Sight Reading

Summary (from the publisher): The critically acclaimed author of Russian Winter turns her "sure and suspenseful artistry" (Boston Globe) to the lives of three colleagues and lovers in the world of classical music in this elegant, beautifully composed novel.

On a Boston street one warm spring day after a long New England winter, Hazel and Remy spot each other for the first time in years. Under ordinary circumstances, this meeting might seem insignificant. But Remy, a gifted violinist, is married to the composer Nicholas Elko - once the love of Hazel's life.

It has been twenty years since Remy, a conservatory student whose ambition may outstrip her talent; Nicholas, a wunderkind suddenly struggling with a masterwork he cannot fully realize; and his wife, beautiful and fragile Hazel, first came together and tipped their collective world on its axis. Over the decades, each has buried disappointments and betrayals that now threaten to undermine their happiness. But as their entwined stories unfold from 1987 to 2007, from Europe to America, from conservatory life to the Boston Symphony Orchestra, each will discover the surprising ways in which the quest to create something real and true--be it a work of art or one's own life--can lead to the most personal of revelations, including the unearthing of secrets we keep, even from ourselves.

Lyrical and evocative, Sight Reading is ultimately an exploration of what makes a family, of the importance of art in daily life, and of the role of intuition in both the creative process and the evolution of the self. 

Review: I received an Advance Reader Copy of this novel from HarperCollins. 

Sight Reading is about the intertwined lives of three individuals: Nicholas Elko, his first wife Hazel, and his second, Remy.  Nicholas is a musician and falls for the youthful and ambitious violinist Remy, while his wife Hazel and their young daughter are away. This is largely the story about unhappy marriages, about disappointments and betrayals, but also about music, family, and the evolution of the three main characters. 

I found Kalotay's writing style to be lyrical and descriptive enough that discussing classical music - a theme throughout the novel - was captured easily through the written word.  Additionally, Kalotay does a great job of capturing her characters and presenting them as full and developed to her readers. I particularly enjoyed how vividly Kalotay describes them so that I could picture Remy's masses of dark and unruly curls, Hazel's perfectly polished wardrobe and makeup, and Nicholas: "She liked the way the muscles in his jaw flexed, and the slight squint of his eyes when a passage wasn't quite there yet. [...] After he had been conducting for a quarter hour or so he would remove the tweed jacket and, after a few more minutes, roll up the sleeves of his button-down shirt. The way the muscles of his forearm seemed to pull him right up into the air made it seem all kind of wonderful thing were possible."

Kalotay does an excellent job tying the novel together. For example, an early scene where wine is spilled on Hazel's prized rug is referred to later, and the rug is seen in a more happy home with Hazel and her second husband. Additionally, Hazel sees Remy dreamily holding up a maternity top in a department store and assumes she is pregnant, although she is not. Ironically, this is imagined reality becomes true when Remy later discovers that she is pregnant, although the circumstances are dramatically different from what Hazel imagines.  

The novel continually references areas on Hazel's skin where the pigment that has given her skin its color has faded away; "Hazel still clung to a belief that everything happened for a reason and that those who suffered would eventually be rewarded, and vice versa. She retained this belief even when the white splotches appeared, on her knees, her calves, her forearms." This becomes a symbol for Hazel and a visual representation for the underlying despair she feels over the course her life has taken. Despite her attempts, spots continue to appear on her neck and then her face, causing her considerable embarrassment and self-consciousness. Yet in the end, "she realized it was no longer the white patches that needed hiding; she had come to the point where the leftover parts seemed wrong. [...] She was now, finally and completely, pure white. The odd thing was that her new skin suited her better. [...] She had finally become the person she was meant to be." Hazel has transformed herself both physically and otherwise and has survived her divorce and come out more truly herself.

On the other hand, while Hazel undergoes a full transformation and seems content with the course of her life, I was left feeling unsatisfied concerning the development of Nicholas and Remy. Remy, in particular, seems sad and unfulfilled. Not only is Nicholas apparently a poor husband who is flirting with younger women, but she has never made it past second chair violin in the orchestra; "In a way her life was a blur of repeated gestures, twisting the pearly end of her bow and watching the horsehair straighten, slacken. Blowing lightly at a faint layer of rosin, wiping the excess with a chamois cloth. If she were to calculate how many time she had repeated these small movements, the number would surely floor her. And yet, this was what she had chosen to do." It almost feels as if Kalotay is saying Nicholas is the poor choice - that for these two women to be their true selves they must cast him off and start anew.

I did feel that the novel dragged a bit towards the end and I wondered where it was going. This is largely about the largely dysfunctional relationships between the three main characters, and since two were already divorced, it felt like only so much was left to occur plot-wise. I particularly did not enjoy the scenes where Nicholas is flirting with the young dancer. Major sleazy factor added. On the other hand, I thought the portrayal of Nicholas was a bit harsh. Yes, he makes a huge mistake and cheats on Hazel. However, he is consistently described as too disengaged and oblivious to notice anything and is generally portrayed as a terrible husband and infuriating in the way everything is handed to him professionally. 

Stars: 4