The Song Collector - Hardcover

Solomons, Natasha

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1444736388 ISBN 13: 9781444736380

Publisher: Sceptre, 2015

Synopsis

Fox, as the celebrated composer Harry Fox-Talbot is known, wants to be left in peace. His beloved wife has died, he's unable to write a note of music, and no, he does not want to take up some blasted hobby.

Then one day he discovers that his troublesome four-year-old grandson is a piano prodigy. The music returns and Fox is compelled to re-engage with life - and, ultimately, to confront an old family rift.

Decades earlier, Fox and his brothers return to Hartgrove Hall after the war, determined to save their once grand home from ruin. But on the last night of 1946, the arrival of beautiful wartime singer Edie Rose tangles the threads of love and duty, which leads to a shattering betrayal.

With poignancy, lyricism and humour, Natasha Solomons tells a captivating tale of passion and music, of roots, ancient songs and nostalgia for the old ways, of the ties that bind us to family and home and the ones we are prepared to sever. Here is the story of a man who discovers joy and creative renewal in the aftermath of grief and learns that it is never too late to seek forgiveness.

About this title

Review:

A delightful, moving, utterly believable family saga

(Kate Saunders The Times)

A tender, lyrical novel of family and fame (Katherine McMahon, Sunday Express)

Moving and engaging, it's a captivating story that stays with you.

(Book of the Month, Choice)

Natasha Solomons brings her characters to life with sympathy and understanding for their flaws and shortcomings . . . a profound story of love, loss and reconciliation (Lyndsy Spence Lady)

Solomons could make a bin sound beautiful; her writing is divine, and I was pleased to see a return to the style of her earlier work, The Novel in the Viola. There is an innocence about her novels which is simply lovely and a welcome foil to the outside world. Her turns of phrases are startlingly unique, comparing magnolia flowers to "fat, tarty girls in ball gowns" and memories to "dandelion clocks in the wind". (Amy Pirt We Love This Book)

PRAISE FOR MR ROSENBLUM'S LIST: 'Almost irritatingly impressive . . . she strikes the perfect note with simple, evocative metaphors. I was forced to accept that this was a rare treat; a debut novel that is pretty much flawless.' (The Times)

A 'tender, lyrical novel of family and fame' (Katherine McMahon The Express)

The light yet poignant tone makes for an unusual, richly comic novel . . . a treat of a book. (Guardian)

Sprinkled with a hint of magic, this debut is a delight. (Daily Mail)

PRAISE FOR THE NOVEL IN THE VIOLA: 'A deeply touching and blissfully romantic elegy for a lost world.' (The Times)

Book Description:

By the author of Mr Rosenblum's List, this is a captivating tale of passion and music, ancient songs and nostalgia, of the ties that bind and the ones we are prepared to sever.

About this edition

• Publisher: Sceptre
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 1444736388
• ISBN 13: 9781444736380
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 400