A review by lisamshardlow
The Gustav Sonata by Rose Tremain

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Well, this was very frustrating, wasn’t it? A lot of wasted time by the two main characters - Gustav and Anton. I enjoyed the parts of the book which were set in their childhood days the most. I think the author captured the characteristics of children very well, and I think with the horrors of war still quite recent, children probably would have played such morbid games as Gustav and Anton did. All of the characters seemed to have very complex relationships with each other, which was a little bit weird at times (Gustav and Lottie). There were some quite creepy characters in there, too! Overall, I enjoyed the story and wanted to know what was going to happen next.