An impressive work on many levels, to the point that I wish I knew more about opera. It occurs to me that, very probably, several plot points (the declaration of love, the complicated love quadrangles, the noisy, violent ending, and so forth) were probably drawn from or inspired by the opera, but I wouldn’t really know.

The book has a sort of otherworldly, static feel - similar in some ways to Twelve Angry Men - and while that does make it somewhat difficult to read at times, it’s well worth the effort, since it is so fascinating on many levels. Against this simple backdrop is a commentary on social justice and class politics - one for which opera, once an art form for the masses and now an elitist affair, is perfectly suited. Above and beyond that we are asked to contemplate the problems of captivity and communication, nationality and patriotism, religion and family, love and gender politics. (Of all of these questions, I was particularly interested in that of family: there are enough pseudo-familial relationships flying around this book to make one’s head spin.) The book is a multi-facted work drawn out of a sparse set of elements: a small number of characters, a very simple set, a straightforward plot whose ending is never really in any doubt.