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Summary: Music, court intrigue and unrequited love
Review: 17th C. Denmark is the setting. The characters are: King Charles IV; his wife Kirsten; Peter Claire, a lutenist from England; and Emilie, Kirsten's newest lady-in-waiting. The background characters are finely developed as well, each playing his integral part as the story unfolds. All is well orchestrated, moving cleanly to an ending where any loose ends are eventually wrapped in a tidy knot. Peter, the English lutenist, finds himself cast as the King's "angel" when King Charles becomes moody and distressed by his personal loneliness and the impending poverty of his kingdom. At the same time Charles is perilously besotted with the charms of an adulterous Kirsten. Not particularly kingly, Charles IV is rather a sad lump, much in need of aid in any form; he receives this help through the gracious character of Peter Claire. Then there is Emilie, Kirsten's lady, who wins Peter's heart at their first meeting. But this is not an easy romance, as Queen Kirsten has chosen Emilie as her most trusted lifetime companion. When Kirsten is inevitably banished from the Court for her outrageous misdeeds, she takes Emilie to live in the country as well, now Kirsten's only friend and solace. A durable soul with misplaced loyalty, Emilie becomes an unknowing pawn to the selfish woman's whims. Will the King find happiness and riches sufficient to support his faltering economy? Will Peter and Emilie be forever lost to one another through Kirsten's machinations? By design, the novel moves from place to place, scene to scene, with seemingly unrelated characters. They are, in fact, all moving toward the resolution of the carefully woven plot, and precise detail lends an appealing ambience to the Court. The answers fall gracefully in line in this meticulously manicured maze where the author remains in control throughout.
Rating: 
Summary: Who ever thought of comparing it to Hamlet?
Review: A so-so book with spots of pretentious writing and an array of characters who never quite seem wholesome. It is not a page-turner which strikes with the depths of its characters or the crispness of descriptions; rather a somewhat boring narrative about people and their ordinary desires, lusts, yearnings, etc.
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Summary: Beatifully written - grabbing your intellect and your heart
Review: After watching the Whitbread prize on BBC2 I decided to read this book. I was not disappointed. Ms Tremain's writing is lyrical and her descriptions are magical. I recommend it to anyone as a step from the mundane into a sublime experience.
Rating: 
Summary: Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.
Review: And the stench is the rot that dwells from beginning to end in these fetid blind alleys that are this book. To contend that this is a tale of "The Lute Player" is to suggest that these contrived series of round pegged stories, crammed into square holes somehow results in a book. Believe this, and then believe alchemy surely turns lead into gold. Before you judge this review, or buy the book, read paragraph 3 starting at the 4th line on page 170. If that is not one of the most wretched metaphors that have been put to paper, it is certainly one of the most inept. The topics I list can appear in written form when deftly handled, and be of importance to what is read. However in this collection of flashbacks, flash forwards, and flash "where in blazes are we", and "what is this book trying to say", rest assured that more often that not, this work is filled with vulgar characters and insipid storylines that never resolve themselves. The Caravaggio painting on the cover is a giveaway, for pedophilia shares center stage in this collection of nonsense. Shares only, as incest, child abuse, and the worst racial stereotypes, all fight for preeminent prurience. Relations between consenting adults are cherished and measured by the lingering pain. One target of incest kills, not out of fear, but rather to remain thought of as "the best". When a husband stands at the deathbed of his Wife and reminisces about their life together it is truly touching and beautifully written. I would hate to spoil the poetry that is this event, but the key is the fond remembrance of the dying wife's chamber pot! Now if that brings a tear to the eye this book is for you. Think of this vapid nonsense as one of those canvasses that passes for Modern Art. Let's say a 3-foot by 5-foot panel painted entirely with a paint roller, and then named blue #6. This Authoress would then stand and speak, or even worse, write 480 pages of what this piece of nothing "means", why it is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, and then dismiss out of hand all the great masters, including the Caravaggio someone chose for this book's cover. I have never rated a book this poorly. This is nothing more than a collection of still-borne short stories, laced with detailed deviant behavior, which is so badly written my only hope is that the paper is able to be recycled. I have generally looked forward to those works that were awarded The Whitbread Award. You could almost be assured the award guaranteed excellence. This is no longer the case. ALL of the professional reviews step very carefully around the landmines that litter this wasteland of paper. "Great Ugliness" is true "Not All The Connections Work" is also true. None of these reviews can come anywhere near what transpires between the covers of this book, because there is no way they could publish them. Those that comprised this year's Whitbread committee owe an apology to previous winners. Not only have they discredited their own Award, they have placed in the midst of previous winners a work deserving of nothing, much less the reader's time.
