I am absolutely delighted to be on the tour for this read.
Cruising through the plot:
A professional pianist searches for her sister, who was taken when their parents died, aided on by her childhood care records and a single song that continues to haunt her.
Heather Harris is a piano teacher and professional musician, whose quiet life revolves around music, whose memories centre on a single song that haunts her. A song she longs to perform again. A song she wrote as a child, to drown out the violence in their home. A song she played with her little sister, Harriet.
But Harriet is gone … she disappeared when their parents died, and Heather never saw her again.
When Heather is offered an opportunity to play piano on a cruise ship, she leaps at the chance. She’ll read her recently released childhood care records by day – searching for clues to her sister’s disappearance – and play piano by night … coming to terms with the truth about a past she’s done everything to forget.
An exquisitely moving novel about surviving devastating trauma, about the unbreakable bond between sisters, Nothing Else is also a story of courage and love, and the power of music to transcend – and change – everything.
Bobs and Books honest review:
I am still feeling dazzled from the author's previous book, so was delighted to be on the tour for this one.
Heather's haunting of where her sister might be is powerful and moving. There are so many questions that I felt needed answering immediately!
The story weaves so brilliantly through the sisters' childhood and then back to modern day. I was a bit concerned that the book may feel repetitive, but happy to have been wrong, as it gives a fresh look.
This books focuses on some delicate subject matters incredibly well. The theme of sound and hearing is powerful, and hats off to the author for a slight pancreatic cancer mention too.
I found myself wanting to race to the end, hoping to see the sisters reunited and had that reader dilemma of rushing through it against absorbing the detail in every word. I felt so invested in these characters and despite being set on a cruise which can often feel like a claustrophobic read, this felt liberating.
Emotional, poignant, delightful.
About the author:
All six of Louise Beech’s books have been digital bestsellers. Her novels have been a Guardian Readers’ Choice, shortlisted for Not the Booker Prize, and shortlisted for the RNA Most Popular Romantic Novel Award. Her short fiction has won the Glass Woman Prize, the Eric Hoffer Award for Prose, and the Aesthetica Creative Works competition, as well as shortlisting for the Bridport Prize twice. Louise lives with her husband on the outskirts of Hull. Follow her on Twitter @louisewriter