“People who fall in love with old pianos see the shadows that linger round them; they hear music in the silence. With love comes a desire to rescue, to prop up shaking legs, to hear a tired voice sing again and, most of all, to possess. Falling in love with a piano is a coup de foudre, and like all great amours it changes our lives.” (page 16)
I’m not really sure how to classify this book. It’s part fiction (in order to move the story along, there is some fabrication of the facts), it’s mostly non-fiction, and in some ways it could be classified as a biography of Broadwood Square Piano No. 10651. Author Madeline Goold weaves together the history of this particular square piano which she found on an auction block. Her father had purchased a Broadwood upright for her when she was a young girl and the allure of the square piano by the same company was compelling.
Goold had the good fortune of being able to track this square piano’s history (which came into contact with the likes of hymn writer Charles Wesley, among others) as most of the Broadwood business papers were still in tact. She tracked down dates, people, historical facts and information, conducted interviews and researched to discover the history of No. 10651 which was now in her possession.
Well-written and engaging, if you like an off-beat memoir, music history, or like learning about little known historical facts then you would probably very much enjoy Mr. Langshaw’s Square Piano: The Story of the First Pianos and How They Caused a Cultural Revolution
Carrie comes by her book obsession honestly, having descended from a long line of bibliophiles. She blogs about books regularly at Reading to Know and Reading My Library.
This sounds SO interesting. I loved your recommendation at the end — interesting memoir or nonfiction. That’s exactly what I love to come across — book about something that I never thought I’d be interested in (like a square piano), but that is such a delight to read.
Sounds fascinating, Carrie!