The Kreutzer Sonata

The Kreutzer Sonata is a literary novel by Margriet de Moor. First published in 2001, the book centers around a young musicologist who falls for an obsessive and deeply troubled music critic. The Kreutzer Sonata is based on stories by Leo Tolstoy and Leos Janácek, which both explore jealousy and corrupted love. Critics praised the book upon publication for its intense sensory language and plot development. De Moor is a literary writer who once studied Piano and Song at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague. She’s best known for atmospheric prose. Her books typically include music, complex romantic pairings, and sisterhood.

The protagonist never reveals her identity. She is a musicologist who studies and nurtures musical talent, but that’s all readers know about her. Her current protégé is a young girl called Suzanna Flier, a violist. Suzanna is beautiful and talented, and she dreams of becoming a famous musician. She’s shy around men because she has little romantic experience.

One day, the musicologist and Suzanna travel to a prestigious masterclass in Bordeaux. Suzanna hopes that the class is her chance to be discovered. The musicologist is there to offer her moral support. In the departure lounge, they meet a famous man called Marius van Vlooten. Marius is a blind music critic respected by everyone. Anyone who wants to succeed in Europe’s classical music circles must impress him.



In Bordeaux, Marius hears Suzanna play the Kreutzer Sonata. Her performance hypnotizes him. He believes that she is a rare and wonderful talent. He asks the musicologist about Suzanna and what she looks like. He wants to picture Suzanna in his mind. The musicologist describes how beautiful Suzanna is, and what her athletic, slim figure looks like. Although it troubles him, Marius falls in love with Suzanna instantly.

Marius finds love troubling because of two things; firstly, his blindness, but secondly, his romantic history. As a young man, he loved a fellow music student. This girl rejected him, and Marius never recovered. He tried to commit suicide, but he survived and woke up blind. He promised himself that he would never fall in love again. Although he loves Suzanna, he also resents her.

Against his better judgment, Marius asks Suzanna on a date. They visit an art gallery, and Suzanna describes the paintings to him. Marius tells Suzanna how captivating she is, and after the masterclass, they travel around Europe together, visiting various art galleries and music shows. Marius summons the courage to propose to Suzanna, and she accepts. It’s not long before they are married, and everything goes well for a time.



Suzanna loves music and it fulfils something spiritual inside her. Marius listens to her perform all the time, and he picks up on even the smallest change in tune. He notices that Suzanna plays better than ever before, and he assumes that marriage makes her happy. Besides, they are the most famous musical couple in Europe right now, and that should make anyone happy.

However, Marius can’t help worrying that something else is responsible for her growing happiness. Suzanna, on the other hand, wonders why Marius is so paranoid. She credits him with helping her play better, because he’s opened her heart to love and bliss. Marius tries to forget his paranoia, but his obsessions get the better of him.

Marius listens to Suzanna playing with a fellow violist in the quartet. They play the Kreutzer Sonata beautifully. Although Marius has no reason to doubt Suzanna’s fidelity, he decides that she loves the violist. When he confronts her about it, she tells him that he is delusional, and she worries about him.



No matter what Suzanna says, Marius insists that she wants this violist. Because he can’t see her, he imagines the ways that she interacts with this man. He makes up an entire affair in his head. He believes that Suzanna will break his heart and cuckold him. The musicologist warns him against these imaginings, but he doesn’t listen.

Marius torments himself with these delusions until there’s only one solution. He will kill Suzanna before she breaks him. He might kill the violist, too, for good measure. Marius is, by this point, beyond rational thought and consumed by paranoia. Everyone worries about him, but they don’t realize how delusional he is.

As the book nears its end, readers learn that the musicologist never left the airport. She sits in a departure lounge, remembering the sad story of Marius and Suzanna. She wishes she could have saved Suzanna from Marius, but she was too late to protect her. Marius tried to throw Suzanna from a bridge, but he lost his nerve and broke down. The musicologist still fears for Suzanna because she stayed with Marius, and she’s convinced that Marius will break her one day. However, fate intervenes first, and the main female characters die in a tragic plane crash.