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Vendor
Mohrbooks Literary Agency
Sebastian Ritscher
Original language
English

MUSICAL CHAIRS

Amy Poeppel

A love letter to modern family life with all of its discord and harmony. An irresistibly romantic story of role reversals, reinvention, and the complicated joys of family.
Bridget and Will have the kind of relationship that is the envy of their New York friends: they're caring, compatible, and fully devoted. They finish each other's sentences. They even look good together. The fact that they're strictly friends seems to get lost on nearly everyone; after all, they're as good as married, in (well, almost) every way. Through three decades of laughter, disappointments, celebrations, and failed romances, they've stuck by each other. Above all, they've nurtured their baby, The Forsyth Quartet, a chamber group they created as students at Juilliard with their classmate, Gavin Glantz, a celebrated violin virtuoso, who left them long ago for fame, fortune, and a much bigger stage.

Meanwhile, Bridget and Will's beloved ensemble has fallen on hard times. Bridget convinces Will that they should place all their bets on a grand party to celebrate her brilliant father, Maestro Egon Stratton, a music legend in his own right. Bridget is inspired to host it at her unwieldy Connecticut country home, which she's currently trying to fix up and sell (despite her adult children returning home and throwing a wrench in her plans), in hopes of earning her home a spot in the history books, an article in the New York Times society page, and a price tag that will take the sting out of losing the house. The publicity also has the potential to thrust the Forsyth musicians back into the spotlight. But there's only way to make the concert truly news worthy: they will have to bring back Gavin, whom Will never liked in the first place and Bridget has successfully avoided ever since their problematic parting all those years ago.

In the run-up to the extravaganza, it's all hands on deck as the family comes together to contend with collapsing tents, clashing personalities, scandalous revelations, and steamy escapades.

Amy Poeppel is the author of Limelight and Small Admissions. She lives with her husband and three sons in New York City and Frankfurt, Germany.
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Book

Published 2020-07-21

Comments

Poeppel's... lighthearted family story casts a thoughtful eye on the intricacies of relationships while exploring the intersection of art and life. Readers of upmarket ensemble fiction with a dash of humor, à la Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney or Emma Straub, will enjoy Poeppel's latest.

Reading Amy Poeppel's Musical Chairs is as fun as watching a Marx Brothers comedy, especially that scene in A Night at the Opera when everyone is squashed into the stateroom ... Poeppel's people are a mess, but her writing is crisp and breezy.

Poeppel (Small Admissions) charms with this witty small-town story... Poeppel's whimsical tale offers plenty of surprises.

Author Poeppel has created a story that is well thought out, well plotted, well written, and fully developed. A delightful novel that celebrates the messiness and joy to be found in real life.