Life and Loves of Lena Gaunt

The Life And Loves Of Lena Gaunt is an introverted and thoughtful novel telling the life story of the world's first theremin player, Lena Gaunt. Gaunt never actually existed of course, but Farr's writing so beautifully creates her world that I often found it difficult to remember I wasn't reading about a real person! Daughter of an affluent but aloof family, Lena is shunted off to boarding school at an early age where she discovers her first love, the cello. As a young woman, chance leads her to the new invention of the theremin and her dedication to perfect playing results in her growing fame. We see Singapore and Australia, New Zealand, France and England through her eyes as she bounces, or is bounced, across the world, usually alone and usually returning to a district of Perth, Australia, the closest concept she has of home.

I loved Farr's writing in terms of its musical content and references. Lena's world is very much created around and guided by sound and this is conveyed in amazing detail to the reader. 1930s Sydney came across as a fabulous place and I would like to read more books set around this era. What particularly moved me about The Life And Loves were the flashback portrayals of Lena's search for both contrasted with her octogenarian self looking back over her life. Elderly Lena is not a generic geriatric and is very much the product of her bohemian youth. Still unable to resist a little flattery, but sadly aware of the her own mortality and loss, the experience gap between herself and the young festival musicians, herself and the film maker, gives a delicate melancholy to the whole book.