Novel #14 - The Piano Man's Daughter by Timothy Findley
"To love without reason is to condemn yourself to misery..."
"The Piano Man is pretty as a picture - he is every woman's dream and every man's rival! The Piano Man is lovely as a rose and perfect as a piece of pie."
Lily, Charlie Kilworth's mother, dies the day after he visited her in the Asylum for the Insane. Charlie finds himself suddenly obsessing to find out who his father is. He is Lily's illegitimate child, as Lily was herself the product of her mother's brief love affair with the mysterious Piano Man Tom Wyatt. Lily also was obsessed with fire, something Charlie finds out runs in the family, tracing back to the death of a relative in Ireland decades ago. This makes him think if he would dare have children of his own lest they inherit the madness that has consumed his mother.
The story is a symphony of unforgettable characters, and although deeply melancholy, it is a story about remembering and looking back at the past.
Timothy Findley is one of Canada's most beloved writers.
-o0o-
sorry, this comes late. i completely forgot that tonight i had to host a radio show (my last broadcast of the show before we leave the station) so i spent the rest of my day preparing scripts, lining up stories to air.
i will comment on your posts tomorrow; i hope you don't mind.
@danig - thanks, DG. hahaha! i don't really play. i know how to read keys and notes and a long time ago, i was able to teach myself how to play certain pieces (romance d'amour, etude in e and two or three children's songs) but it's not the correct way to play. i'd have loved to learn how to play and when i retire i plan to really learn how to play. i used to play folk guitar but i haven't in probably 35 years. many talents, maybe, but never particularly good at any one thing. i used to be a 100-metre dasher hahahaha!
@altadc - thanks, alta. one of my writer friends and i inherited the show from our writing mentor who passed away six years ago. the station's lease in the building was not renewed and they were moving to a cheesy location and my friend and i decided we won't take the program with them. we do have podcasts on the website. i'll let you know when last night's show has been posted. it's a story show - we recorded new writers who otherwise would not have been given the chance by the mainstream media and then air the stories on air. nothing spectacular. :-)
can you let me know the details of the podcast too???
100m dasher eh? might come in handy when we get stranded on the desert island, I'll fish, you run...lol
@altadc@danig - it's on now. go to www.liferattle.ca and click on "radio"; click on the last show which is 1165 (i played 3 wonderful stories that night). also if you click on 2011 button just below, you will find other broadcasts which aired my stories (er, i mean, my evil twin's story/ies.)
Haven't read this one, it's on the list. love the piano keys. do you play?
radio huh, woman of many talents...
@jannkc - thank you, jann. at my age, gotta keep the mind (and body) busy.
100m dasher eh? might come in handy when we get stranded on the desert island, I'll fish, you run...lol