A review by aimiller
The Piano Student by Lea Singer

emotional reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I received a copy of this book through LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program, and I am grateful to the publisher for the opportunity to read this.

A compelling read based on real life letters between classical pianist Vladimir Horowitz and his student. Singer's frame story may confuse some readers or turn them off, but I found the beats between the content of the letters compelling and I think the ending pushed it from 3 stars to 4 for me; it just feels beautiful and a fascinating bringing together of art and politics, art and the personal, and the personal and the politics. It has that sort of old school melodramatic feeling of older gay fiction which I think can also be polarizing, but seems to work really well with the content of the letters.