Sight Reading

On a Boston street, Hazel and Remy spot each other for the first time in years.  At first their brief meeting might seem insignificant, but in the past two decades their life paths have crisscrossed, diverged, and ultimately interlaced; Remy, a gifted violinist, is married to the composer Nicholas Elko—once the love of Hazel’s life.  It has been twenty years since Remy, an ambitious conservatory student; Nicholas, a wunderkind launching an international career; and the beautiful and fragile Hazel, first came together, tipping their collective world on its axis.

As their story unfolds, from Europe to America, from conservatory life to the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Sight Reading explores the surprising ways in which the quest to create something real and true—be it a work of art or one’s own life—can lead to deeper personal revelations, including the secrets we keep, even from ourselves.

“What might have been simply the story of a man leaving his marriage for a younger woman blossoms into much more. …Kalotay celebrates art in general, even considering what it is and isn’t, in prose that is brisk and concise as well as sensuous and sumptuous. …A fictive musical and familial feast.” –Michele Leber, Booklist (starred review)