The Gustav Sonata by Rose Tremain

From Goodreads

Gustav Perle grows up in a small town in Switzerland, where the horrors of the Second World War seem only a distant echo. An only child, he lives alone with Emilie, the mother he adores but who treats him with bitter severity. He begins an intense friendship with a Jewish boy his age, talented and mercurial Anton Zweibel, a budding concert pianist. The novel follows Gustav’s family, tracing the roots of his mother’s anti-Semitism and its impact on her son and his beloved friend.

Moving backward to the war years and the painful repercussions of an act of conscience, and forward through the lives and careers of Gustav and Anton, The Gustav Sonata explores the passionate love of childhood friendship as it's lost, transformed, and regained over a lifetime. It's a powerful and deeply moving addition to the beloved oeuvre of one of our greatest contemporary novelists.

My thoughts

This was my local Library reading group read and perhaps, if it hadn't been I might not have been tempted to pick it up. The cover isn't very enticing, however I'm not one that always judges a book on it's cover. The blurb on the back might have sold it to me though.

Predominantly this story is about the friendship between Gustav and Anton. We first meet them as children. Gustav has a strange life as a child, but meeting Anton helps give his life some normality.

As the story goes back in time, we the reader learn about the way of life of Gustav and Anton's parents and the effects that the second world war had on them. The story focuses more on Gustav's family with Anton's playing a minor part. This then has repercussions on the lives of their children, Gustav and Anton.

Can a friendship that is forged in childhood, stand the test of time and follow on through one's life?

I found this a quirky read at times, whilst it had historical references it's also quite a contemporary read too. Friendships and relationships can be tricky things and don't always last through life. The friendship between Gustav and Anton isn't always a close one, but that's often how friendships go. I enjoyed the writing style and found that the characters Gustav and Anton were well suited with similar interests as youngsters following on into their early teenage years.