Music & Silence

In the freezing cellars of the palace, musicians play unseen for the haunted, cash-strapped Christian IV of Denmark. Meanwhile, his beautiful but petulant consort Kirsten plays out wild fantasies with her lover. In a stately home in Ireland, Francesca, Countess O'Fingal mourns her husband's insane pursuit of a tune heard in a dream. She calls for the lutenist Peter Claire to help cure him. But Claire leaves to join Christian's chamber orchestra, where he falls in love with Kirsten's only friend-and one she will not relinquish. Trust and betrayal, light and dark, death and desires-Music & Silence entwines its themes and characters in a sparkling, mesmerising novel.