The Melody of Things: On Music, Memory, and Beginning Again

The lyrical account of a young pianist who gave up her professional ambitions to become an amateur.

Ten years after becoming a writer, Nadia Beard experienced a strange, exhilarating longing for something she had not realized she’d missed: playing piano. Having trained seriously to become a pianist but stymied by stage fright, Beard decided to return to her beloved instrument as an amateur. The Melody of Things is a unique combination of memoir, music, and political history, as it charts Bea...