This was an enjoyable read and I would recommend it. thanks for letting me have an advance copy. I'm new to this author.

This novel is a remedy. If you have been reading too many fast-moving, cliff-hanging, emotionally-wringing new novels which don’t give you time to breathe, now sink into this. ‘The Gustav Sonata’ by Rose Tremain is a sensitive portrayal of the friendship of two boys who meet at kindergarten and form a lifelong on-off friendship. Gustav and Anton are the products of their parents and upbringing, and the baggage they inherit. All of this is complicated by post-war Switzerland. The war seems, to them, irrelevant, but in fact it frames their whole lives.
Gustav lives with his widowed mother Emilie in a small town in Switzerland. Money is tight and Emilie juggles jobs to manage. As a lonely toddler who misses a father he barely remembers, Gustav longs for more warmth from an emotionally-distant mother. She encourages him to ‘master himself’, his behaviour, his emotions, his ambitions. He accompanies her to her cleaning job at the local church, he helps by cleaning rubbish from beneath the grating; instead of throwing it away, he keeps it carefully in a tin. The only person with whom he shares these treasures is Anton, his first real friend. Visiting Anton’s home and meeting his parents, Gustav comes to realize that his own lifestyle is not the norm and that other people live and love in different ways. He starts to question his mother, her distance, her lack of love, and why she will not talk about Gustav’s father, Erich. Anton, Gustav soon understands, is emotionally vulnerable and unable to master himself. This makes him feel protective of his friend, especially when it becomes clear to Gustav that his mother dislikes Anton. The reasons why are hinted at but not understood until the story of Erich is told.
This is a slow-paced novel about friendship, love, and how and where these connect and disconnect. It is about the expectations of relationships and how these can run afoul when any hopes and ambitions are hidden. And it is about conscience: when to do the right thing; what is the right thing; when to remain silent and when to speak out. Decisions taken based on conscience can haunt an individual all their life and affect everyone around them forever. The conflicts faced by the two boys and their parents reflect the moral dilemmas faced by Switzerland during World War Two and afterwards, long after the two boys have become men.
The story is told in three parts. Gustav’s childhood to the age of five. The story of Emilie and Erich’s romance and early married life. And finally Gustav and Anton as men in their fifties. Facts are slowly revealed which explain Emile’s coldness, and Erich’s failure as a police officer. But some things remain a secret until Gustav himself is nearing retirement and his mother is no longer there to question. Anton’s hoped-for high-flown career as a concert pianist morphs into the underwhelming one of music teacher in his hometown. Gustav opens a hotel and concentrates on creating comfort for his guests. A comfort he never felt in his own home: warmth, soft beds, roaring fires, exquisite food. Both men are products of their childhood but lack the self-awareness to change things mid-life. At the heart of it all is Mitteland, their ordinary hometown.
Mitteland in itself is an indication of how Tremain spins a compelling story out of everyday ingredients. There is nothing glamorous about ‘The Gustav Sonata’. There is depression, privation and jealousy. But there is also love and hope. The scenes in Davos when the two boys play make-believe, running a sanatorium for imaginary sufferers of TB, are delicate and touching. Rose Tremain is an author whose books vary considerably from each other. The breadth of her understanding of human nature, and the diversity of history and settings she writes about, is humbling. She is never a boring author.
Read more of my book reviews at http://www.sandradanby.com/book-reviews-a-z/

A beautiful and sorrowful story about love, loss and hardship in post war Switzerland.

I didn't know what to expect from this story and it isn't my typical read but I can appreciate the beautiful skill that this author has.  Despite this not being my typical type of book I was captivate by the story of Gustav and how his life is affected by those around him.  I became fully immersed in the story line quickly and found myself saying....just one more page on more than one occasion.

The story showed how the tendrils of war reached Switzerland despite its neutrality and the effects that had on the lives of those that tried to help, tried to flee or tried to ignore!

Gustav's life wasn't one of unbridled joy and there is much sorrow in this book and I found myself more than a couple of times on the verge or tears and I loved reading the budding friendship of Gustav and Anton unfold and grow across the years.

