A SUNDAY TIMES BOOK OF THE YEARA masterpiece SCOTSMANA wise refreshing novel ... Runcie has an expert imagination HILARY MANTELA masterclass in writing about the power of music and grief THE TIMES 100 best books for summer 2022Love and Death.Grief and Joy.Music that lasts forever.Leipzig 1726. Elevenyearold Stefan Silbermann has just lost his mother. Sent to Leipzig to train as a singer in the St Thomas Church choir he is rescued from his homesickness and grief by the Cantor Johann Sebastian Bach himself. Stefan is brought into the Bach household as an apprentice until a devastating loss brings his period of sanctuary to a close. Something is happening though. In the depths of his loss the Cantor is writing a new work. As Stefan watches the work rehearsed he realises he is witness to the creation of one of the most extraordinary pieces of music that has ever been written.Brilliant ... Readers will be enriched by this novel and its glimpse at genius The Times Historical Fiction of the MonthWarmly reverently Runcie brings alive what it is like to take part for the very first time in one of the most extraordinary pieces of music ever written Daily Telegraph