She Shall Have Music

The piano was always a game. Having no siblings near enough to my age to play with, I simply had to make my own fun, and for this, the piano was the playmate I never had. It kept me occupied for hours. Brisbane musician and writer Juliet Hoey follows her two critically acclaimed crime novels The Sixth Partita and Miranda's Tempest with this deeply personal account of her struggles and triumphs in her determined quest to become a pianist. After a promising beginning with a good teacher, circumstances demanded a change of mentor, with disastrous results. Sister Elizabeth was a very elegant lady. She was the principal music teacher at the school. She was also the angel of musical death to myriads of unfortunate students who had the misfortune to shelter under her ineffectual wings. Years of heartbreaking struggle followed this appalling teaching, as the young student worked relentlessly to rebuild a shattered technique, often in borrowed time...This thoughtful read continually surprises. The sweeping narrative details Brisbane's cultural history from the 1940s onwards, a woman's struggles in a man's world, post-natal depression, temporary homelessness in England with three small children...Eventually the author was able to say 'it was all worth it'. This extremely well-written and engaging book is an accomplished work. (Extracts from a recent review.)