Publisher's Synopsis
The Piano Man's Daughter is the tale of people who dream in songs -- two Irish immigrant families facing a new and uncertain future in turn-of-the-century Toronto. Narrated by Charlie Kilworth, whose birth is an echo of his mother's own illegitimate beginnings, The Piano Man's Daughter is the lyrical, multi-layered tale of Charlie's mother, Lily, his grandmother Ede, and their family. Lily is a woman pursued by her own demons, "making off with the matches just when the fire's caught hold," a beautiful, mad genius, first introduced as she sings in her mother's belly. Conceived when her mother falls in love with a musician, Lily is born in a field of flowers and grows into an odd, lonely child. As she matures, she becomes more and more alienated from real life, but this doesn't keep her from having a brief, mysterious affair while she's a student in wartime England. The result is Charlie, who has perfect pitch and a high tolerance for his mother's eccentricities. As Lily sinks deeper into madness, her once gentle nature is affected by the dark demons that inhabit her troubled mind. It is only after her death that Charlie, always Lily's protector and caretaker, is able to tell her story through loving but honest eyes, finding catharsis and hope in the painful but revealing process.
