The Pianist in the Dark by Michele Halberstadt
Maria-Theresa von Paradis, the only daughter of the secretary of the empress of Austria, was an exceptionally gifted child. By the age of seventeen, she was a full-fledged virtuoso, playing for the royal family, acclaimed for her beauty and talent . . . and because she was blind. Her father, unable to accept her condition despite her soaring musical gifts, enlists the help of Franz Anton Mesmer, the forerunner of the modern practice of hypnotism, where Maria-Theresa discovers the passions and emotions from which her blindness had previously protected her. In the tradition of Sleeping with Schubert and The Cellist of Sarajevo, the novel is moving portrait of courage, loss, the elation of first love and the pain of lost innocence.
"Maria-Therese von Paradis, born in 1759 and a sensation in the court of the Austrian empress, suddenly went blind when she was threeBut for Maria-Therese, blindness was a source of strength, heightened senses, heightened awareness of the emotions of the people around her. Halberstadt connects the music, the colors, and the raw feelings of this complex young woman whose critical connection to the world depends on darkness."
Michéle Halberstadt is a French journalist, film producer, and author. Her previous novels include Prends soin de toi and Café Viennois. She also produced and co-wrote the movie Murderous Maids (2000). The Pianist in the Dark is her first novel to be published in English; it won the Drouot Literary Prize and was short-listed for the Lila literary prize in France.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781605983370 |
| ISBN 10 | 1605983373 |
| Title | The Pianist in the Dark |
| Author | Michèle Halberstadt |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Pegasus Books |
| Year published | 2012-05-08 |
| Number of pages | 208 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |