Once courted by the rich and famous, showcasing his invention in Carnegie Hall and performing with the New York Philharmonic orchestra, and hanging out with the likes of Einstein, his life takes an unexpected twist when: (1) he finds out he hasn’t paid his taxes in six years and is going to become bankrupt and (2) he’s coerced into becoming a Soviet spy, informing on people and institutions he appears to know little about. But the one constant in his life is his unrequited love for Clara, which thrums like a theremin throughout.Īdmittedly, the first section, set in glitzy Manhattan during Prohibition, is far more exciting than the second, but each informs the other, because it allows us to experience both Leon’s (almost spectacular) success followed by his dramatic fall from grace. His tale is divided into two main sections: his life in the US, where he pursues the idea of mass producing the theremin so that every home has one and his life back in Russia, sent to a gulag for the rest of his life for a reason that is never quite made clear. This story is essentially a love letter to a young American musician called Clara -”the finest theremin player the world will ever know” - who has spurned Leon’s advances and married someone else. Just a typewriter, just paper and ink, just this story to set down in solitude, as the distance widens between us.

The book opens with Leon onboard a ship “plunging from New York back to Russia” .īut the door to my cabin is locked. And ever since, I’ve been thinking about Lev/Leon and marvelling at his extraordinary life. I’m going to be completely up front and stake my colours to the mast, or the flag to the pole, or whatever that saying is and confess that this is my favourite novel on this year’s Giller Prize shortlist. It’s the kind of book that takes you on an adventure and is told in such a refreshingly intimate way that I felt slightly bereft when I finished the book (about a month ago) because I did not want the journey to end. After living in the US for many years, he was repatriated to Russia and imprisoned in a gulag, where he worked in a secret laboratory inventing devices for Soviet espionage.Ī book featuring a scientist as the lead character may sound like a strange concept, but it works extraordinarily well, probably because Michaels gives Dr Theremin such a compelling voice - part arrogant, part naive, often bewildered and constantly lovelorn - and adds a few fictionalised elements to his character - he practices kung fu, for instance - which gives the story an almost surreal quality. Sean Michaels’ debut novel, Us Conductors, is a fictionalised account of the life of Russian engineer and physicist Lev Sergeyevich Termen (1896-1993) - later known as Leon Theremin - who invented the electronic musical instrument that takes his name: the theremin*. Fiction – paperback Tin House Books 459 pages 2014.

Us conductors by sean michaels