Publisher Description

Henry Cage seems to have it all: a successful career, money, a beautiful home, and a reputation for being a just and principled man. But public virtues can conceal private failings, and as Henry faces retirement, his well-ordered life begins to unravel. His ex-wife is ill, his relationship with his son is strained to the point of estrangement, and on the eve of the new millennium he is the victim of a random violent act which soon escalates into a prolonged and mysterious harassment. Who is doing this? And why?
 
Full of exceptional grace and emotional power, The Upright Piano Player is a wise and acutely observed novel about the myriad ways in which life tests us—no matter how carefully we have constructed our own little fortresses.

Author Biography

DAVID ABBOTT worked for forty years in the advertising industry as a copywriter and creative director. He was a founding partner of Abbott Mead Vickers, Britain's largest advertising agency. This is his first novel, and he is at work on his second.

Review

"[A] gripping novel, a reminder of how little control we have over our lives." —Los Angeles Times
 
 "Wise and moving. . . . An accomplished novel of quiet depths and resonant shadows." —John Burnham Schwartz, author of The Commoner 
 
"Stirring. . . . Abbott has created a memorable book, and readers will ache along with the principal characters." —San Francisco Chronicle
 
"Gracefully constructed and wholly consuming." —Associated Press
 
"Elegant, rich, and gratifying." —The Independent (London)

"The menace simmering beneath the surface of [The Upright Piano Player's] prose is compelling." —Daily Mail 
  
"A powerful and well-written portrayal of loss and grieving." —Library Journal (starred review)
 
"A concise, haunting work, a short, brilliantly observed novel. . . . Fluid and elegiac, filled with somber, serious tones, the author's writing is reminiscent of the great Ian McEwan." —Curled Up With a Good Book
 
"Masterful." —The Advocate (Baton Rouge, LA)
 
"A beautifully constructed debut." —The Guardian (London)

Review Quote

"How quickly a carefully constructed life can unravel! ... Abbott has peered over the edge to write this gripping novel, a reminder of how little control we have over our lives." - Los Angeles Times "Stirring ... Abbott has created a memorable book, and readers will ache along with the principal characters." - San Francisco Chronicle "Gracefully constructed and wholly consuming." - Associated Press "[A]n elegant debut filled with anguish and yearning ... Abbott takes these broken relationships and slowly works over their frayed ends with a delicate touch, sometimes mending them and other times hitting exposed nerves ... It's a very careful novel in its structure and revelations, but Abbott impresses most in his easy balance of the disparate plot elements ... and overarching themes of reconnection and regret." - Publishers Weekly "A powerful and well-written portrayal of loss and grieving. Highly recommended." - Library Journal (starred review) " David Abbott's The Upright Piano Player is a wise and moving debut, an accomplished novel of quiet depths and resonant shadows." -John Burnham Schwartz, author of The Commoner and Reservation Road "A beautifully constructed debut." - The Guardian "Elegant, rich and gratifying." - The Independent "The menace simmering beneath the surface of its prose is compelling." - Daily Mail

Description for Reading Group Guide

The questions and topics for discussion that follow are designed to enhance your group's discussion of a drama that brilliantly captures the roles choice and chance play in our lives.

