Ghost Music
Contemporary fiction from Alice McVeigh.
ISBN: 978-0752809205
Publication: October 1997
Publisher: Orion Press
Editions: Paperback, hardcover.
(This is the second edition of Ghost Music, which was originally published by Orion/Hachette).
A standalone sequel to the bestselling While the Music Lasts, Ghost Music was inspired by McVeigh’s fifteen years of touring on four continents with London orchestras including the BBC Symphony, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique.
McVeigh defines an orchestra as ‘a combination of the unlikely and the insufferable, attempting the impossible.’ The same may be said of her novel, which smoothly harmonizes disparate themes and perspectives. Sexy and satirical, the narrative captivatingly chronicles personal politics and the world of music, both ghostly and otherwise.
GHOST MUSIC finds the fictional Orchestra of London beset by difficulties. Zimetski, a fiery Polish conductor drives musicians simultaneously to greater performances and personal desperation, while Pete, the orchestral manager, performs damage control.
William Mellor, a cellist, buys an antique cello at auction only to discover that it has supernatural qualities. A mysterious young woman then joins the orchestra, captivates the conductor and attempts to seduce William, who is struggling to get back together with his estranged wife. In the end, no force, whether earthly or otherwise, can keep William from confronting the cello’s true nature – as well as his own.
TWO EXCERPTS:
Obsessions: not my style. I’ve often wondered what love feels like – the ‘real deal’, no-holds-barred – but without ever wishing it on myself. But remember, Zimetski was a romantic. You have to be a romantic to get married three times, and never for money.
*
Poor girl, to be thrown to the anacondas of the horn section, the predators of the percussion. I trusted that she was tougher than she looked and knew ju-jitsu. I hoped that she had imbibed, as with mother’s milk, the Truth about Trumpets.
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