Quarter Tones

by Susan Mann

When Anna returns to the ramshackle cottage of her youth in the seaside village of Noordhoek, near Cape Town, she does so with the intention of sorting out her father's affairs. It soon becomes clear that more is at stake. After a decade in London, where she has frailed to find work as a musician, her return to South Africa puts further distance into an already-strained marriage, not only because she is out of reach, but because Michael, her husband, has lost faith in the country. Quick to welcome her is her neighbour, Franz van der Veer an architect searching for redemption. This is further complicated by the arrival of his eccentric brother, Daniel. Against a tangle of childhood memories, scarred histories and renewed hope, Ana finally starts to confront the death of Sam, her Irish luthier father and with it, questions of guilt and belonging.

(From Publisher).

Susan Mann was born in Durban in 1967. She has worked in the media and taught at the University of Cape Town. She is currently doing research in France.

I have enjoyed this gentle, subtly written novel, with brilliant characterisations, and an interesting plot. A young wife, Ana, returns form London after her father has passed away. She returns to the Cape Town seaside home where she grew up, to sort out his affairs. Her marriage is tested further by the appearance of a neighbour, an architect, and his strange brother. Music and art are elements played out in the narrative - the cultural and class distinctions are interwoven.