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The Piano Tuner

A Novel

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The Piano Tuner

Written by: Daniel Mason
Narrated by: Richard Matthews
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About this listen

An extraordinary first novel that tells the story of a British piano tuner sent deep into Burma in the 19th century.

In October 1886, Edgar Drake receives a strange request from the British War Office: he must leave his wife and his quiet life in London to travel to the jungles of Burma, where a rare Erard grand piano is in need of repair. The piano belongs to an army surgeon-major whose unorthodox peacemaking methods - poetry, medicine, and now music - have brought a tentative quiet to the southern Shan States but have elicited questions from his superiors.

On his journey through Europe, the Red Sea, India, and into Burma, Edgar meets soldiers, mystics, bandits, and tale-spinners, as well as an enchanting woman as elusive as the surgeon-major. And at the doctor’s fort on a remote Burmese river, Edgar encounters a world more mysterious and dangerous than he ever could have imagined.

Sensuous, lyrical, rich with passion and adventure, this is a hypnotic tale of myth, romance, and self-discovery: an unforgettable novel.

©2002 Daniel Mason (P)2002 Books on Tape, Inc.
Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Piano Feel-Good Surgery
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What the critics say

"Richly imagined, The Piano Tuner winds like a lazy river, carrying the reader into the mythic land of Kipling and Conrad." (People)

"A novel for readers of literary and popular fiction alike; highly recommended." (Library Journal)

"Richard Matthews delivers an astonishing performance. His characters are as meticulously crafted as Burmese-carved ivory miniatures.... The dialogue soars. Mason’s plot fascinates and surprises, while Matthews’s performance is a tour de force." (AudioFile)

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Story Marred by Ending

The detail about Burma was excellent and scholarly. The characters were well drawn, and for most of the story I was enchanted. It seemed very real. But the abrupt ending was a grand disappointment that, in my opinion, ruined an otherwise great story. I thought the narrator was very good, although a couple of his voices were not so convincing (women, children). The story gave hours of enjoyment until the ending, where everything quickly fell apart.

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