Awards
A New York Times Notable Book.
A Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year.
Synopses & Reviews
Patricia Dolan is alone with a stolen Vermeer painting in an Irish cottage by the sea. How she got here is part of the story she tells us: about her father, a Boston cop; the numbing loss of her daughter; and her charming Irish cousin, who has led her to this high-stakes crime.
Her vigil becomes a tale of love, regret, and transformation. As Patricia immerses herself in the passions of her Irish heritage, she discovers what has been hidden beneath the surface of her own life--and what she must do to preserve the things she values most.
Review
"On both sides of the divide in Northern Ireland, there will always be those for whom 'peace at any price is no peace at all.' Such, at least, is the view of the members of the I.R.A splinter group in Katharine Weber's affecting and elegant new novel about the dangerous subterfuges of politics and the healing truths of art....Affecting and elegant...Weber astutely explores the gap between perception and reality." Sylvia Brownrigg, The New York Times Book Review
Review
"Likely to haunt you when you're done with it....A wonderful book." The Washington Post Book World
Review
"As intricate as an acrostic....Weber's skill is such that her puzzle engages the reader throughout." The New Yorker
Review
"Artful....Surpasses her masterful debut....Weber's prose is beautiful and at times menacingly obsessive." San Jose Mercury News
Review
"Throughout Weber's tricky, tension-filled plot, double-crosses, murder, and art forgeries dramatize the deeper themes of love, refuge, and loss." Entertainment Weekly
Review
"[An] emotionally involving thriller that is propelled by psychological intensity....Weber remains a writer to be cherished, with the added, and quite rare, virtue of never writing a word too much." Publishers Weekly (starred review)
Review
"Like the Irish writer Brian Moore whose work hers resembles, Weber constructs a spare, carefully polotted psychological thriller....Resonates after the book is closed." Houston Chronicle
Review
"A beautifully crafted, tightly controlled story, with wonderfully sensual descriptions of art and landscape....Highly recommended." Library Journal
Review
"[An] emotiona.ly involving thriller that is propelled by psychological intensity....Weber remains a writer to be cherished, with the added, and quite rare, virtue of never writing a word too much." Publishers Weekley, starred review
Review
"Tightly wrought, atmospheric thriller....Weber's descriptive powers whether depicting the elusive layers of character or the rocky, cloud-wrapped Irish countryside are precise and evocative." Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Review
"Through her tautly orchestrated and increasingly frightening plot, Weber ponders a number of complex issues which she counterpoints one against the other with real finesse....The Music Lesson is a finely wrought and controlled piece of writing that explores the nature and danger of obsession. Sensual, closely observed, the prose captures the smell and physicality of rural Ireland, seducing the reader into the tangible world of this particular fictitious construct." The London Observer
Synopsis
Patricia Dolan is alone with a stolen Vermeer painting in an Irish cottage by the sea. How she got here is part of the story she tells us: about her father, a Boston cop; the numbing loss of her daughter; and her charming Irish cousin, who has led her to this high-stakes crime.
Her vigil becomes a tale of love, regret, and transformation. As Patricia immerses herself in the passions of her Irish heritage, she discovers what has been hidden beneath the surface of her own life--and what she must do to preserve the things she values most.
About the Author
Katharine Weber's previous novel was the acclaimed Objects in Mirror Are Closer Than They Appear. She lives in Connecticut, and spends part of the year in West Cork, Ireland. She teaches fiction writing at Yale University.