Sight Reading: A Novel (Paperback)

Sight Reading: A Novel By Daphne Kalotay Cover Image

Sight Reading: A Novel (Paperback)

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Lyrical and evocative, Sight Reading by Daphne Kalotay is an intense, literary love story.

When Hazel and Remy happen upon each other on a warm Boston spring day, their worlds immediately begin to spin. Remy, a gifted violinist, is married to composer Nicholas Elko, who was once the love of Hazel's life. Over the decades, each buried secrets, disappointments, and betrayals that now threaten to undermine their happiness.

We follow the notes of their complicated, intertwined lives from 1987 to 2007, from Europe to America, and from conservatory life to the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

Sight Reading, from the author of the acclaimed debut novel Russian Winter, is 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.

Daphne Kalotay is the author of the award-winning novel Russian Winter, which has been published in twenty languages, and the fiction collection Calamity and Other Stories. She has received fellowships from the Christopher Isherwood Foundation, the MacDowell Colony, and Yaddo, and has taught at Boston University, Skidmore College, Grub Street, and Middlebury College. She lives in Somerville, Massachusetts.


Product Details ISBN: 9780062246943
ISBN-10: 0062246941
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Publication Date: May 27th, 2014
Pages: 384
Language: English
Series: P.S.

Kalotay “takes great pains to get the little details right, both musical and geographical, and the resulting read is engaging and often insightful.... [S]urprising and satisfying...with some delightfully vivid writing.” — Boston Globe

“Set in the hothouse world of classical music, this wise, elegant novel maps the fallout from a passionate affair over the course of two decades. . . . Daphne Kalotay writes with grace and authority, paying equal attention to the artistic and emotional lives of her characters.” — Tom Perrotta, New York Times bestselling author of The Leftovers

“This entertaining novel follows a group of musicians through twenty years of disappointments and betrayals; lusts, regrets, afflictions, and delusions; rehearsals, recombinations, and revelations.” — Edith Pearlman, award-winning author of Binocular Vision

“SIGHT READING is at once a compelling story about love, loss and music in four interwoven lives, and an insightful exploration of the sources and expression of creativity. The results are compulsively readable, memorable and wise.” — Nancy Richler, award-winning author of The Imposter Bride

“Kalotay’s thoughtful insights on artistic endeavors add depth to this graceful book.” — Cleveland Plain Dealer

“Kalotay writes elegantly and ably about music and emotion, drafting a moving meditation on the sacrifices made for art and the mysteries of the heart.” — Publishers Weekly

“Kalotay’s soulful second novel chronicles the collateral damage three classical musicians inflict on the people who love them. Merging two inherently incompatible modes of expression, writing and music, presents a formidable challenge-one Kalotay rises to admirably here.” — Kirkus Reviews

“Kalotay celebrates art . . . in prose that is brisk and concise as well as sensuous and sumptuous . . . A fictive musical and familial feast.” — Booklist (starred review)

“[Kalotay] really shines when discussing musicians making music…[and] she effectively shows us how performing artists live. Much as we ourselves do, except they then get to create something gorgeous. — Library Journal

“Ms. Kalotay manages to capture the fleeting exultation that performers feel whenever they play. It is as if she has been on stage, bow in hand, ready to make or break her career with a single piece of music:.” — New York Journal of Books

“The characters about which Kalotay writes are deeply flawed, but also talented and fascinating to read about.” — Bookreporter.com

“Kalotay’s writing is clear and evocative…. [She] infuses each of the characters with total believability stemming from her understanding of classical music and her perceptions of human nature. She is a very wise writer…and her brilliant intuitions are augmented by her lyrical writing.” — Toronto Star