Chaos, big egos, romance, and the ghost of Beethoven: welcome to Turalong Music School.
Winner of the Best Fiction Book Award in the 2025 Able Golden Book Awards
When 32-year-old pianist Beatrice 'Beat' Snow is unexpectedly appointed the new Dean of Music at Turalong Music School, she steps into a high-stakes campus drama where classical traditions collide with rock-and-roll rebellion.
Fine-tuning an elite music academy isn't going to be easy. Like playing a cracked violin with broken strings while the house burns down around her, Beat is fighting an uphill battle to revive the school's reputation. Tainted by gender bias, staff conflict, fraud and betrayal-not to mention the ghost of a dead composer-the university is determined to swallow her music school whole.
Despite not being a seasoned concert performer herself, Beat loves wild mashes of sound: trumpets, electric guitars, flutes and saxophones, blazing all day and night. And maybe the only way she can keep her school together-and life on her beloved hobby farm-is to show audiences something never seen before: a combined Beethoven and rock festival.
Music or politics? What will be Beat's magnum opus?
What the Critics Are Saying:
"A musical masterpiece by a master wordsmith-sensitive, insightful and moving." - Karin Schaupp, Internationally-acclaimed classical guitarist
"Funny and beguiling... The character of Beat is a triumph." - Kristina Olsson, Author
Why Readers Love Big Music:
Rife with academic drama: Behind the concert curtains lies a cutthroat university fiction landscape. Beat must learn to orchestrate her way through bitter professional rivalry, fraud and college drama, forging her way forward as a bold heroine in a chaotic university setting.
Compelling, character-driven storytelling: This contemporary fiction, woman author piece shines with character-driven plot and engaging dialogue. As Beat navigates romance, the fallout of past relationships and seeks refuge on her beloved horse farm, will she be able to overcome those who would see her fail?
A music-themed fiction masterpiece: This is one of those rare books written by musicians, written about musicians. It pulses with backstage authenticity and is infused with music-from Rachmaninoff to Taylor Swift-complete with its own Spotify playlist.
Women taking back power: This academic fiction is perfect for readers who crave literary fiction with a strong female lead, with deep introspective glimpses into the cost of artistic genius.
A strong romance throughline: Can Beat overcome the trauma of her past and find love again-all while navigating the mess of Turalong Music School?
Sink into a world of power, passion and music:
Written by Gillian Wills-graduate of the Royal Academy of Music and former Dean of Music at the Victorian College of the Arts-the author's experience brings captivating and thought-provoking realism to this institutional literary fiction.
Will Beat unify her squabbling colleagues with a radical Beethoven-meets-rock festival, or will institutional corruption silence her for good?