My only disappointment with this story is the large jump from a young Gustav to a Gustav in his fifties I so wish there had been more about his time as a young adult and how he overcame the adversity he faced. I felt that I'd missed out on two chapters somewhere along the way!

This is an outstanding book, about two boys, one Gustav is lonely, and seemingly friendless, and with a chaotic home-life. The other, Anton, is a Jewish piano genius, who gets too frightened to play in competitions. They team up, and play complicated games together, much to the annoyance of \Gustav's mother. However,Anton relaxes around Gustav, and they travel around with Anton's parents.
Eventually Anton is discovered by a record producer, and ends up having a nervous breakdown. Gustav comes to his aid, and they finish their lives together.
The characters in this book are so well drawn, you can almost imagine you have met them. The plot is plausible, and well written.
Many thanks to the publisher, and to Net Galley for giving me the chance to read it.

Rather disappointed with this. I found I couldn't really engage with the characters and that the 'flashback' to the events during WW2 were more interesting than the 'present day' story.

Well written in fact beautiful is the word i feel inclined to use.

It feels right but for me and i dont think i am representative it just didnt engage sufficiently to make me feel fully involved.

I know lots of people who would love this

Switzerland is well known for its neutrality during the Second World War but, as we see in Rose Tremain’s The Gustav Sonata, even remaining neutral didn’t mean that Switzerland and its people completely escaped the effects of war. The Gustav Sonata explores some of these effects, as well as looking, on a more personal level, at other meanings of neutrality and of courage, separateness and strength.

The novel is divided into three parts, presumably to resemble the movements of a sonata. The first is set just after the war, in 1947, and introduces us to Gustav Perle, a five-year-old boy who lives in the fictional Swiss town of Matzlingen with his mother, Emilie. Gustav’s best friend at kindergarten is Anton Zwiebel, but when he brings Anton home one day, he is confused by Emilie’s reaction. It’s obvious that she disapproves of Anton, but why? Is it because he is Jewish – and if so, what is her problem with Jews? These questions won’t be answered until later in the book, but in the meantime we continue to follow Gustav and Anton throughout their childhoods and into their teens.

In the second section of the book, we go back in time to the 1930s and the early days of Emilie’s relationship with Gustav’s father, Erich Perle, and finally, for the third part of the novel, we return to the stories of Gustav and Anton, who are now middle-aged men, and we find out what has been happening to them in the intervening years. I don’t always like books which jump around in time like this, as they can sometimes seem disjointed, but Rose Tremain handles the structure very well. My only slight criticism is that I thought the Gustav and Anton we meet in part three feel too similar to the Gustav and Anton from part one – I found both characters convincing as children but not so convincing as adults.

As I’ve said, the neutral stance taken by Switzerland during the war is only one type of neutrality examined in this novel – there’s also the neutrality of one person towards another (‘staying separate and strong’) and the question of how far it is possible to remain neutral when faced with a moral dilemma which requires a choice to be made.

This is the third Rose Tremain novel I’ve read, the others being Restoration and its sequel Merivel. I found the writing style and overall tone of this one very different from the other two, which reflects the very different subject and setting. I think all three books are excellent, though, and I'm looking forward to reading more of Rose Tremain's work.

I look forward to every new book by Rose Tremain and this did not disappoint. Wonderful characters and a plot that keep you guessing.

I loved The Gustav Sonata and it will be one of my favourite books of 2017.

Two young boys, Gustav, whose widowed mother is openly anti Semitic and Jewish Anton, from very different social backgrounds, become friends at kindergarten The novel tracks their lives, seen through Gustav's eyes and his unrequited love for Anton.

Set like a piano sonata in three parts, the first focuses on Gustav's love for his poverty stricken mother as she struggles to provide for them in comparison to the comfortably off family of Anton, who take Gustav under their wing. Next, we travel back in time and are told the story of Gustav's parents and the reason for his father's mysterious death. A very good method of introducing the backstory without slowing down the narrative, I felt. The final section addresses the relationships between the adult Gustav with his mother and also with Anton, now that they are both men in their sixties.

