This book is an interesting choice for me, mainly because this is not usually the kind of book that's on my radar. I am usually a reader of mysteries and classic literature; this is a bit out of my comfort zone. The fact of the matter is that I do not even know how to categorize the book, which is an exciting option for me. I was looking to expand my horizons and I decided to read this book.
The book is structured much like Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse,
one of my favorite books from my youth. There are two main characters who take
turns narrating. The first one is Kari, a middle aged, divorced woman who is looking for
her former self, somebody who she was before she was diverted by a marriage
that wasn't horrible, but also wasn't what she wanted
The other character is Sarah, a young woman who had just come
of age, someone who is devoted to her art: the cello, but really unsure of
herself, even though she stubbornly believes that she sees and knows her path.
The story revolves around art. Which is another delightful
part of the book. Through Sarah’s cello playing and Kari’s experience working
in the theater, the reader gets exposed to the inner workings of a musician and
a theater person. It is evident that the author has great passion and knowledge
about both subjects, as well as art in general, for she slowly and gently exposes
the reader to many of the nuances of the arts. It was a welcomed lesson in
areas that I had very little knowledge.
The story starts with a gentle pace. It introduces us to the
characters and using first person narrative of the two women. The link is that Kari is renting a room from
Sarah’s aunt after her divorce. The initial narratives were the two women
speaking about themselves and about their initial impressions of each other. There
was judgement and descriptions of their environment in the rooming house, which
gives us an idea of who each of the characters are. The story proceeds at a
languid pace, which is quite welcomed, it slowly builds the characters through
small and not overly dramatic revelations as the plot moves along at a
comfortable pace. We learn about the two women, their inner thoughts, how they
see the world, and how they see themselves in the external world. The really clever part is that the author
approaches the characters from different points of view which gives us a nice juxtaposition
of the two characters, their worldview, their way of looking at their own and
each other’s lives. Kari is world weary, and she's lost her compass after her divorce.
Sarah, on the other hand, is much more constrained
emotionally because she's a 22-year-old reacting to her lot in life. As we progress
through the two stories, they began to intertwine, and morph into a single
narrative. Upon first reading the book,
I thought this two-person narrative would be a difficult constraint for the storyteller,
but in fact the author did a phenomenal job of describing the two characters in
each of their unique voices, giving us discernable impressions at how the the characters saw themselves and how they saw
each other as the story slowly but surely builds up momentum.
In parallel with the story, the author gives us lessons in
music: both classical and contemporary music of my youth since the story is set
in that particular era. The reader also
gets lessons in mythology, experimental stagecraft, philosophy, amongst many
others. It was quite gently and subtly informational, the erudition kept the story
going while also keeping the readers delighted.
The story accelerates as it moves to the reader begin to know and care for Kari and
Sarah in different ways. The individual
sections begin to stop being readings and started to become a conversation with Kari and Sarah.
The story line accelerates very quickly at the very end of
the story to the inevitable and surprising denouement. It took turns where I
didn't anticipate. By the time I got to the end of the story, I found myself
attached to and involved with both characters as well as being surprised at the
ending.
This novel works on many levels for the reader. The mix of
the story, the knowledge, and the characters lead the reader into this world of
the Magic Theater, where they find themselves in a most magical place.
