A Simple Scale

by David Llewellyn

A single piece of music starts a story that takes us from Soviet Russia and McCarthyite Hollywood to post-9/11 New York. A single piece of music, and two composers – one American, the other Soviet – but which of them wrote it? How did their lives cross? How were their fortunes shaped by history, and what were the consequences for those they loved?

A young Russian, Pavel Grekov, arrives in New York in the October of 2001, and accuses ageing TV composer Sol Conrad of plagiarising a work by his grandfather, Sergey. Conrad’s young PA Natalie is determined to defend her boss, but as she digs deeper she discovers worlds she barely knew about – the labour camps of Siberia, the “Red Scare” of 1950s Hollywood, government oppression, and the plight of gay men in the USA and USSR of the mid-20th Century.

Natalie, Sol and Sergey’s stories range across decades and continents, and A Simple Scale moves through narratives of love, death, deceit, the secret police, atom bombs, Classical music and the last days of Hollywood’s “Golden Age”. In a dramatic conclusion, the past and present catches up with them, as the secrecies and betrayals of Sol and Sergey’s lives inform events in 2001, when history is just about to repeat itself.

Rich in detail and atmosphere, David Llewellyn explores the points at which the personal and political meet. Throughout, his depiction of ’30s Leningrad, ’50s California and post-9/11 New York is only too believable.

Genres: LGBT, Queer, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Gay

303 pages, Paperback

First published August 20, 2018

About the author

David Llewellyn is a Welsh novelist and script writer. He grew up in Pontypool and graduated from Dartington College of Arts in 2000. His first novel, Eleven, was published by Seren Press in 2006. His second, Trace Memory, a spin-off from the BBC drama series Torchwood, was published in March 2008. Everything Is Sinister was published by Seren in May 2008. He has written two novels for the Doctor Who New Series Adventures: The Taking of Chelsea 426, featuring the Tenth Doctor, and Night of the Humans, featuring the Eleventh Doctor and Amy Pond.

In addition to writing novels, Llewellyn wrote the Bernice Summerfield audio play Paradise Frost and the Dark Shadows audio drama The Last Stop for Big Finish Productions.

Llewellyn lives in Cardiff.

Reviews

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the premise of this book—the theme from a ‘70s sci-fi show is the stolen composition of a disgraced soviet composer. (I’m pretty sure the opening for Sufjan Stevens’ Visions of Gideon and the Battlestar Galactica remake are the same.) Also enjoyed the period details and spot-on dialogue, but felt a bit distant as if reading a screenplay. Would very much like to see this adapted.

[Katherine Stansfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a terrific novel - gripping plot, superb characterization, and extremely moving. I also found the way in which music is described in the novel (writing it, reading it, listening to it) was fascinating. As a non-musical person, this opened my eyes (and ears!) to another world. Highly recommended.

[Harriet Thacker · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The music vibrated through the edgework and into her thighs and through her fingertips as they pressed each string against the neck . That sound, like a feather or a dust mote suspended in the air. The purest expression of all the things she would never say."

A Simple Scale is set over three periods in time and follows the mystery of who is the original composer of a piece of music. Sergey a composer in Leningrad in the late 30s and subsequently sent to the gulag; Sol a movie composer in 50s McCarthyite Hollywood; and Natalie, musicologist and Sol's PA in post 9/11 New York. 

Each chapter is delivered from a different period and by a different character and as the novel progresses we unravel how they interweave with one another, pulled on through the story by the mystery of the music. 

For me, it wasn't the mystery of who wrote the music that made me read on, but how each of the stories informed the other, and the underlying ideas behind the narrative. In each, story we can see history repeating not only on a micro, individual scale but on a macro global scale as well. This observation underpins the whole book and leaves questions about how the events of the 20th century have informed our present and what we as a society still have left to learn. 

There are gems within the book - some descriptions that have stayed with me since putting it down. "You read John Hersey's account of Hiroshima in The New Yorker. There's something strangely beautiful about them, columns of smoke towering impossibly above the landscape, pushing apart all other clouds and cresting at the edge of heaven." 

