SONATA FOR MIRIAM
Linda Olsson – Penguin – NZ$37

Following the enormous critical acclaim and commercial success of Olsson’s previous novel, her first, Let Me Sing You Gentle Songs, there have been high expectations for her second which was launched in Auckland two weeks ago. Not surprisingly there has been wide media coverage including a review in CANVAS by David Hill, and a whole page in the NZ LISTENER by Siobahn Harvey.
I finally read the book over this past weekend and can now report that Sonata for Miriam is a quite extraordinary, ambitious novel.
A serious and thoughtful book, often harrowing, but also frequently heart-warming, it is I guess a multi-layered, quite complex love story. It is about the love between a man and a woman, a father and a daughter, of family love, and through it all a love of music.
The story is set in New Zealand, principally Waiheke Island, Poland and Sweden.