The Piano Tuner by Daniel Mason is luminous. It's quite the imaginative story as he takes you into the jungles of Burma. I felt sweaty and I swear there was a mosquito buzzing around me.
It's 1886 and Edgar Drake receives a commission from the British War Office. He, a shy middle-aged married man, is asked to travel to Northeast Burma (into a war zone) and repair a rare piano. His piano tuning skills are renowned and the eccentric army surgeon who owns the piano requested his service.
This strange tale takes you into the jungles and introduces you to a man with a lot of mysterious power in the region. Doctor Carroll's mission and work is questionable, and yet the man is fascinating. Edgar is drawn into his world and the magic of Burma. He tunes the piano and yet, despite missing his wife, he's not in a hurry to leave.
Mystery, intrigue, music, enemies, animals, moving the piano via the river. Shots can ring out. The book gives a taste of history, the British trying to tame a country. But that country seduces, the heat closes in, and the jungle has it's own beat. Kudos to the writing, the characters, and the underlying musical tones.
