In this debut novel, rich in the beauty of music, a
young piano prodigy struggles to understand Beethoven
and her own life. At a conservatory in Baltimore, Sylvia
studies piano with the venerable Cornelius Toft, whose
disapproval of her efforts to play Beethoven’s Opus
111 seems somehow related to her inability to grow up,
both as an artist and a human being. In Daughters of
Song, Paula Huston weaves together Sylvia’s story
with the stories of Toft’s other students: the famous
Moon Ja Koh, a world-class concert pianist who is all
too aware of the detrimental effects of success on her
personal life; Peter, classically trained yet drawn more
to the beat of jazz; Jan, who loves the romantic music
of Franz Liszt; and Brandon, handsome, accomplished, and
Toft’s favorite. Sylvia is sustained by her genuine
passion for the piano, the counsel of teacher Katerina
Haupt, and the aggravating but loyal companionship of
her Ukrainian roommate, Marushka.
Paula Huston is not a musician. Her sister, pianist
Christina Dahl, acted as technical advisor during the
writing of this book, which was nominated for the
Commonwealth Club of San Francisco’s Gold Medal for
Best First Novel, selected by the Music Book Society and
Performing Arts Book Club, and chosen for the Christian
Science Monitor’s original "Novelist’s
Debut" review.
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