A Simple Scale is a really enjoyable read and it examines significant issues that are still incredibly relevant today of homosexuality, repression, war and ultimately how we as a society never seem to learn from our global histories. 

[Andrew H · Rating 5 out of 5]

The novel takes its title from the opening lines of a play by Pushkin-- and the title acknowledges the main themes of the novel, music, justice, and the artistry/artifice of human life. The plot is simple: a young Russian visits the USA, believing that a famous composer, Sol Conrad/Cohen has committed plagiarism and stolen a major theme from his grandfather's ballet. From this basic starting point, David Llewellyn opens up a story, a concerto of soul searching proportions, that links the suppression of sexuality and expression in Leninist Russia with that of McCarthyite America. On one level the novel is a whodunnit. On another, it a searing study of lies, deception and dissimulation. The novel stands out for its unpretentiousness and ability to narrate convincingly.

[WallofText · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read for a book club, this was a really interesting story. Told from three perspectives in three different times, the focus lies on two composers and their intertwined history. Sergey, a Russian composer who’s story is told backwards starting with his return from the gulag all the way to the start of his originally promissing career. Sol, an American composer who gets targeted by McCarthyism and whose complicated relationships cause a lot of trouble in his life. Natalie who in late 2001 is one of the caretaker’s of aging and dementia affected Sol, coming in contact with Sergey’s grandson who claims Sol stole a composition of his grandfather. This is a complex and emotional story with a destinct solemn atmosphere. Two of the three narrators are mlm and the amount of terrible things they experience related and unrelated to their sexuality is quite notable. Having read a bit about McCarthyism as well as anti-gay activity in the United States, I really loved how direct and impactful this book tackles these issues as well as other political and social topics. Sometimes I did get a little confused if a chapter was from Sergey or Sol’s point of view and Natalie was definitely the least interesting character. I still really enjoyed this book!

[Bex · Rating 2 out of 5]

There were some parts of this that were really good, and it was a look into various times I’ve known little about. Ultimately, however, I felt it was quite lacking. The use of the present-day events being overshadowed by 9/11 could have been fantastic but was under-utilised in terms of tone and atmosphere. The overall plot/’mystery’ was never really solved for me and I finished it thinking… ‘so what’. I guess there was something there about the decision made by one of the characters almost right at the end, but it came too late for me to feel anything other than disgust: the blurb highlighted that it was about history repeating itself, but that wasn’t explored adequately for me to vibe with it really.

[Peter Black · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are three intermixed timestreams in this book, one for each of the main protaganists. Two are running forward, one is running backwards. Although all becomes clear at the end, this can be quite confusing and takes some time to get used to. I found myself flicking back to get my bearings. I also struggled with the pov in some chapters where it is unclear who the narrator is. The writing however is lucid and entertaining. As a whole the story is worth perservering with.

[Natazzz · Rating 3 out of 5]

It wasn’t a bad book, but it also wasn’t very good. Interesting story, but told too fragmented, with two many time changes and characters we never really get to know very well. It was very weird how one perspective was written in the second person.

[Lily · Rating 4 out of 5]

So many things had already been lost, destroyed. What difference would another make?

[Gerald · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lovely story, exactly what it says.. Follows a piece of music and the characters that link it through Stalinist Russia, 1950s Hollywood and post 9/11 New York. Improbably those stories all fit together very neatly.

Minor quibbles.. Natalie isn't very well developed as a character. She seems to have a drinking problem but this is never explained or developed. And it annoyed me that one of those three stories was told in the third person. Why?

But overall I enjoyed it very much. I'll have to check out more of Llewellyn (who is Welsh)'s novels.

[Graeme Whitton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this one. Nicely written and the author neatly interweaves 3 different narrative strands. Story spans several decades and follows a strong cast of well written characters. Good stuff and I'd be likely to read more by this author.