Lunchtime read: The Accompanist - post II

The relationship between singer and accompanist starts to develop with the later at first experiencing jealousy and then an interested detachment from the world of the famous soprano.

Highlights between pages 23 – 41 (chapters three and four)

* Sonechka manages to get the position with Maria Nikolaevna but is initially angry and jealous about the disparity between the singer, who lives a life of luxury and the rest of the population struggling in post revolutionary Russia

* The singer appears to be leading one or two affairs but Sonechka, who has the opportunity, does not pry but instead contents herself with watching it all from a distance

* On the brink of leaving to Moscow Maria gives her last performance and despite using phrases like ‘ours’ when talking to Sonechka it’s obvious the success and the evening belongs to her alone

* Finally, with her mother crying and waving her off from the platform, Sonechka heads off with Maria and her husband head off on the train for Moscow with the accompanist feeling more than ever that her employer owns her

More tomorrow..