When Feliu Delargo is born, late-nineteenth-century Spain is a nation slipping from international power and struggling with its own fractured identity, caught between the chaos of post-empire and impending Civil War. Feliu's troubled childhood and rise to fame lead him into a thorny partnership with an even more famous and eccentric figure, the piano prodigy Justo Al-Cerraz. The two musicians' divergent artistic goals and political inclinations threaten to divide them as Spain plunges into Civil War. But as Civil War turns to World War, shared love for their trio partner -- an Italian violinist named Aviva -- forces them into their final and most dangerous collaboration.
'Ambitious and atmospheric...Romano-Lax handles dexterously the epic background of two world wars and the Spanish civil war' Guardian
When Feliu Delargo is born, late-nineteenth-century Spain is a nation slipping from international power and struggling with its own fractured identity, caught between the chaos of post-empire and impending Civil War.
Feliu's troubled childhood and rise to fame lead him into a thorny partnership with an even more famous and eccentric figure, the piano prodigy Justo Al-Cerraz. The two musicians' divergent artistic goals and political inclinations threaten to divide them as Spain plunges into Civil War. But as Civil War turns to World War, shared love for their trio partner - an Italian violinist named Aviva -- forces them into their final and most dangerous collaboration.
'A powerful first novel...epic in scale' Times Literary Supplement
'A vast, inventive novel...It's a pleasure to read fiction that is so interesting and instructive about music' Daily Telegraph
