Jonathan Coe in Conversation at Waterstones Piccadilly

Join us for an unforgettable evening with best-selling author Jonathan Coe as we celebrate the release of Lessons in Harmony.

About this Event

Join us for an unforgettable evening with best-selling author Jonathan Coe as we celebrate the release of his latest novel Lessons in Harmony a beautifully wrought investigation of friendship, music and national identity.

The year is 1907 and Maurice Ravel is one of the most admired but also most controversial composers in France. An aloof, dandyish figure, he is at the centre of a group of rebellious artists who call themselves the Apaches. It is considered a scandal that he has never won the Prix de Rome, despite entering compositions for it several times. As for his personal life, he has no known attachments, and no one seems to know whether his romantic leanings incline him towards men, or women, or neither.

In December, Ravel takes on a new pupil: a rising British composer who is two years his senior, and has come to Paris for three months spec