Lunchtime read: The Accompanist - post I

Another tale set in Russia but because of the length of the story the sharpness of the characterisation is critical and the relationship between Sonechka and her mother and then with the soprano Maria Nikolaevna is where the story lies.

Bullet points from pages 1 – 23

* A short introduction describes a Russian buying junk in what you picture to be Paris and among the pictures and lamps there is a notebook that is written in Russian and contains the following story

* It starts by following the activities of a piano teacher Ekaterina Antonovskaya who has a daughter after a brief affair with a 19 year old student and as a result loses all her pupils except Mitenka

* She has to move away to Petersburg with her daughter to find work but things are hard and a little trio of Sonechka the daughter, the mother and Mitenka start to spend time with each other

* One night Mitenka tells Sonechka that a singer requires an accompanist and it is a salaried position that could include travelling the world and will involve leaving her mother behind

More tomorrow…