Lessons in Harmony

About the book

A STUNNING NOVEL OF CLASSICAL MUSIC, FRIENDSHIP, LOVE AND NATIONHOOD FROM THE AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR OF THE PROOF OF MY INNOCENCE, BOURNVILLE AND MIDDLE ENGLAND

'I was completely engrossed by the fictional reconstruction of the friendship between these two very different composers' Clare Chambers, author of SMALL PLEASURES

‘A highly satisfying, wise and humane read’ Joanna Miller, bestselling author of THE EIGHTS

The year is 1907 and Maurice Ravel is one of the most admired young composers in France. In Belle Epoque Paris he cuts a charismatic, dandyish figure, whose technically flawless music hides a deep emotional core, and whose unpredictable talent is as hard to pin down as his mysterious personal life.

When Ravel’s devoted acolyte Mylo encourages him to take on a new pupil – a rising British composer called Ralph Vaughan Williams – an unlikely cross-channel friendship starts to blossom. An aristocratic Englishman and collector of folk songs, Vaughan Williams appears to have nothing in common with his teacher except that, somehow, each of them seems to represent an archetype of his own country.

But as the shadow of war approaches, their friendship becomes entwined with Mylo’s own tragic story. The two friends must pursue their vocation through one of the most turbulent but creative periods in history. Will their differing senses of national identity – one ‘typically French’, the other ‘so British’ – liberate or constrain them?

LESSONS IN HARMONY is a stunning novel about the power of music to create beauty, to freeze time, and, at its greatest, to express the personality not just of its composer, but of an entire nation.

'My comfort read: anything by Jonathan Coe' Bob Mortimer

'A new Jonathan Coe is always a treat' The Times

'Probably the best English novelist of his generation' Nick Hornby

'Please God... if there is a next life, let me write as well as Jonathan Coe' Anthony Bourdain

‘A novelist who gains in range and reputation with every book’ Pat Barker

‘With his love of music, European culture and the foibles of Britishness, Jonathan Coe is uniquely equipped to craft this story of male friendship, art, love and nationhood' Stuart Maconie