Book Review: The Piano Woman by Rozzi Bazzani

Title: The Piano Woman

Author: Rozzi Bazzani

Published: February 11th 2021

Publisher: Arcadia

Pages: 310

Genres:  Fiction, Historical/Contemporary

RRP: $29.99

Rating: 4 stars

A young woman goes missing…
On the threshold of World War II, a young woman from a titled family in the south of England disappears, seemingly without a trace.
An unexpected inheritance…
In 2016 on the outskirts of Melbourne Australia, Maddison Browne, a romantic fiction writer, is lucked out in love and scared that her best days as an author are over when she learns from an English Solicitor that she is to inherit an antique piano from a woman she knows nothing about.
A family secret…
On the coast of Kent, England, Maddison uncovers a century-old secret that leads her to the truth about a family she never knew and finds someone who makes her rethink how she might live the rest of her own life.
A thrilling, funny and engaging story about how far will people go to keep a web of family secrets, even if those secrets have ruined lives and threaten to continue doing so. The Piano Woman highlights the fragility of family, the price of love, and the importance of traditions that can sometimes save us from ourselves.

Review:

Rozzi Bazzani is an award-winning writer who brings her audience a breathtaking dual narrative title with The Piano Woman. A story that encompasses love, family relations, secrets, mystery, history and intrigue, it is easy to get lost in this well written multiple timeline novel.

Following a past and present style narrative, The Piano Woman delves into themes of fractured families, the cost of love, moral codes and self-preservation. In The Piano Woman, we begin with a wartime mystery that sees a baffling disappearance take place of a young woman from a notable family in the south of England. Moving forward in time to the present day, we are acquainted with Maddison Browne, a novelist who has penned a number of romance novels, but is unable to find love herself. When an unexpected inheritance comes Maddison’s way, she must work hard to uncover the secrets surrounding the antique piano she has been gifted. This search for the truth takes Maddison to England where she uncovers a long-standing secret. With life changing encounters and interesting revelations, Maddison’s world will be irrevocably changed by this strange inheritance.

History, music, love, entitlement, tradition, class, expectations and secrets all circulate The Piano Woman. Threading the past with the present and multiple points of view, The Piano Woman is a poised piece of fiction from a well-versed author.

Double narrative pieces that incorporate various viewpoints are quite ambitious forms of literature to take on. The Piano Woman is a good example of a novel in the dual timeline genre. Well written, considerate, intriguing and consuming, I enjoyed being transported to Maddison’s world. Bazzani does a good job of building Maddison’s journey, along with the past based narrative. The interchanges between the past and present were smooth and balanced carefully. Taking a stroll back into the past in wartime Britain was very much welcomed on my part. I always lap up historical novels based around this area and time period so The Piano Woman definitely struck a chord with me.

Stories that spark from hidden objects or secret inheritances always seem to win me over and this one was no exception. I liked how the author used the device of an antique piano to kick start a genuinely interesting investigation into the past. The piano and subsequent inheritance presented to Maddison allows for a full and intriguing interrogation into times past, complete with some interesting revelations surrounding family, choices, repercussions, decisions, truths and trust elements. I think overall the story was presented well over the three parts and the various character perspective interchanges. It was all wrapped up nicely too.

Dabble in the present day and take a step back in time with the memorable characters of The Piano Woman. Rozzi Bazzani’s title is a guaranteed great read.

The Piano Woman by Rozzi Bazzani was published on February 11th 2021. Details on how to purchase the book can be found here.

To learn more about the author of The Piano Woman, Rozzi Bazzani, visit here.

*I wish to thank the author for providing me with a free copy of this book for review purposes.

The Piano Woman is book #58 of the 2021 Australian Women Writers Challenge