Rolling the Dice
Book
Have you ever wondered how the super-rich live and support their lifestyle? Rolling the Dice tells a...
The Causal Angel
Book
With his infectious love of storytelling in all its forms, his rich characterisation and his...
The Coral Sea
Book
Through the linked pieces of The Coral Sea, Patti Smith honors her comrade-in-arms Robert...
Bohemian Rhapsody: The Show Must Go on
Book
Bohemian Rhapsody tells the story of a painter and decorator who wishes to sing like Freddie Mercury...
Kim Newman recommended The Most Dangerous Game (1932) in Movies (curated)
Hawkeye, Volume 3: L.A. Woman
8.0
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Book
Kate Bishop heads to Los Angeles to get away from New York, life, and Clint Barton - but not away...
Helm
10.0
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Helm is a ferocious, mischievous wind – a subject of folklore and awe, who has blasted the sublime...
Historical fiction Magical Realism Nature Climate Change Fiction Literary Fiction
Phil Leader (619 KP) rated Letters to the Pianist in Books
Nov 19, 2019
14 year old Ruth Goldberg lives with her family in the East End of London during the Second World War with her parents and younger sister and brother. Her life isn't perfect by any means but at least she has her family. When their house takes a direct hit from a German bomb, the children are orphaned and cast adrift to live with strangers.
Meanwhile a man is found in the rubble following the bombing, suffering from total amnesia, who is given the name Edward because cannot even remember his own. He does discover that he is an enormously skilled pianist and soon becomes famous and also rich after marrying the daughter of a well-connected aristocrat millionaire.
The story follows Ruth, her siblings and Edward through the war years and beyond as that one bombing raid changed all their lives forever. Some will find their new lives hold unexpected - even deadly - dangers and all will come to know love and friendship as well as loss and betrayal.
Mayes writes this novel with confidence, moving smoothly between the story lines as they unfold and intertwine. She makes the reader really feel the emotions the characters are going through, good or bad. Edward's story is particularly effective as his previous life slowly starts to come to light and the man he was isn't the person either those around him or Edward himself is comfortable with.
As with her previous book, Stop The World, although very different in subject matter this story is just as deeply affecting and once again I'm sure it will stay with me for some time.
Night Prayers
Howard Curtis and Santiago Gamboa
Book
A thrilling literary novel about crime and corruption in Latin America told in alternating voices...
Crime thriller