The Ghost Variations
After his wife dies in mysterious circumstances, a famous young pianist tries to rebuild his life.
Declan Byrnie, a child prodigy, started touring the world at eighteen years old: recording, playing in the world’s greatest concert halls, reaching the very summit of his profession. But after the death of his wife he stops performing and his life descends into loneliness and obscurity.
Five years later, Declan decides to re-start his career, and sets out on a tour of America. But his wife’s death – and his role in it – continues to haunt him. And he discovers that even the greatest music cannot save him from his past.
The Ghost Variations is heartbreaking and funny, an exploration of the power and limitations of music, how grief inflects and reforms us, and whether we can ever really start our lives afresh