A Simple Scale - Couverture souple

Llewellyn, David

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 1781724709 ISBN 13 : 9781781724705

Editeur : Seren, 2018

Synopsis

*'Longlisted for the 2019 Polari Prize*

A piece of music starts a story which will range across Soviet Russia, McCarthyite Hollywood and post 9/11 New York, as the mystery of the lives of two gay composers is uncovered. Who wrote the music? How did the two composers' lives come to cross? What pressures caused their actions? What are the consequences for those around them?

In the immediate aftermath of 9/11, a man arrives in New York to claim that the theme tune of a popular tv series, said to be written by composer Sol Conrad, in fact belongs his grandfather Sergey, an eminent Russian composer who was sent to the gulag by Stalin, and from whom Sol stole the score. Conrad's young PA Natalie is determined to defend her elderly employer, but as she digs deeper she discovers worlds of which she barely knew Russian labour camps, McCarthyism, repressive governments, and the plight of homosexuals in the USA and USSR during the twentieth century.

Natalie, Sol and Serge each tell their stories, ranging across continents and decades. A Simple Scale moves forward through their narratives of love, death, deceit, the CIA, the NKVD, atomic bombs, classical music and Hollywood. Their pasts and presents catch up with them, as the secrecy, manipulation and betrayal that were the centre of Sol and Sergey s lives inform a few weeks of 2001, when history is about to repeat itself. 

Rich in detail and atmosphere, David Llewellyn explores the points at which the personal and the political meet. Throughout, his depiction of 30s Leningrad, 50s California and post-9/11 New York is only too believable.

A propos du livre

À propos de l?auteur

David Llewellyn is the author of three novels. He has also written novelisations of the Torchwood and Dr Who series, scripts for the BBC and has had short stories published in a variety of outlets. A freelance writer, he lives in Cardiff.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Seren
• Date d'édition: 2018
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 1781724709
• ISBN 13: 9781781724705
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 248
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: non disponible