with the distant Mutti, and his newfound friendship with Anton.

Anton’s well-to-do Jewish family have moved to Matzlingen from the much larger city of Bern. The two boys become fast friend, but Gustav’s mother Emilie is not as smitten with the Zweibels as Gustav. Her circumstances have greatly diminished since Erich’s death, and her once comfortable lifestyle is a thing of the past, leaving her embittered and closed off. “The only toy [Gustav] owned was a little metal train…. At the carriage windows, people’s faces had been painted on, all of them given expressions of blank surprise. To these startled people, Gustav would occasionally whisper, ‘You have to master yourselves,” a philosophy ingrained into him by Emilie.

Emilie makes it very clear that she believes “the Jews” were responsible for Erich’s death some years before, and she, like many Swiss at that time, is quick to single them out for blame. The specific reasons for her anti-semitic convictions come to light in Part 2, which jumps back in time and covers the years 1937 to 1942. But, in 1947, Gustav and Anton discover the joys of close friendship, with Gustav a frequent guest in the Zweibel’s comparatively opulent home, and a captive audience to budding concert pianist Anton’s frequent recitals. Although Gustav himself enjoys music, he is not a practitioner, and greatly admires Anton’s prowess on the piano. However Anton is a gifted pianist, but suffers debilitating anxiety when it is time to compete, ultimately leading to the abandonment of his dreams of glory as a concert pianist. He pursues a career as a music teacher, a far cry from the future he and his family had planned.

Part 2 takes the reader into the prewar period, and it is during this time that the actual incident which inspired Ms. Tremain to pen The Gustav Sonata occurred. With life becoming increasingly difficult for Jews in the surrounding countries, neutral Switzerland eventually felt the need to stem the rising tide of Jewish refugees. Erich, the soft-hearted Matzlingen Assistant Police Chief, could not bring himself to turn them away, and his decision to continue to admit them into the country ultimately led to his demise.

Erich is devastated by his firing, as is his wife Emilie. The loss of his position leads to their economic and social downfall, and Emilie, who was already depressed due to the loss of their unborn child, is particularly hard hit. Now burdened with the problems of unemployment and a loveless, mismatched marriage, Erich begins an affair with his Chief’s wife, the voluptuous Lottie. This tempestuous relationship, combined with his unremitting problems with Emilie and the love he feels for newborn baby Gustav, results in a fatal heart attack on Lottie’s doorstep.

Part 3 is set in 1992, when Gustav is 40, owner of a small but successful hotel in his home town of Matzlingen, and Anton has moved on with his life, living in Zurich. The latter has been taken under the wing of a flighty but compelling musical impresario and decides to once again pursue his dream of becoming a professional musician. The once-close friendship of Anton and Gustav has cooled, but Gustav still hopes that a rekindling might come about.

Recounting the plot specifics does not do justice to the author’s graceful prose and insight into her characters’ inner lives. Several of the members of my book club felt that the first two sections were the most effective, and the denouement of the final chapter hit a false note, but I enjoyed the book in its entirety. The focus on music, in both the story itself and in the structure of the book—a sonata always has three distinct parts— made me think that packaging a CD of Beethoven’s sonatas with the novel would have been an excellent marketing tool, as well as a delightful accompaniment to the story.

The Gustav Sonata can be ordered on interlibrary loan, and Lennoxville Library has another title by Rose Tremain, The American Lover and Other Stories.