A kind reader in the US (thank you Diana) has alerted me to the fact that my book Women and the Piano is one of Jeremy Denk's choices in this week's New Yorker magazine. New York pianist and writer Jeremy Denk was asked to recommend a few books that deal with the...
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Today, January 27, is Mozart's birthday. 269 years since he was born! His is the only 'composer birthday' I regularly remember, I suppose because he is still my favourite composer despite stiff competition from about 25 others. I remember his birthday for its own sake...
On the last day of the year I have been looking through the list of books I read during the year. This year I seem to have read 36 books. I used to read books from the library, but the pandemic (when libraries were closed for ages) trained me out of that habit, and...
At New Year we played a game we hadn't played for ages - Ex Libris. It's a game where all the players have to write the opening or closing sentence of a book which already exists. Each player in turn selects a book from the shelves (obviously you have to have lots of...
There's a nice review of my new book, Sleeping in Temples, in the Jan/Feb issue of International Piano magazine. I know from my own attempts that it isn't always easy to track down this interesting magazine, so I thought I'd take the chance to reproduce an excerpt...
Readers who followed my enthusiastic recommendation of 'The Real Charlotte' may be interested in another recommendation from the same period. I've just finished reading 'Maurice Guest', published in 1908 by Henry Handel Richardson, the pseudonym of Ethel Richardson,...
Lots of people have written to me today about coughing. Why? Because of a BBC News report about violinist Kyung-Wha Chung's comeback recital at the Festival Hall in London. She was disturbed by a child coughing in the audience, and remonstrated with the parents. Her...
My book 'Sleeping in Temples' has been named as one of the 'Books of the Year' by Classical Music magazine. In November it was their 'Editor's Choice' with a five-star review, and now in December it has been upgraded to one of the ten 'books of the year'. What...
Three more mentions of my new book have appeared this weekend: Alex Ross, music critic of the New Yorker and eminent music blogger, includes it in his 'Recommendations'. Frances Wilson reviews it in her Cross-Eyed Pianist blog: 'This absorbing and insightful book will...
I'm very happy to hear that my new book 'Sleeping in Temples' is the Books Choice in the Christmas 2014 issue of BBC Music. 'Rare insight. Susan Tomes illuminates at the piano and on the page.' 'Susan Tomes compares her first encounter with chamber music as akin to...
The first review of my new book has appeared. I’m delighted to find it is ‘Editor’s Choice’ in this month’s Classical Music with a five-star review: ‘Those bewitched by Tomes’s three previous books (two published by the clearly perceptive Boydell Press) can prepare...
My new book is officially out today from The Boydell Press. In fact, in the mysterious way of modern publishing, it seems to have been available from various outlets for a few weeks now, as I discovered with surprise when I got a letter about it from a reader, weeks...
I'm delighted to be able to say that my fourth book will be published by Boydell Press later this year. I've just pressed 'send' on the final version of the manuscript - a huge relief after working on it intensively for over a year. I had to prise my fingers away from...
I've just finished reading a wonderful Irish novel written at the close of the 19th century. 'The Real Charlotte' was written by Somerville and Ross, a pair of female cousins who co-authored a number of books including one of my all-time favourites, 'The Memoirs of an...
Here I am, lecturing to the British Comparative Literature Association yesterday. At Deptford Town Hall! Who would have expected such a grand Victorian building, with a beautifully ornate staircase, and an excellent Steinway concert grand piano in the Council Chamber?...