Agnès Desarthe entertainingly deploys her considerable storytelling skill to weave and unweave the fates of her many characters In this remarkable polyphonic novel.

A little village in Normandy provides the setting for this cast of characters who seem to have nothing in common, except for all being members of the town band. Unnoticed, a shy little girl destined for a brilliant future is watching them closely. She sees the invisible thread that connects them all and understands that a spell momentarily keeps their individual dramas at bay. But were that thread to snap, they would all fall—and the music would stop.