Customer Reviews

Piano Mans Daughter Perennial Reissue

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The winner of numerous awards, Canadian author Findley shapes this 1996 novel around a young man's quest for his father and his dread of becoming a father himself.

Narrator Charlie Kilworth is the son of mad, beautiful, evervescent and tormented Lily Kilworth, who cannot or will not remember who Charlie's father is. It is her story Charlie tells, after her death in an asylum fire, a fire she may herself have set.

Lily's story begins before her birth, when her mother, Ede, meets an itinerant piano man. "The sight of him was like a match being struck," Ede recalls, beginning the incendiary allusions that punctuate the novel and haunt Lily's private world.

The piano man dies before he can wed Ede but eight years later she marries his brother, Frederick, an ambitious piano manufacturer whose one unorthodoxy is falling in love with Ede. He accepts Lily but without knowing of her affliction - severe epileptic seizures.

He is as repelled by Lily's epilepsy as Ede is frightened by it and becomes, for Lily, the demon of her childhood, the focus of rebellion and despair. But even though Frederick locks her in the attic whenever company is expected and finally banishes her to a school for difficult girls, Lily blossoms.

A beautiful, vibrant young woman, "hampered" not "handicapped" (the word makes her indignant) by her illness, she goes to England with a friend and it's there that Charlie is conceived. He knows only that the event occurred in January 1910 and he examines Lily's photos intently, imagining fathers, and questions her friends, adding pieces to the life she has already related to him.

Lily and Charlie return to Toronto before World War I but Frederick, outraged by Charlie's birth, refuses to see them. They begin a round of living in expensive hotels, going to dances where Charlie is always her partner, and seeing movies. For Charlie the life is a series of enchantments and nightmares as his mother's demons pursue her and drag him along. A child, he learns to watch over his mother although his dependency often renders him helpless.

When tragedy pushes Lily over the edge into madness, Charlie is liberated into normalcy - school, friends his own age, relatives. "It made a decent life - secure in ways I had never known." Lily emerges from the asylum but never permanently.

Charlie's voice is wistful, awed, admiring, impatient, petulant and wise. But it is Lily who colors and shapes the story, taking flight from her son's narration. Findley's writing is deeply atmosheric, enveloping the reader in the Canada of 1890 to 1920. He invites an intimacy with his characters (many not even touched on here) that creates a bond without violating their essential human secrecy.

A rewarding novel, which will linger in the mind.

I can't believe I have lived to be 62 and had never read any of the wonderous books of Canadian author, the now deceased Timothy Findley. Until now.

I just finished The Piano Man's Daughter and I can't wait to read it again.

This book is written almost like a fairy tale, a magical story of tragedy, love, miracles, family, poetry, music and adventure. It encompasses so many facets of humanness - the wonderful young girl that was Ede who brought her baby into the world in a field of flowers; Lily who suffered much but also saw the magic of things most of us will never see; Charlie, his mother Lily's companion and protector, wise far beyond his years. So many more characters were given life by this wonderful author, and the ending made me believe that Mr. Findley wanted to hang on to the writing of this book just as I wanted it never to end. My only comfort in reading the last page was knowing I have another of his creations, Not Wanted On The Voyage, waiting to be read.

Mr. Findley, I thank you for sharing your wonderful stories with the world.

I've read very few books by Timothy Findley it's a bit hard to find his works here where I live. And have to rely much on Amazon or other online bookstores to find his works. However, the tale of Lily Kilworth is by far my favorite. His poignant narrative makes it very easy to imagine her life as it unfolds. Her brief moments of happiness are a joy just as the moments of torment are horrible to see. Very few books have brought me to tears yet with this one I found myself reaching for the tissue box as I turned the page. This book is truly a wonderful addition to those who appreciate good literature. My only complain is that like another reviewer here, I too think it has far too many Italics.

I was charmed by this book. It's a great story with strong characters, interesting themes and an evocative setting of turn-of-the-century Toronto. But I agree with the reviewer who noted the nonstandard usages. The archaic, arcane punctuation was particularly distracting. Get thee a good copy editor!

The Piano Man's daughter is a novel hard to put down. It is a much easier read than Findley's other novels, "Pilgrim" and "The Wars", but not any less detailed. The story of Lily and the characters she encounters is uplifting, frightening as well as heartbreaking. Findley provides a very accurate portrayal of what it is like to live with a mental illness and never glamourizes or ridicules Lily Killworth's condition.

Those who enjoy this book as much as I do will most likely also enjoy Findley's story "Pilgrim" as there are many similarities between the two.

Happy reading!