Summary of "The Piano Teacher"

From the day she was born her mother decided that Erika was destined to becoming something great. Her mother decided that Erika should become a world famous piano player. The way to achieve this was through strict control and hard work.

When the novel begins Erika is 35 years old. She did not become that great piano player that her mother thought, and she has not yet broken free from her mother. They live together and Erika is working as a piano teacher. It is her mother who decides what she should wear and who she should meet. Men are strictly forbidden and have always been.

Erika both loves and hates her mother but she cannot leave her. The frustration builds up and Erika hurts herself with a razorblade to let out her anxiety. Finally she has had enough and rebels against her mother by doing forbidden things. She doesn't come home in time and she visits bad neighbourhoods where she for example watches people having sex.

She discovers that one of her students - 15 or so years younger than her - has fallen in love with her. She starts a relationship with this man, but Erika's demanding and suffocating relationship with her mother complicates things. The relationship with this man becomes a destructive one, built solely on Erika's terms and conditions.

This novel is extremely difficult to read. Everything about it is weird, the writing, the people, the relationships, and sometimes it is difficult to follow the story and understand what is happening. This is one of the worst books I have ever read.