All the characters are well drawn and, even when dislikeable, are believable. It is all the more unusual for a story covering antiSemitism as one of its threads to be set in neutral Switzerland during the war. The Gustav Sonata deserves to win plaudits and prizes. After reading it on Kindle I have bought myself a hard copy of the book to keep and enjoy. Many thanks to Netgalley and RandomHouseUK/Vintage for the opportunity to read and review this wonderful book.

I thought The Gustav Sonata was excellent. It is extremely well written and quietly but penetratingly perceptive about a lot of aspects of life and relationships.

The story is of Gustav Perle, who is born in wartime Switzerland. We get three separate time periods: when he is a young boy growing up, the years before his birth when his parents met and began their life together, and the 1990s as things play out in late middle age. In fact, there's not much action, but a lot happens, as Gustav befriends Anton, a Jewish boy of his own age whose family, in contrast to his own are well off, and who is encourage to become a professional pianist by his parents. The meat of the book is an examination of the relationships between parents and children, how even small acts of selfishness or of nobility can have profound, lasting consequences, the nature if fulfilment and so on.

It all sounds rather hard going, but I found it griping and very easy reading. Rose Tremain has a fine, subtle psychological grasp of how character may be formed, which is refreshingly far removed from the current lazy fad for "serial-killer's-motivation-explained-by-childhood-abuse." Here we have clear-eyed views of how poverty, love or the lack of it, misguided parental pressure and so on may affect people, and there are a lot of other very powerful insights.

The prose is excellent. It is clear and straightforward, but has real power in its apparent simplicity. In the first section, Gustav's childhood outlook is brilliantly evoked in short, simple, almost childlike sentences, for example. It felt fresh and drew me in very effectively. I also liked the subtle, unshowy way that the injunction to Gustav to "master yourself" and show no emotion is mirrored in Switzerland's coldly brutal refusal to admit Jews who are then condemned to die by the Nazis. It's all done without fuss or melodrama and is all the more effective for it.

This is a book which, in my view, lives up to its hype, I found it readable, touching and rather haunting, and I can recommend it very warmly.

A wonderful book, deceptively easy to read but powerful and really rather beautiful too. Gustav Perle and Anton Swiebel met in Kindergarten in a small Swiss town. Gustav, livied an impoverished life with his cold, bitter mother whilst Anton had love and everything he wanted from his parents in a comfortable apartment on the best side of town.

The story looks at Gustav and Anton's childhood, switches back for a while to examine Gustav's parents' marriage and Gustav's father's part in helping Jewish immigrants escaping the Nazi horrors during WWII which indirectly led to his early death, and then returned, in the third part, to Gustav and Anton in their later lives.

Whilst I, the reader, never guessed exactly where the book would go (and sometimes I feared a sad event or bad ending) I was confident from the writing that Rose Temain was in complete control and she never waivered or deviated from the gentle but often moving path she had plotted out for her characters. My fears were not borne out in terms of the ending - it was as satisfying and endearing as the rest of the book and I finished it with a sigh of contentment. Excellent.

This beautiful book about the friendship between two boys, Gustav and Anton, is perfect. Set in Switzerland after the Second World War, it deal with big themes in a subtle, intelligent way, exploring the nature of neutrality; heroism; the accident of how we meet and form relationships; how our ill suitedness can make us unable to forgive actions that come from tthe best part of people we love: how love can endure in the face of coldness and neglect. There is unhappiness in this book, but this is ultimately an optimistic, merciful story. Unreservedly recommended.

A beautiful, elegiac, thoroughly engrossing novel, but perhaps too similar in style and content to her other works.

Rose Tremain takes us to a small town in Switzerland after the Second World War for the opening of this book. Here we meet two 5 year olds at Kindergarten and the start of a lifetime friendship. But their beginnings are so different. Gustav lives with his widowed mother in poverty whilst Anton has the calm comfort of a relatively wealth home. One thinks of 'nature versus nurture' as their lives develop and Tremain neatly brings out their qualities and weaknesses. But how they relate to success and failure tells us even more about their personalities and nature. Beautifully written, I did not want to put the book down. How would it conclude? With some surprises but a warmth which comes from a friendship unaffected by significant personal differences and experiences.

