by Jane Healey
First published 2026
Max Kitson has spent his twenty years perfecting his gift at the piano, moving from city to city with his twin sister Natasha as his devoted manager. Audiences weep at his performances. Critics call him a virtuoso. Then the mistakes begin. Max cancels his remaining concerts and retreats with Natasha to Paris, accepting shelter from Henri, a wealthy French patron who promises sanctuary. What Max doesn't know is that Henri has already been sharing Natasha's bed. Through the sweltering summer of 1957, the twins find themselves locked in competition for Henri's attention. By day, Henri courts Natasha with expensive gifts and evenings at the ballet. By night, he slips from her arms to listen as Max plays in the drawing room below. Years of buried resentment surface as Natasha watches her brother command the devotion she craves. Max struggles with his failing confidence while fighting an attraction that threatens everything he thought he knew about himself. In the elegant salons and concert halls of Paris, two siblings discover that love can destroy as easily as music can heal.
Genres: fiction, drama, romance, literary-fiction, 20th-century, contemporary, music, family-drama
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family, sibling-rivalry
Setting: Paris
Period: 1957
320 pages · Hardcover · Bloomsbury Publishing