FICTION
312 Pages, 5.5 x 8
Formats: Trade Paper, EPUB, Mobipocket, PDF
Trade Paper, $19.99 (US $19.99)
Publication Date: January 2014
ISBN 9781922089465
Rights: AU & NZ
Fremantle Press (Jan 2014)
eBook Editions Available
Will it work on my eReader?Recounting the remarkable life of Dame Lena Gaunt—music’s most modern musician as the first theremin player of the 20th century—this novel about an octogenarian and former junkie is as geographically diverse as it is culturally and musically rich. An offer to play her unusual instrument, where sounds are produced not through touch but instead through hand movements in the air, leads Lena to revisit her life—from her discovery of music to falling in love and from Southeast Asia to Australia and Europe. Vignettes of growing up, the glittering years on the world stage, melancholy, war-time periods, and growing old all compose the story of a woman whose life is made and torn apart by those she gives her heart to.
“To encompass a person’s whole life in a book is no mean feat, especially if the person has lived a full and adventuresome one. However, author Tracy Farr manages to do this seamlessly . . . I was completely engrossed in Lena Gaunt’s heartfelt story.” —Books+Publishing
“Tracy Farr’s beautifully written and well-crafted novel combines music and art as she moves the reader around the globe through the dazzling 30s and 40s. This rich novel pays tribute to the life of an artist in all its forms.” —West Australian
Tracy Farr is the author of short fiction published in The Best New Zealand Fiction, New Zealand Listener, and several literary journals as well as broadcast on Radio New Zealand. She has also been the Emerging Writer-in-Residence at the Katharine Susannah Prichard Writers Center and short-listed for several awards.