Discussion Question for Reading Group Guide

1. The Upright Piano Player begins with an event that occurs several years after the main part of the novel. Why do you think the author chose to start with this scene? How does the manner in which Abbott leads up to the accident and Henry''s role in it intensify the reader''s feelings? Why does he juxtapose the present day with descriptions of the hours before the accident occurred (pp. 11-14)? Why does he describe the accident in such graphic and horrific detail? 2. What does Tom''s behavior at the funeral reveal about the impact of the tragedy on him as both a father and a son? Why does Jane''s phone call (p. 9) have such a profound affect on Henry? Are the phases of grief Henry experiences unique to him or do they on some level reflect common reactions to a loss? 3. What does the description of Henry''s reaction to the presentations marking his departure from the firm convey about the disparity between how he thinks of himself and the way others perceive him (pp. 17-19)? To what extent does Henry define himself by his ethical principles and professional role? Is the image Henry projects unusual for a man of his age, position, and outward success? 4. As the novel unfolds, the focus shifts among several characters: Tom, Nessa, Jack, Colin, and Maude. Do Henry''s perceptions of and interactions with them support or diverge from the way they are seen in the vignettes devoted to them? 5. In introducing Tom and his family, Abbott writes, "His parents'' divorce had almost destroyed him. Now [Beth], the bookshop, and Hal were slowly putting him back together again" (p. 29). In what ways do his memories of his parents'' marriage and his life as a child shape Tom''s interactions with his own family? Discuss the implications of the statement, "Memory makes him lenient. One day (but not yet) he will tell Henry that he has a grandson" (p. 31). 6. After his warm reunion with Tom and Beth and his extraordinary and immediate bond with Hal, Henry wonders, "So why...was there no elation?" (p. 114). What prevents Henry from celebrating and enjoying this new phase in his life? 7. Does the life Nessa has made for herself in Florida, including her relationship with Jack, fit in with the picture of her created by Henry and Tom? What does her way of dealing with her terminal illness say about her? 8. What insights does the story of the Cages'' separation (p. 56-58) and Nessa''s explanation of her affair (p. 89) offer into their marriage? Does their first meeting after many years (p. 120-30), as well as Nessa''s e-mail to Tom and Jane (p. 134), reinforce your impression or provide a new perspective on the characters and their relationship? What accounts for their close attachment despite the years and distance that have separated them? 9. Compare and contrast Jack and Henry. To what extent can they be seen as complete opposites? What aspects of Jack''s personality bother Henry and why? Does Jack understand more about the tie between Nessa and Henry than they are willing or able to acknowledge themselves? 10. Why are Maude and Henry attracted to one another? What needs do they fulfill for each other? Would Henry concur with Maude''s musings about their affair (p. 132, p. 160)? 11. Trace the progression of Colin Bateman''s harassment of Henry. Are there steps Henry could have taken to prevent the escalation of his taunts and threats or does the situation lie entirely in Colin''s hands? What motivates Colin''s behavior? Does Abbott paint Colin as a thoroughly evil person, or are there moments when his humanity comes through? Does their ultimate confrontation and Henry''s reaction represent a change in Henry''s personality? 12. When Nessa and Henry go out together, "[Henry] knew that he had the power to make her happy.... Even now, at the fifty-fifth minute of the eleventh hour, he held back. Why? It was stupid and cruel" (p. 148). In what ways have missed opportunities or foolish choices shaped Henry''s life professionally, socially, and emotionally? What repercussions has this had not only on Henry, but also on Nessa, Tom, and Hal? 13. Do you think Henry would have been a different man if he and Nessa had remained together? If he had kept in touch with Tom and his family after the divorce? How do you think the rest of his life will turn out? 14. Despite the serious matters at the heart of the novel (Hal''s accident, the family''s long estrangement, Nessa''s illness), the tone is often light. Which passages or incidents in The Upright Piano Player made you smile or laugh? 15. What is the significance of the title? Discuss the different ways it can be interpreted. 16. Consider the novel''s epigraphs from Nietzsche and E.E. Cummings, as well as Jack''s blunt response to Henry''s feelings of guilt and culpability. To what extent are the consequences of our choices and actions inescapable? What role does randomness or fate play in our lives? Does the novel provide answers to these questions?

Excerpt from Book

1 London November 1999 By the time he finally left, the adulation was beginning to pall. There had been a month of farewells. Lunches every day, three dinners a week--all preceded or concluded with speeches and presentations. His clients had given him a gold pen; the staff, an antique watch, older than himself, but unlike himself, still burnished and bright. There had been photographs from his partners by names he revered: Doisneau, Bravo, Lartigue, all framed in oak, their certificates of authenticity housed modestly in brown manila envelopes. He was familiar with this trick of the rich, restraint adding to the value of the gifts, the generosity of the givers. There were books, too, first editions of novels he loved--Black Mischief by Evelyn Waugh, published by Chapman and Hall in 1928 for 7/6, and now worth

Details