Highly Recommended

This is a spellbinding book, and I was riveted from the first page. It is very evocatively written, and holds you entranced until the very last page. At times I could hardly bear to read it as I was so full of foreboding at the thought of what was to come, but at the same time I was unable to stop. Rose Tremain tells the story in an understated way, but every word is full of meaning and impact. This is a truly magnificent book, and I would recommend it to anyone.

We are immediately drawn into the dysfunctional relationship between Gustav and his mother. His father's death is as yet a mystery but his mother maintains he was a hero. Gustav is alone and isolated at home and at school until he befriends Anton, a Jewish boy from a wealthy family. The book revolves around this friendship and how it extends into a deep love. The story is set in 'neutral' Switzerland during the war and the antipathy towards Jewish refugees is a powerful backdrop, with consequences both on a personal level and on the wider stage. Anton's inability to play his piano to large audiences sees him having a disappointing career as a teacher and eventually we see his life spiral out of control whilst Gustav's becomes more solid as he micromanages his hotel. His evidence that he has succeeded in rising above the poverty of his childhood (though his mother continues to belittle him). The story sees the two boys in their journey to manhood holding each other in a dance of friendship and love. Beautiful.

I loved this book. War and persecution in Europe through the eyes of a boy, or really tow Boyd. Told with sensitivity, painting a picture of daily lives of those robbed of their homes and status. Of course it has been told before but this book had some unexpected facets. A thoroughly good read.

Neutrality, yes it is a word Switzerland likes to wave around like a flag of honour. The truth is rather more dismal I’m afraid.

What they call neutrality I call collaboration, what they call being an objective observer I call turning a blind eye to the atrocities going on. The Swiss closed their borders to the Jews, the Swiss helped the criminals to escape and the Swiss are still sat on illegal war gains.

Money, art and artefacts belonging to the victims of WW2 and hidden by so-called neutral Switzerland. Yeh, so much for sitting on your fake laurels and praising yourselves for being such outstanding citizens of the world. Switzerland: synonymous with sanctimonious.

In The Gustav Sonata the horrific events of the Second World War are still influencing the people and their day-to-day lives. Anti-Semitism is still rife, albeit in a subtle way and yet often more insidious in its nature. This is definitely apparent when it comes to Emilie. Gustav finds it hard enough to maintain friendships without his mother weeding out his friends based on their religious beliefs.

Gustav strikes up an unlikely friendship in pre-school with a lonely little boy called Anton Zwiebel. The two of them connect, and despite the occasional argument, they have a friendship that lasts many decades.

Essentially their friendship is the main focus of the story or rather the denial of the emotional attachment between the two of them. In essence the moral of the story is, if you aren’t true to yourself and what you feel, you will never truly be at peace, content and happy.

For me The Gustav Sonata had a certain Die Blechtrommel (The Tin Drum) feel to it. The little boy who lives inside his head, whilst he battles the injustices around him and fights to survive in a world that doesn’t care whether he is there or not. The relationship between Gustav and his mother is a one-sided one. Emilie can’t seem to get over the traumatic experiences in her past. She feeds and clothes her son, but emotionally she is stunted and Gustav suffers for it. As a child he filters this information in a way which is more comfortable and less hurtful for his own sanity.

Even without the complex and emotional relationship between Anton and Gustav, and the story of discovery of self, it is an interesting read. It’s possibly a book that may fall under the radar. Hopefully it won’t.
*Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my copy of The Gustav Sonata.*

What a lovely book!

Two boys meet at kindergarten in Switzerland and from then on their lives are entwined. One child helps the other integrate at the preschool, later on Gustav props up Anton when Anton tries, and fails, to become a concert pianist. It is Gustav who goes to the concerts to help Anton with his crippling stage fright, and it is Gustav who tells Anton's parents that their son does not want to be a concert pianist.

The boys' relationship changes as they become men and Anton leaves their village, which he announces is stifling him. Gustav is upset at this declaration as he is reassured by the village's sameness.

Later Gustav is there again to pick up the pieces. It is a love story, and an observation of two lives after WW2, and the impact the conflict had on their lives.

A top read!