Book description
‘Fiennes has exceptional gifts, and he has written a small masterpiece,
a tribute to the power of place, family and memory’
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. All human grief and glory shimmers off
the page’ Libby Purves, The Times
William Fiennes is the best-selling author of The Snow Geese
, winner of the 2003 Hawthornden Prize, Somerset Maugham Award and
Sunday Times
Young Writer of the Year Award, and shortlisted for the Samuel Johnson
Prize in 2002. He is also a founder member of the charity First Story,
set up to place published authors in creative writing residencies in
state schools across the UK.
