The Memory of Laughter

When someone asks me what the novel’s about, I usually answer with a question: “Have you ever heard of Nadia Boulanger?”

Most people have not, and this bothers me. Nadia Boulanger is a Frenchwoman who influenced a century’s worth of American music. Born in 1887—into an era when women didn’t do such things—Boulanger was an acclaimed choral conductor; a sought-after soloist on piano and organ, and the first woman to lead the NY Philharmonic and the Boston Symphony orchestras. She was a protégé of Fauré, a close friend and advisor to Stravinsky. But most importantly, she was a teacher–the demanding, unrelenting teacher of almost every 20th century American composer you can name.

I’ve been intrigued by Boulanger, a.k.a. Mademoiselle, ever since my conservatory days, where I studied theory with one of her students. I didn’t realize quite how intriguing she was until a character in a novel I was writing decided to go study with her. At the time, I had never been to Paris myself, and knew next to nothing about what my character would experience there. A year or two later, I got myself to Paris and visited the grave of Mademoiselle in the cemetery at Montmartre. When I came back home, I dumped everything I’d written and started all over again.

Several years later, and after as many trips to Paris as I can manage, I am pretty sure I am writing the right book. It’s the story of Hannah Schaeffer, who, when she was just ten years old, came to study with Nadia Boulanger. Their relationship, forged in proximity, based in daily discipline, was warmed by Hannah’s musical promise and the sixty years between them. Hannah is approaching fifty now, and yet the influence of her long-dead teacher remains strong. After Hannah suffers a bitter romantic disappointment, she returns to Paris—and to Mademoiselle—for the kind of quiet consolation her teacher would have never offered were she living.

Now that I’m close to finished with the novel, I can tell you The Memory of Laughter is a story of love lost and life found. It’s about the long-lasting connection between student and teacher, and the relationship between success and satisfaction, genius and obligation, work and joy. It’s also about music. In fact, if you asked Mademoiselle Boulanger, she would say it is all about music. Perhaps she is right. In my experience, she usually is.