Nothing Else by Louise Beech

I'm delighted to share my review of Nothing Else, the new book from Louise Beech today for my stop on the blog tour. Huge thanks to Anne Cater for inviting me on the tour and to the publishers for my review copy. 

The Blurb

The multiple bestselling and award-winning author returns with an exquisitely moving novel about surviving devastating trauma and the unbreakable bond between sisters; a story of courage and love, and the power of music to transcend – and change – everything.

Heather Harris is a piano teacher and professional musician, whose quiet life revolves around music, whose memories centre on a single song that haunts her. A song she longs to perform again. A song she wrote as a child, to drown out the violence in their home. A song she played with her little sister, Harriet.

But Harriet is gone ... she disappeared when their parents died, and Heather never saw her again.

When Heather is offered an opportunity to play piano on a cruise ship, she leaps at the chance. She’ll read her recently released childhood care records by day – searching for clues to her sister’s disappearance – and play piano by night ... coming to terms with the truth about a past she’s done everything to forget.

My Review

Nothing Else is the fourth of Louise's books that I've read. I really enjoyed Call Me Star Girl and I Am Dust but I absolutely loved last year's This Is How We Are Human - it really touched me and was one of my two favourite books of the year. So I was super keen to read this new one. Beech moves smoothly between genres, sometimes defying them altogether. I'm not sure what I'd class Nothing Else as - literary fiction is probably my best guess. But labels don't matter. What matters is that I know I'm in for a treat with one of Louise Beech's books.

Heather is 47, divorced with no kids. She teaches piano during the day and plays at clubs etc occasionally in the evenings. Piano is her life and it has been ever since she was a little girl. Her and younger sister Harriet side by side on the piano stool, playing to block out the bad stuff. Harriet. Who Heather hasn't seen for 37 years, since shortly after the death of their parents. Heather has no idea what happened to Harriet and has been unable to find anything out. So she requests her care records hoping they will give her a clue. At the same time, the opportunity comes up to be the resident pianist on a cruise liner for six weeks. Heather goes for it, taking her care records with her to read. She has to face some painful truths and memories but it's a trip that will change her life forever.

This book has all the feels, I went through pretty much every emotion, I think. Heather is easy to like, and I was excited for her embarking on this new adventure at that time in her life. But she is so haunted by memories of her sister, and her childhood generally, even though she has done her best to block those memories out. Recently though, it has become more important to her to find out the truth and her frustration, sadness and pain come through. We feel her 'saudade' (what a fantastic new word to know, thanks Louise!)

In a dual timeline we meet the young Heather and Harriet and learn more of their story. Oh, how these two little girls moved me. The things that they saw, they heard, they knew, things that little children should never see, hear, know. The piano was their refuge, their way to shut out the bad. The girls love each other fiercely and I loved Heather's protectiveness over Harriet, two years her junior. These sisters are a unit. Until they're not. I 'm quite an emotional person and cry easily, particularly just now. There were many moments in this book that made me cry, sometimes a scene, sometimes just a line, but a lot of them came in the older timeline when my heart broke for those girls. And I wanted to scream at their heartless grandmother but loved Mr Hibbert.

I loved how music is just threaded through the heart and soul of this book. There's the music that enthralled the girls, then protects them, the music that becomes Heather's life, her purpose, and the music she plays on board the ship and The joy of brings to those listening. It's so ingrained in Heather that it's how she looks at life, at the world around her. I loved the way Louise writes about it, about the effects it has on people ' I felt like my heart opened up. Like my pores drank it in...as though I heard it with more than my ears.' I would urge you to check out the Nothing Else playlist on Spotify - I did and it's ace.

What Beech has done in all of the books of hers that I've read, and I'm guessing the ones I haven't too, is write about people so richly, the human condition, feelings and emotions. I have felt invested in every one of her characters and it was no different here. I was rooting for Heather throughout, celebrating her wins, feeling her pain. Nothing Else is a beautiful look at love, loss, pain and longing. About home, belonging, family and bonds that can't be broken. About two little girls sitting together on a piano stool trying to shut out the bad, the music that shaped them and the bond that ties them. It's heartbreaking in places but in others your heart will soar with the music. It's moving and emotional. It hasn't replaced This Is How We Are Human as my favourite Louise Beech novel read so far but I loved it and would happily recommend it.

The Author

All six of Louise Beech’s books have been digital bestsellers. Her novels have been a Guardian Readers’ Choice, shortlisted for Not the Booker Prize, and shortlisted for the RNA Most Popular Romantic Novel Award. Her short fiction has won the Glass Woman Prize, the Eric Hoffer Award for Prose, and the Aesthetica Creative Works competition, as well as shortlisting for the Bridport Prize twice. Louise lives with her husband on the outskirts of Hull. Follow her on Twitter @louisewriter.