The Piano Tuner

Have just finished reading Daniel Mason's debut novel, The Piano Tuner. The premise: "In 1886 a shy, middle-aged piano tuner named Edgar Drake receives an unusual commission from the British War Office: to travel to the remote jungles of northeast Burma and there repair a rare piano belonging to an eccentric army surgeon who has proven mysteriously indispensable to the imperial design". Beautiful writing, captivating descriptions of forest landscapes and rural life in colonial Shan State. Highly recommended, especially for readers who have just returned from three weeks of fieldwork in Northern Myanmar. [NOTE: Daniel Mason was 26 years old, and a student in med school, when he wrote The Piano Tuner].