Reviewed by Rama Gaind.
By Justine Ettler, Transit Lounge, $29.99.
It is not difficult to be at one with the protagonist in Bohemia Beach. As we become a part of her thought process, it’s easy to identify with Catherine Bell. We are with her every step of the way.
That is one of the facts that is amazing about this book from the best-selling author of The River Ophelia.
There are a lot of struggles ahead for Catherine, a famous concert pianist. “This is the stuff of addiction.” She suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, is an alcoholic and is addicted to unsuitable men.
She is struggling to keep her career on track in a competitive international arena that spans the classical music capitals of the world.
After a disastrous show in Copenhagen, ‘Cathy’ is about to attempt her first concert performance without alcohol in Prague when her marriage collapses, her terminally ill Czech-born mother goes missing from her London hospital and a much-needed highly paid recording deal falls through.
Cathy finds herself coping in the only way she knows how: grasping a glass of forbidden pre-performance champagne and flirting with Tomas, a stranger in a Prague nightclub.
While her therapist Nelly advises her to abstain, Cathy’s relationship with drink and Tomas draws her deep into a whirlpool of events that are mysterious, tense and seductive.
Ettler displays a discipline in the writing that’s as controlled as Cathy is out of control. We get tugged into the central character’s predicament with palpable intensity. It’s a convincing story of dependence, ardent love and the addictive power of art.
It’s true: Ettler is at ‘her provocative best’.
