'Trio for Four Voices', romananalyse

The novel is about a tourist in a hotel in the South of Spain. At the hotel, she observes a family of three, a mom, dad and a young daughter (Amelia) who appear to be sophisticated in their behavior and looks. During dinner in the hotel restaurant Amelia approaches her and tells her a grim secret, that she and her father plan to kill the mother. The narrator can’t let go of the confession and spends some time thinking about whether to confront the parents with what Amelia told her. She decides to talk with the mother and soon after she is aggressively confronted by the father.

Before the three leave the hotel, the mother thanks her and hands her a gift of a bouquet of roses and three aquarelles. She ends up tearing the paintings apart and throwing away the roses.

Analysis:

The novel introduces us to four relationships. The first relationship we encounter is the one between the father and the daughter, observed by the first-hand-narrator, who I assume is a woman, based on her knowledge and description of the family’s clothing, languages and behavior. The narrator observes the father and daughter being together a couple of times, and from what she describes it seems like the two of them have a tight bond, having a good time enjoying themselves. “Laughter, an intertwining of a man’s voice and a girl’s. A rhythm of moving in physical harmony.” (page 1 line 11). And again later on: “Behind her: father and daughter, side by side on the path, holding hands, skipping sometimes over roots or loose rocks.” (page 2, line 78). The father and daughter obviously have a close relationship. The narrator also describes the family dynamic. But the reader must be aware that the first-hand-narrator is telling us her opinion and observations in a very subjective way. To start with it seems like the narrator has the idea that the father and Amelia cut off the mother from their activities. These thoughts are affected by the c—ict that starts with Amelia telling the narrator her secret about killing her mother. Hereafter the observations are greatly affected by the unpleasant confession. “The woman in the blue shirt climbs up onto a rock that juts out over the chasm. The other two remain below. Then she disappears, I cannot see where. The two figures hover, moving uncertainly. Then they turn and wind their way up the path again. The woman is not at dinner that night.” (page 2, line 80-84). It seems like Amelia’s secret spins a little out of control in the narrator’s mind. She imagines that Amelia and her father have pushed the mother off of a cliff.