Pietà , who was an orphan, musical prodigy and student of Antonio Vivaldi. It has been named an Observer top 10 debut for 2024.
Constable’s journalism and documentary work is featured in outlets including The New York Times, BBC, The Guardian, The Times, Financial Times, NPR, The Economist. She produced for BBC News at Six and Ten during the pandemic, and is a Rough Guide to Kenya co-author. She was part of the team that made the BAFTA-award winning 9/11: Inside the President’s War Room.
Originally from London, Constable worked at the Financial Times before spending several years in Nairobi and then Johannesburg. She grew up playing the flute and piano and singing with her mother, a classically trained musician.
At the Guardian Constable tagged five of the best books about classical music, including:
Bel Canto by Ann PatchettRead about another book on the list.
Patchett’s novel explores what happens between captors and captives when they’re connected through music. Set amid a hostage situation in an unnamed country, our lead is the radiant Roxanne Cross, a world-famous opera singer. The abrupt terror of the context lies in stark contrast to the beauty of the music Roxanne performs. Patchett’s prose flows throughout the story like a melody.
Bel Canto is among Jamie Day's seven crime titles featuring special events going off the rails, Mark Skinner's twenty great contemporary love stories, Nicole Holofcener’s ten favorite books, Jenny Shank's top five fabulous works of fiction for musicians, Jeff Somers's top five novels set in a single pressure cooker location, Tatjana Soli's six favorite books that conjure exotic locales, Kathryn Williams's six top novels set in just one place, Dell Villa's top eight books to read when you’re in the mood to cry for days, John Mullen's ten best birthday parties in literature, and Joyce Hackett's top ten musical novels.
--Marshal Zeringue
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