Thoroughly Good Classical Music Podcast
Fran’s work, the purpose that drives it…[is] evident in the way she talks about her craft….there is love here, found in the words she writes and in the way she talks about what she writes…
JON JACOB, Thoroughly Good Podcast host
A very good read which embraces music and musicianship with a moving story of friendship in peace and war, plus a warm recounting of deep love between the friends and families.
RB, UK READER
Interview with Indie Boulevard
‘The 1913 C. Bechstein grand piano in F M Wilson’s Dorset home predates the opening of ‘Facing the Music’ by a single year, a coincidence so precise that it already belongs in fiction. Wilson has spent much of her life at the keyboard and an equally substantial part writing about the people who sit there, listening for the point where technique ends and personality takes over. Her first novel grows from years of close attention to musicians, their habits, ambitions and the identities built through daily practice.’
Reader comments
I’m very much enjoying Facing the Music by F M Wilson. Although set in an earlier period, it contains a great deal that would seem strikingly familiar to musicians and non-musicians today. With war in the background, (and perhaps a touch of Waugh), it manages to tackle serious themes without ever losing its sense of humour. Thoroughly recommended.
James Francis Brown, composer & Artistic Director of Hertfordshire Festival of Music
Congrats again on your wonderful book. It caused many thoughts to surface… I was touched by your reminiscence of me and the Waldstein Sonata in your Sutton Coldfield home! It has inspired me to return to it but I don’t know whether my technical stamina is up to it!
MM
I really loved the detailed musical discussions and delighted in the musical choices you had made throughout. I also appreciated your horrific descriptions of the war and enjoyed following the twists and turns of the characters’ lives. I read the whole thing in a few days, thanks to your flowing prose.
CW
What a fabulous book. It was so easy to identify with the two main characters – Theo and Jonathan. Like you, I spent formative years making music with friends… Your depictions of the horrors of world war 1 were disturbing and moving in equal measure
MMcK
