The Weight of a Piano

A novel

By: Chris Cander

Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell

USA TODAY BESTSELLER

In 1962, in the Soviet Union, eight-year-old Katya is bequeathed what will become the love of her life: a Blüthner piano, on which she discovers an enrichening passion for music. Yet after she marries, her husband insists the family emigrate to America—and loses her piano in the process.

In 2012, in Bakersfield, California, twenty-six-year-old Clara Lundy is burdened by the last gift her father gave her before he and her mother died in a terrible house fire: a Blüthner upright she has never learned to play. Now a talented and independent auto mechanic, Clara’s career is put on hold when she breaks her hand trying to move the piano, and in sudden frustration she decides to sell it. Only in discovering the identity of the buyer—and the secret history of her piano—will Clara be set free to live the life of her choosing.

Great story!

I’m so glad I read this book. What a great story! I would recommend this to friends and family.

Music and silence, and so much more...

Riveting and expertly woven tale of a piano and the lives it changes. MUST READ!!

Didnt like narration

The narrator has an odd accent and sort of breathy and mournful way of reading
the book itself was good - interesting and creative

The Russian story: fascinating, absorbing, highly credible. The American story: none of the aforesaid.

I was drawn to this book by the title. I love the piano and piano music. And as other reviewers have said, the description of the construction of the instrument was fascinating. The elderly Jewish pianist who “disappeared” into the jaws of Soviet Russia, the little girl who was mesmerized by his music, the deprivation and fear imposed on her family by a cruel and unpredictable regime, all of these rang true. The escape to the west and to freedom was inevitable.

As soon as they touched down in California, however, the story degenerates into a series of implausible characters in soap opera predicaments. The narration, which was never more than adequate to begin with, becomes downright annoying. The narrator portrays men with a thin, nasal, and somewhat sarcastic whine. Most men are bad, most women are good.

The ending in downright predictable and downright preposterous.

This is an easy book which would appeal to romantics who like pianos. I would not call it literature.

The Key to Enjoying this Book

As a professional musician for more than sixty years, I was fascinated by the description of how this piano was made; from the picking of a certain tree all the way to completion. It took a while for me to understand there were two stories told--every other chapter, and I had to really concentrate while listening. I'm a speed reader and had this been a paper book I might have skipped over too many pages so I'm glad I bought the Audible edition. Cassandra Campbellas' voicing of characters was excellent and I was spellbound from beginning to end. Having moved my piano from house to house and up and down stairs certainly brought back some memories.