Synopses & Reviews
From the author of
The Song of Names (winner of the 2002 Whitbread First Novel Award), a powerful new novel that explores the reverberations of love and hate in the story of one mans unlikely survival.
In an unnamed country at the end of a world war, Paul Miller escapes from a labor camp, collapsing after running only a few hundred feet. He is taken in by a young woman named Alice, and by the time she has nursed him back to health, the war has ended. With no one to return to and learning to love the woman who saved him, Paul decides to stay where he is. Over time he marries Alice, has a family, helps to rebuild the village, and, eventually, becomes its mayor.
But Paul is inescapably haunted by his life before the war, by his time in the camp, and by the fact that the people who are now his friends ignored for years the labor camp in their midst. When the camps commander returns to the village, Paul is at last faced with the moral dilemma that will force him to choose between vengeance and forgiveness.
The Game of Opposites tells a universal tale of good and evil with extraordinary humanity and poignancy. It is a stunning evocation of the capability for both within all of us.
From the Hardcover edition.
Synopsis
In an unnamed country at the end of a world war, Paul Miller escapes from a labor camp, collapsing after a few hundred feet. Taken in by a young woman he learns to love, Paul decides to stay where he is, and, as the war ends, he marries, starts a family, and helps to rebuild the village. But Paul is inescapably haunted by his life before the war, by his time in the camp, and by the fact that the people who are now his friends ignored for years the horrors in their midst. So when the camp’s commander suddenly returns to the village, Paul finds himself forced to choose between vengeance and forgiveness. The Game of Opposites is a universal tale of good and evil, and a stunning evocation of the capability for both within us all.
About the Author
Norman Lebrecht is the author of eleven books about music, including the international bestsellers
The Maestro Myth and
Who Killed Classical Music? He is a music columnist for the London
Evening Standard, a cultural commentator on Bloomberg.com, and presenter of The Lebrecht interview series on BBC Radio 3 in Great Britain. He lives in London.
Visit the author's website at www.normanlebrecht.com.