First published 2021
Gustav Mahler sits on the deck of a ship crossing from New York to Europe. The celebrated composer's body can no longer bear the world's weight, and pain overwhelms him more than ever before. As the crew tends to him with careful attention, Mahler surrenders himself to a lifetime of memories. His thoughts drift through recent years, summers in the mountains, the death of his beloved daughter Maria, his adventure with the New York Philharmonic, his other daughter Anna who awaits him, his compositions, his illnesses, and Alma, the great love who drove him to distraction. Everyone and everything feels both present with him and impossibly distant. This is his final journey. Mahler confronts his past as exhaustion weighs on the aging artist, creating a portrait of crystalline clarity and deep emotion.
Genres: drama, historical-fiction, 20th-century, biographical-fiction, 21st-century, classical-music
Vibes: emotional, intimate, lyrical, thought-provoking
Tropes: character-study, memories, reminiscence
Setting: Europe, New York
Period: 20th-century
128 pages · Paperback · Timaş Yayınları
Content warnings: death, mental-illness