A woman carries a placard bearing the question "Are you content to be nothing?" as she conducts her way through the interconnected stories of this thought-provoking collection. A pianist herself, eventually she'll be the soloist in her own story, but first we'll encounter the contrapuntal lines of "Café Society", the discord of "The Companion's Tale", the slowly evolving dark harmonic resolution of "Aquarium".
These are the songs of people — many of them seniors — sidelined and dismissed, but refusing to go gently into that good night — a night that isn't even on their concert program! Be it through a percussive storm of revelation, or a quietly insistent ostinato that won't be ignored, this is an orchestra of characters never content to be nothing, determined to be heard.
Rachel Wyatt is the award-winning author of seven novels, five short fiction collections, stage and radio plays, and non-fiction works. Over 100 of her plays have been produced by the CBC and BBC radio. She has been awarded both the Queen's Golden and Diamond Jubilee Medals, and in 2002 was made a member of the Order of Canada for her continuing lifetime of contribution to the literary arts. She lives in Victoria, BC.