CLASSIC FM
JANUARY 2004

DISTURBANCE OF THE INNER EAR

Joyce Hackett

Hackett's first novel is a monumental achievment. Its collage of nightmarish effects -- irrational behavior, non sequitur dialogue, rich metaprors, relationships in which nothing is what it seems -- create an atmosphere that holds the reader in a claustrophobic vice.

Isabel Masurovsky is a one-time prodigy cellist, winner of the Tchaikovsky Competition aged 14, who finds herself stranded alone in Milan when her elderly teacher/lover dies. Her father, yuri, survived Terezin concentration camp as a child and his demented behaviour has scarred Isabel; since the death of both parents in a car crash, she can no longer play. She becomes music teacher to the son of an appalling American diplomat, and finds love -- of a kind -- with Giulio, an Italian. As her relationships progress, the shell around her heart cracks until it finds catharsis in a visit to Terezin. At its best, the book ventures into painful worlds explored by too few novelists.

JESSICA DUCHEN