From Publishers Weekly
Narrated in alternating chapters by elderly British musician Nicholas Jordan and his beloved viola de gamba called Rose, Alexander's second novel is an audacious tour de force. Having bestowed his beloved instrument on his daughter, Nicholas sits in Ver sailles's Hall of Mirrors listening to a concert in which the viola seems to sing to him alone. As Rose's voice swells and ebbs like the baroque music she creates, she recalls the artists, composers and politicians who figured in the vicissitudes of her dramatic life. Beginning in 1670 when she was fashioned, Rose was played by famous masters, endangered during the French Revolution (and lost for a time), drastically and almost fatally redesigned and, finally, rescued by Nicholas, who recognized her worth. Meanwhile, Nicholas ruminates on his lifelong obsession with Rose, evoking in sensuous terms a relationship that bordered on human--one of passion and intelligent communication. Perfectly attuned, the two protagonists' "conversation" ranges over musical history and human relationships with equal effect. Alexander was a professional harpsichordist before she segued into writing. This impressively executed novel confirms the talent evinced in Alexander's first novel, Safe Houses .
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Library Journal
The story of a valuable viola da gamba called Rose and its owner, master musician Nicholas Jordan, is here told in a double narrative that takes place as Jordan attends the debut concert of protegee Lucy, to whom he has bequeathed Rose. Themes of life versus art, the price of artistic commitment, and the artist's worth and immortality are explored in extravagant, clever language familiar from Alexander's first novel, Safe Houses ( LJ 10/15/85). The abundant sexual imagery and the language of love used to depict the master/instrument relationship has no subtlety and soon becomes trite. Anthropomorphizing a gamba and piling on musical fact and detail finally do not make a story able to move us. Interesting effort, ineffective result.
- Steven J. Squires, Univ. of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Lib.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
- Steven J. Squires, Univ. of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Lib.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
