Five-Part Invention: A Novel
Jul 2022 · Sold by Simon and Schuster
Ebook
304
Pages
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Eligible
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About this ebook
The searing and haunting debut novel from PEN finalist and New York Times bestelling author Andrea J. Buchanan
Spanning five generations of women, Five-Part Invention wrestles with the question—if trauma echoes through generations, can love echo, too? Is the love we transmit enough to undo the trauma of the past that we unwittingly carry with us and often re-enact in the present?
When Lise, a pianist, suffers a nervous breakdown early in her marriage, her husband, in a warped act of protection and jealousy, has her piano taken away. With prose that is precise and emotionally affecting, Buchanan vividly renders how Lise's separation from her one source of expression and fulfilment cascades into her relationship with her daughter, leaving a legacy of trauma that echoes through the generations to come. Characters emerge broken and passionate, jagged, and yet hopeful and emotionally resonant, written in a way that only Buchanan, herself a conservatory-trained pianist, could achieve.
Five-Part Invention is by turns frightening and exquisitely observed, and establishes Buchanan as a literary force.
Spanning five generations of women, Five-Part Invention wrestles with the question—if trauma echoes through generations, can love echo, too? Is the love we transmit enough to undo the trauma of the past that we unwittingly carry with us and often re-enact in the present?
When Lise, a pianist, suffers a nervous breakdown early in her marriage, her husband, in a warped act of protection and jealousy, has her piano taken away. With prose that is precise and emotionally affecting, Buchanan vividly renders how Lise's separation from her one source of expression and fulfilment cascades into her relationship with her daughter, leaving a legacy of trauma that echoes through the generations to come. Characters emerge broken and passionate, jagged, and yet hopeful and emotionally resonant, written in a way that only Buchanan, herself a conservatory-trained pianist, could achieve.
Five-Part Invention is by turns frightening and exquisitely observed, and establishes Buchanan as a literary force.
About the author
Andrea J. Buchanan is a New York Times bestselling author whose latest book is the novel Five-Part Invention. Her memoir The Beginning of Everything was a finalist for the 2019 PEN/E.O. Wilson Award for Literary Science Writing. Her other work includes the internationally bestselling Daring Book for Girls and her essay collection on early motherhood, Mother Shock, along with eight other books. Before becoming a writer, Andi trained as a pianist, earning a bachelor of music degree in piano performance from the Boston Conservatory of Music and a master's in piano performance from the San Francisco Conservatory.
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