A review by bianca89279
The Truths and Triumphs of Grace Atherton by Anstey Harris

4.0

The shy and somewhat recluse Grace Atherton is a luthier, who loves to make and repair string instruments. She herself is an accomplished cello player, not that anyone close to her has heard her play. Not even her lover of eight years, the charming David, who happens to have a wife and kids in Paris. Grace is always ready to drop whatever she's doing to meet with David whenever and wherever he's available. The crumbs he's offering are delicious. He was in many ways almost perfect - good-looking, generous, knew her very well and made her feel special. When David commits a bravery act, their lives turn upside down. It appears things were not as they seemed. Grace's devastated.

Luckily, she has two unlikely friends to help her through her heartbreak: an eighty-something year old gentleman, who comes by her shop for coffee and a chat and her spirited, angst-ridden teenage assistant, who's becoming a very good violin player herself.

While the story itself has been done before, what made it special, for me anyway, were all the details about playing music, instrument making, Cremona and its string instrument awards. (I looked it up, it's quite interesting).

This could be summed up as when life gives you broken string instruments, make a winning cello.

Many thanks to Simon & Schuster Australia for sending me a copy of this beautiful book. I love the cover.