‘Fiennes has exceptional gifts, and he has written a small masterpiece, a tribute to the power of place, family and memory’ – The Sunday Telegraph
William Fiennes’ childhood was one of imagination and curiosity, bounded only by the horizon he saw from the roof-tiles of his ancient family home. His older brother Richard, known for his towering presence, his inventiveness, his great passion for Leeds United, and his suffering due to severe epilepsy, was an adored and charismatic figure in his life.
Years later, eager to understand his brother’s mind as fully as the ancient trees and secret haunts of his own journey towards adulthood, William Fiennes has written a profoundly moving account of his home, his family’s care, and above all, of Richard. The Music Room is a luminous testament to the miracle of consciousness and to the permanence of love.
‘On putting the book down I felt as if I had been hypnotised. It held me entranced, afraid and awed’ – The Times
'Fiennes has a poet's gift for creating images that are fresh and original' – The Spectator
Now part of the Picador Collection, a series showcasing the very best of modern literature.
“A small masterpiece, a tribute to the power of place, family and memory”The Telegraph, The Telegraph
“A brilliant meld of memoir, family history and the sense of what it means to truly care for ourselves, other people and places . . . Fiennes is becoming one of our finest writers”Metro, Metro
“A beautiful and fortifying book, even a great one”The Daily Telegraph, The Daily Telegraph
“Beautifully written, and by turns lyrical, nostalgic and surprising . . . There are many memoirs in the world . . . but there are precious few books that do both as well as Fiennes’s does. Oliver Sacks’s work springs to mind, of course, though his books, marvellous as they are, aren't nearly as accomplished as this one. The way that Fiennes deploys and marshals language here really is quite exceptional . . . This is a brilliant work that combines social observation, personal testimony and medical history in a unique, fresh and utterly captivating way”The Irish Times, The Irish Times
