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Lessons in Harmony

By Jonathan Coe
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Brief Description
A moving and heartfelt new novel from one of Britain's greatest writers. The year is 1907, and Maurice Ravel is one of the most admired young composers in France. In Belle Epoque Paris, he cuts a charismatic, dandyish figure, whose technically flawless music hides a deep... Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
$4200
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Releases 17th November 2026 (Approx. Date) Pre-order  "Lessons in Harmony" now to secure your copy from our first shipment

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Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

A moving and heartfelt new novel from one of Britain's greatest writers.

The year is 1907, and Maurice Ravel is one of the most admired young composers in France. In Belle Epoque Paris, he cuts a charismatic, dandyish figure, whose technically flawless music hides a deep emotional core, and whose unpredictable talent is as hard to pin down as his mysterious personal life.

When Ravel's devoted acolyte Mylo encourages him to take on a new pupil—a rising British composer called Ralph Vaughan Williams—an unlikely cross-channel friendship starts to blossom. An aristocratic Englishman and collector of folk songs, Vaughan Williams appears to have nothing in common with his teacher except that, somehow, each of them seems to represent an archetype of his own country.

But as the shadow of war approaches, their friendship becomes entwined with Mylo's own tragic story. The two friends must pursue their vocation through one of the most turbulent but creative periods in history. Will their differing senses of national identity—one typically French, the other so British—liberate or constrain them?

Lessons in Harmony is a stunning novel about the power of music to create beauty, to freeze time, and, at its greatest, to express the personality not just of its composer, but of an entire nation.

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780241837740

Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 12 November 2026

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Viking

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 20.0mm

Width: 153.0mm

Height: 234.0mm

Weight: 350g

Pages: 240

Collections

Arts & Culture Fiction General Fiction Historical Fiction Jonathan Coe Literary Fiction Music & Musicians Penguin Books

About the Author

Jonathan Coe was born in Birmingham in 1961. He is the award-winning, bestselling author of fifteen novels, including What a Carve Up!, The Rotters' Club, Middle England, The Proof of My Innocence and Lessons in Harmony. He has won the Costa Novel Award, the Prix du Livre Europeen, the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize, the Prix Medicis tranger and the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize, among many others. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and an Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. His work has been translated into twenty-two languages. Jonathan Coe lives in London.

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