Lea: A Novel - Hardcover

Mercier, Pascal

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0802121667 ISBN 13: 9780802121660

Publisher: Grove Press, 2017

Synopsis

Pascal Mercier’s Night Train to Lisbon mesmerized readers around the world, and went on to become an international bestseller, establishing Mercier as a breakthrough European literary talent. Now, in Lea, he returns with a tender, impassioned, and unforgettable story of a father’s love and a daughter’s ambition in the wake of devastating tragedy.

It all starts with the death of Martijn van Vliet’s wife. His grief-stricken young daughter, Lea, cuts herself off from the world, lost in the darkness of grief. Then she hears the unfamiliar sound of a violin playing in the hall of a train station, and she is brought back to life. Transfixed by a busker playing Bach, Lea emerges from her mourning, vowing to learn the instrument. And her father, witnessing this delicate spark, promises to do everything and anything in his power to keep her happy.

Lea grows into an extraordinary musical talent―her all-consuming passion leads her to become one of the finest players in the country―but as her fame blossoms, her relationship with her father withers. Unable to keep her close, he inadvertently pushes Lea deeper and deeper into this newfound independence and, desperate to hold on to his daughter, Martin is driven to commit an act that threatens to destroy them both.

A revelatory portrait of genius and madness, Lea delves into the demands of artistic excellence as well as the damaging power of jealousy and sacrifice. Mercier has crafted a novel of intense clarity, illuminating the poignant ways we strive to understand ourselves and our families.

About this title

About the Author:

A professor of philosophy, Pascal Mercier was born in 1944 in Bern, Switzerland. He is the author of numerous novels including the bestselling Night Train to Lisbon and Perlmann’s Silence. He was awarded the Marie Luise Kaschnitz Prize, the Grinzane Cavour Prize, and he received the Lichtenberg Medal. He lives in Berlin, Germany.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.:

I walked over to Lea and drew her gently to me, the same movement as ever when I needed to console and protect her. Then she would press her cheek to my hip, and if things were particularly bad she would bury her face in me. Now, however, it was different, and even though it was only a small movement, a mere nuance in her reaction, it still changed the world. Under the gentle pressure of my hand Lea slowly returned to reality. At first she yielded, as she normally did, to my protective gesture. But then, for a tiny moment, she paused abruptly and began to resist me.
I sensed what was happening, and it hit me like an electric shock: while she had been immersed in herself a new will had formed, a new independence had come into being, one of which she was still unaware.
I drew my hand back with a start, fearfully waiting for what would happen next. Since coming to, Lea had not yet looked at me. When our eyes met now, it was for a moment which I experienced with unnatural alertness, like the encounter between two adults with matching wills. The person standing here was no longer a little daughter in need of protection, facing her tall, protective father, but a young woman filled with a will and a future for which she demanded unconditional respect.

About this edition

• Publisher: Grove Press
• Publication date: 2017
• ISBN 10: 0802121667
• ISBN 13: 9780802121660
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 225