The Page Turner: A Novel

By: David Leavitt

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Synopsis: An ambitious young musician captures the attention of a world-class virtuoso in this novel of love and disillusionment that “shimmers with magical talent” (Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times).At eighteen, Paul Porterfield’s dream is to play the piano at the world’s great concert halls, so it is with great pride that he takes a position turning pages for his idol, Richard Kennington, a former piano prodigy on the cusp of middle age. It is a rare opportunity to watch the master at work. And Richard certainly takes notice of his handsome, young protégé. When they encounter each other again in Rome, a love affair quickly blossoms—one that is complicated when Paul’s mother misconstrues Richard’s lavish attention. Only later, when their separate paths take them both to New York, with Paul and Richard come to realize how their brief entanglement will change the course of both their lives. By turns comic and heartbreaking, shrewd and intimate, The Page Turner testifies not only to the tenacity of the human spirit but to the resiliency of the human heart.