{"product_id":"the-piano-maker-isbn-9780771071287","title":"The Piano Maker","description":"\u003cb\u003eThe suspenseful, emotionally resonant, and utterly compelling story of what brings an enigmatic French woman to a small Canadian town in the 1930s, a woman who has found depths of strength in dark times and comes to discover sanctuary at last. For readers of \u003ci\u003eThe Imposter Bride\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Cellist of Sarajevo\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eSarah's Key\u003c\/i\u003e by Tatiana de Rosnay, and \u003ci\u003eThe Red Violin\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e     Helene Giroux arrives alone in St. Homais on a winter day. She wears good city clothes and drives an elegant car, and everything she owns is in a small trunk in the back seat. In the local church she finds a fine old piano, a Molnar, and she knows just how fine it is, for her family had manufactured these pianos before the Great War. Then her mother's death and war forces her to abandon her former life. \u003cbr\u003e     The story moves back and forth in time as Helene, settling into a simple life, playing the piano for church choir, recalls the extraordinary events that brought her to this place. They include the early loss of her soldier husband and the reappearance of an old suitor who rescues her and her daughter, when she is most desperate; the journeys that very few women of her time could even imagine, into the forests of Indochina in search of ancient treasures and finally, and fatefully, to the Canadian north. When the town policeman confronts her, past and present suddenly converge and she must face an episode that she had thought had been left behind forever.\u003cb\u003ePraise for\u003ci\u003e Clara\u003c\/i\u003e:\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Deeply engrossing and unforgettable... will leave readers shouting 'bravo' for the resiliency of the human spirit.\" \u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Showcases Palka's great attention to detail, which enhances an already beautiful and deeply moving story of hope, love, and triumph.\" \u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e (starred review) \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"In much the same way as Carol Shields did for Daisy Goodwill Flett in \u003ci\u003eThe Stone Diaries\u003c\/i\u003e, Kurt Palka gives dignity to a life lived.\" \u003ci\u003eWinnipeg Free Press\u003c\/i\u003eKURT PALKA was born and educated in Austria. He began his working life in Africa where he wrote for \u003ci\u003eAfrican Mirror\u003c\/i\u003e and made wildlife films in Kenya and Tanzania. After moving to Canada he worked on international stories for CTV and GLOBAL TV, wrote for American and Canadian publications such as the \u003ci\u003eChronicle Herald\u003c\/i\u003e and the \u003ci\u003eGlobe and Mail\u003c\/i\u003e, and worked as a Senior Producer for the CBC. He is the author of several novels, including Hammett Prize finalist \u003ci\u003eClara\u003c\/i\u003e, which was published in hardcover as \u003ci\u003ePatient Number 7.\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"McClelland \u0026 Stewart","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46303215354085,"sku":"NP9780771071287","price":16.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780771071287.jpg?v=1767740955","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/the-piano-maker-isbn-9780771071287","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}