Sonata in Wax

Sonata in Waxis a terrific novelimmersive, compelling, smart, the story propelled by a cast of complex, full-bodied characters and the authors absolute mastery of the musical worlds he conjures...Im knocked flat with admiration for this splendid novel.Ben Fountain,New York Timesbestselling author ofDevil Makes ThreeA deeply realized tale of the power of music and the anonymity of history. Kirkus ReviewsFrom award-winning author Edward Hamlin comes an immersive, time-hopping musical mystery that intertwines the stories of Elisabeth Garnier, a young Frenchwoman living in World War I Boston, and Ben Weil, an acclaimed music producer whose life is consumed by a lieand by a bizarre, breathtaking sonata that could destroy him if he cant uncover its composers identity in time.As the Great War rages, a French pianist sits down to play an arrestingly original sonataa piece so strange and inspired that it could change the course of classical music. The moment is captured on wax cylinders, the recording medium of the day. But in the tumult of war the fragile cylinders vanish, and with them the identity of the brilliant composer and the virtuoso pianist.A century later, five timeworn wax cylinders land on the desk of Ben Weil, a revered classical music producer. From the moment he first plays them in his Chicago studio, Ben knows hes in the presence of genius. The dazzling piece is years ahead of its time, more Coltrane than Debussyhow could it be?Brought low by a painful divorce, Ben throws himself into unlocking the sonatas mysteries. But when a renowned pianist stumbles upon the work and takes credit for unearthing it, hes swept into a lie that could shatter his reputation and his private life at a stroke. Somehow Ben must find a way to tell the trutha dangerous quest that will lead him not only to the sonatas surprising origins, but to his own.