Judith Armstrong

Desire and deceit are the twin topics of Armstrong's first novel. Emily King has spent time in Paris and loves the city. She is fluent in French, but finally decides to come home to Australia and work on a degree in French literature centered around Proust. To help bring in some money Emily becomes a part time French tutor where she meets and is captivated by the charming Lewis Lincoln. The author, through Emily, spends time delving into the intricacies of Proust's work "Remembrance of Things Past" including the sexual deceits that run throughout the books. In many ways this novel follows the themes Proust explored as we follow Emily's inability to realize the truth about her relationship with Lewis. Even if we suspect how the ending will turn out fairly early in the novel the author still has a few surprises in store in the last chapter.… (plus d'informations)

I’ve never seen a biography of Tolstoy in the bookshops, but now that I’ve read Judith Armstrong’s War and Peace and Sonya, I think I’d probably leave it on the shelf – I feel that I know quite enough about the great Russian writer now!

Judith Armstrong is a former Melbourne academic who used to teach Russian literature and culture, so it is safe to say that this novel is impeccably researched. Based on the diaries of Tolstoy and his wife Sofya Andreyevna Behrs, known as Sonya, it tells the other side of the story that formed the basis of The Last Station, the film that showed the sorry state of the Tolstoy marriage and depicted Sonya as a nagging wife harassing the genius about the contents of his Will, so much so that he felt he had no option but to get away from her.
The question that arose for me, time and again as I read this engaging novel was: whose voice is this? Ostensibly, Sonya is the narrator, looking back over her life after Tolstoy’s death, and using her diaries to substantiate what she says. She tells us about what she reads in Tolstoy’s diaries too: sometimes they left these diaries about to be read, in lieu of direct communication about their feelings. Sometimes Sonya consulted his diaries on the sly…
To read the rest of my review, please visit http://anzlitlovers.com/2011/12/28/war-and-peace-and-sonya-by-judith-armstrong/#...… (plus d'informations)