Publisher's Synopsis
1982. Sean Gallagher, a talented musician leaves the west coast of Ireland to work for this Uncle's construction firm in Chicago. All goes well until he is forced to leave after a run-in with a local protection racket. His life spirals downwards until he is reduced to busking on the streets. Then his cherished violin is stollen and he ends up in hospital having suffered an epileptic attack. While here, Sean has a potent encounter with the terminally ill Charles Peccatte, a wayward if remarkably insightful pianist and composer, who is desperately trying to complete the last movement of his piano sonata. Sean helps Charles complete the sonata and a few days later he dies, leaving what little he owns to Sean. In a quest to find the first two movements of the sonata, Sean sets out on a journey down the Mississippi and into the state of Georgia. There he meets Marion Landray, Charles's estranged wife, a reclusive yet inwardly passionate woman. Despite their often stormy relationship, together they continue to search out the whereabouts of the rest of the music - rejuvenating Marion and eventually unlocking a momentous episode from Sean's formative years.
