The Kreutzer Sonata

At Brussels airport, the anonymous narrator meets Marius von Vlooten, a renowned classical music critic who went blind after a failed love affair. On their way to the International String Quartet Festival, they become friends. At the event, held in Bordeaux, France, the musicologist introduces violinist Suzanna Flier of the Schulhof Quartet to Vlooten. The beautiful young woman will perform the Kreutzer Sonata at the festival, composed by Leos Janaceck and inspired by Leo Tolstoy's novel of the same name. Of undeniable beauty, the symphony portrays the psychological drama of a man consumed by jealousy and ends up killing his own wife. The symphony is the central theme of Dutch author Magriet Moor's version of Tolstoy's story. With keen musical perception and admirable sensitivity, the author narrates the turbulent story of Suzanna and Vlooten. The couple experiences a love affair of heaven and hell, marked by bouts of jealousy on the part of the critic, who suspects his partner is cheating on him with the quartet's violinist. Vlooten's despair follows the crescendo of the symphony's notes. But the outcome of this turbulent story is only known in a second encounter between the narrator and the critic, 16 years after the afternoon they met at the Brussels airport. Margriet de Moor began her career as a musician, which is why music holds a special place in her works. She is the author of international bestsellers, including First Grey, Then White, Then Blue, winner of the Libris Literature Prize in 1991, and several other novels.