Ok and fast read. Some action, reactions and conversations were nit making sense. Too far fetched. Predictable and sad ending. Wish the heroine would have grown wings and travel instead of going back to her life. ( )

This entire book revolves around a beloved Blüthner upright piano that links several people who never even knew of each other. Blüthner was founded in 1853, and along with Steinway & Sons, C. Bechstein, and Bösendorfer is often referred to as one of the "Big Four" piano manufacturers. Reading is so educational at times, even in the fictional world. Just wait until you learn how the perfect wood for a piano was chosen by the firm’s founder.

There are two strong women in this fascinating book who feel a great attachment to this instrument, and one of them can’t even play it. The book alternates between the stories of the two, before several human connections are revealed toward the very end. This is a cultured book which showcases the world of music, craftsmanship, and photography. The story travels through a century of time, as well as across several continents, before it ends up in the desert of the American southwest. As with any novel that has two distinct stories, the reader is constantly wondering about the when, the how, the with who, and maybe the if, they will come together. The Weight of a Piano takes a crafty route through time, families, and the heart of love to unite the stories.

One of the book’s alternating stories revolves around an eight-year-old girl (Katya) living with her family in the Soviet Union, where she is bequeathed “the love of her life,” a Blüthner piano. Years later, her husband insists that they move to the United States. It takes several years of living in Europe before they are finally approved to travel to America. In the end, Katya and her family settle in California, but along the way her beloved piano has disappeared from her life, thanks to the greed and resentment of her husband. He was never a fan of the instrument nor the music that his wife so loved to play. He is also very bitter at being reduced to driving a cab in what he thought was the land of opportunity. Their martial relationship becomes strained and broken as his resentments and drinking grow over time.

In the other story, the non-playing owner is Clara Lundy, a talented mid-twenties auto mechanic in Bakersfield, California, who has a constantly changing love life. The piano came to her as a birthday present from her father when she was only twelve. That was tragically right before both her parents died when the family home burned down. She was then brought up by an aunt and an uncle who had a car repair shop.

Years later, while moving into a new apartment, the nearly six-hundred-pound piano shifts on the stairs and crushes her hand. During her forced time off from work, and figuring it was time to get rid of this monster of a silent musical instrument, she places an ad for it at a greatly inflated price. She is amazed when someone almost immediately accepts the price. She tells the buyer (Greg) that she has changed her mind and that it’s no longer for sale at $3,000, or at any price. He insists that it’s a done deal, and then offers her thousands more to just rent the piano for a series of photo shoots near Vegas.

Being very suspicious, Clara follows the rather disagreeable photographer and his piano movers into the desert for their photographic project. Eventually she warms to Greg and discovers a rather mind-blowing connection that links them.

I found the book’s ending very clever and most touching. This is a special book that explores how strong the emotions of the human heart can be for art, and of course, for love. Some of the characters in the book appear to be broken and ground into the dirt, but there is a strong drive in humans for the connections in life that create the passion and love that makes life the joy it can be. This could make a fine film. I found the writing ranging from lusty, cripplingly depressing, and simply beautiful. It felt like there was a luscious musical score to this book, one that was always playing in the background. ( )

Thoroughly engrossing story of a special piano connects people and generations. The piano is a character as the people who own it imbue it with emotions and power over them. ( )

A bit of a contrived ending, but despite that, I enjoyed this book. I've been having difficulty reading books that are too demanding during this fraught time in our nation, and The Weight of a Piano was just right - not too heavy, with a few really nice sections. ( )

Two families and a piano which they have at different times owned form the basis of the story. What happens to them and what happens to the piano. Despite its strong start, the book felt rushed. I found it hard to believe the actions or motivations of the characters and struggled to care about them at all. ( )