Lead Review (Nothing Else)
- Book: Nothing Else
- Location: Caribbean, Hull, New York City (NYC), The Atlantic Ocean
- Author: Louise Beech
Nothing Else by award-winning author Louise Beech is set variously in Hull, New York and, ultimately, on a cruise ship (sailing the Atlantic and Caribbean). It’s a story of two sisters whose childhood is marred by an abusive father but they are saved by a loving mother who finds a way to get them secret piano lessons with a neighbour. This early love for music not only gives their mother great joy but helps the two girls, Heather and Harriet, live through the terror that is sometimes inflicted on them by their father.
One day, their world is turned upside down by a traumatic event and they end up in a children’s home. But that’s not the end of it – the younger sister disappears without trace and Heather, the elder sister, is left wondering what happened.
Many years later, still haunted by the song the sisters wrote to drown out the violence in their home, Heather jumps at the chance to be the resident pianist on a cruise ship. She takes her early childhood records with her and, after playing the piano by night, retreats to her cabin to try to unravel a past she doesn’t understand.
Meanwhile, in a parallel universe, her younger sister Harriet is living in New York and is trying to come to terms with the fact she is losing her hearing and what that will mean for her.
What follows is a moving tale of a lost childhood, surviving trauma, the unbreakable bond between sisters and the healing power of music.
This heart-breaking – but also uplifting – story is a bit slow at times but stick with it as the ultimate message at the end is one of the endurance of love and how memories can keep a sisterly bond alive over many decades. A super read for those long summer days.
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