
Added by 11 of our members
Walter Scott Prize Best Historical Novel (nominee)
Costa Book Awards Best Novel (nominee)
Winner of the 2016 National Jewish Book Award for Fiction
A poignant tale about the enduring friendship between two men under the shadow of the Second World War.
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 the two men, one who becomes a hotel owner, the other a concert pianist, The Gustav Sonata explores the passionate love of childhood friendship as it is lost, transformed, and regained over a lifetime. It is a powerful and deeply moving addition to the beloved oeuvre of one of our greatest contemporary novelists.
Genre: Historical
A poignant tale about the enduring friendship between two men under the shadow of the Second World War.
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 the two men, one who becomes a hotel owner, the other a concert pianist, The Gustav Sonata explores the passionate love of childhood friendship as it is lost, transformed, and regained over a lifetime. It is a powerful and deeply moving addition to the beloved oeuvre of one of our greatest contemporary novelists.
Genre: Historical
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Used availability for Rose Tremain's The Gustav Sonata
Hardback Editions
May 2016 : UK Hardback
February 2017 : UK Hardback
Title: The Gustav Sonata
Author(s): Rose Tremain
ISBN: 1-4448-3145-3 / 978-1-4448-3145-0 (UK edition)
Publisher: Ulverscroft Ltd
Availability: Amazon UK
September 2016 : USA Hardback
Paperback Editions
January 2017 : UK Paperback
September 2017 : USA Paperback
May 2016 : UK Paperback
Audio Editions
March 2021 : USA Audio CD
October 2016 : Australia Audio CD
October 2016 : Australia Audio CD
September 2016 : USA Audio CD
September 2016 : USA Audio edition

Title: The Gustav Sonata: A Novel
Author(s): Rose Tremain
Publisher: HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books
Availability: Amazon
September 2016 : Canada Audio edition

Title: The Gustav Sonata: A Novel
Author(s): Rose Tremain
Publisher: HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books
Availability: Amazon CA
May 2016 : USA Audio edition
May 2016 : Australia Audio edition
May 2016 : UK Audio edition
Kindle Editions
September 2016 : USA Kindle edition

Title: The Gustav Sonata: A Novel
Author(s): Rose Tremain
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Availability: Amazon
May 2016 : Australia, Canada, UK Kindle edition