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Summary: Witty, elegant writing and complex themes
Review: Big and bawdy, hilarious and dark, grotesque and graceful, this winner of Britain's Whitbread Award explores complex themes of love, beauty, power and ego, betrayal, politics, ambition and selfishness. With the intricate structure of a masterful musical piece (like the beautiful air that tragically obsesses one of the minor characters), the story is set in vivid 17th century Denmark and centers around Peter Claire, English lutenist. Arriving in Copenhagen in 1629 to join the Royal Orchestra of King Christian IV, Claire is aghast to discover he will be playing in a cold, dank wine cellar, open to the elements so the wine may breathe. The orchestra's miserable confinement serves the king's ego and ideas of beauty. Through an ingenious system of pipes, the music rises upward without distortion so the disembodied sound appears ghostly or heaven-sent. For Christian, enjoyment without human distraction; for his guests an impressive marvel. Point and counterpoint, other voices rise as Tremain shifts the narrative among characters. Lusty, beautiful, adulterous young Kirsten, the King's consort who will never be queen, trapped by Christian's love for her, determines to drive him to indifference. Her favorite handmaid, Emilia, thrust from her family by her father's lust for his new wife, awakens to Peter's true love. The King, sunk in fear and melancholy over a fortuneteller's prophecy and the collapse of his once lofty ambitions, ruminates over his passion for perfection and the betrayal of his childhood friend. Captivated by Peter's angelic beauty, Christian fastens on the lutenist. Likewise captivated by Emilia's melancholy innocence, Kirsten will not be separated from Emilia. Both use their minions without regard for their own wishes. Peter plays for Christian for the first time: "When the song is over he glances at the King, but the King doesn't move. His wide hands clutch the arms of the chair. From the left side of his dark head falls a long, thin plait of hair, fastened with a pearl. 'In Springtime,' Christian says suddenly, 'Copenhagen used to smell of lilacs and of linden. I do not know where this heavenly scent has gone.' " And in the next moment we meet his Kirsten: "Well, for my thirtieth birthday I have been given a new Looking-glass which I thought I would adore. I thought I would dote upon this new Glass of mine. But there is an error in it, an undoubted fault in its silvering, so that the wicked object makes me look fat. I have sent for a hammer." Lesser characters pursue their own driving concerns. The Queen mother guards her treasure from her son's grasping needs. A widowed Irish countess pines after Peter and contrives to follow him to Denmark. Peter's family tries to entice him home. Kirsten's mother hatches plots, which will not advance her daughter. Emilia's stepmother's appetites consume her stepsons. A poor town, buoyed by the King's mining plans, suffers, quite literally, from their collapse. As the thwarted desires of Peter and Emilia advance and recede (both of them pawns of their selfishly loving employers) dramas and intrigues swirl around them. Each of the interconnecting subplots are fully developed, with histories, secrets and absorbing characters. Tremain's ("Restoration," "The Way I Found Her") characters, with all their faults and aspirations, connect to the reader through their complex emotional lives. Each (save for Peter and Emilia who are too young and pure of heart) has a dark core. But none are purely villainous. Even monumentally selfish Kirsten, ruled by her passions, occasionally succumbs to momentary tenderness. Or a spontaneous tantrum. At times the narrative swells with the moral force of a fairy tale, other times it gallops along like a classic romance. Always, the beauty of the author's language, its quiet grace and crashing crescendos, draws the reader into a 17th century world alive with people whose human responses are timeless.
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Summary: A great historical read
Review: Coming from Denmark and having Christian IV as my "favourite king" I was a bit apprehensive before starting a book written by someone from England. Rose Tremain put my fears to shame. It is a truly excellent book, and Tremain shows that she masters the art of combining historical facts with a riveting fictional story about people who in one way or another is connected with the danish court. It is not the last time I will pick up a book by Tremain.
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Summary: Tremain's ability to speak in each character's unique voice
Review: delights me. I look forward to this writer's continued development. In Restoration, another gem of Tremain's, the story was told through the eyes of one character. Music & Silence is told in carefully interlocked segments of each characters' inner progress in the story. Lyrical, engaging, very readable and difficult to put down. I was very moved.
Rating:
Summary: Tremain's ability to speak in each character's unique voice
Review: delights me. I look forward to this writer's continued development. In Restoration, another gem of Tremain's, the story was told through the eyes of one character. Music & Silence is told in carefully interlocked segments of each characters' inner progress in the story. Lyrical, engaging, very readable and difficult to put down. I was very moved.
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Summary: Music and silence-just a romantic romp?
Review: Having just finished what i believed to be a book focusing on music in history with perhaps a bit of romance thrown in, i was disappointed to find a book in which the musician whom we are led to believe is to be our hero, is instead given only passing treatment as indeed is anything musical. In addition to this, tremain sees fit to transpose not only modern language but also attitudes onto her characters, especially those who are female. Surely if she wished to write about such characters it would have saved her a great deal of trouble simply to place the book in a more modern context instead?
Rating:
Summary: Interesting & Excellent character development
Review: I am not really sure why i like this book so much. It is an interesting setting, 17th centurty Denmark, and i always enjoy a good flash of a unique historical setting. It is easy to identify and sympathize with King Christian. However, the most fun character is the queen, or his harlot as she calls herself. She is a nasty woman, unloving of her's and all children, virtually heartless, but she is a lot of fun to read. The character interaction and their scheming and the resulting interplay is also a lot of fun. The author does a great of of writing an enchanting, lifelike, 20th century fairy tale. I love it. Amazon predicted i would, but I remain unsure why I do.
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