The βquick-witted and razor-sharpβ (Taylor Jenkins Reid,New York Timesbestselling author ofDaisy Jones & The Six) author ofLimelightandSmall Admissionsreturns with a hilarious and heartfelt new novel about****a perfectly imperfect summer of love, secrets, and second chances.
Bridget and Will have the kind of relationship that people envy: theyβre loving, compatible, and completely devoted to each other. The fact that theyβre strictly friends seems to get lost on nearly everyone; after all, theyβre as good as married in (almost) every way. For three decades, theyβve nurtured their baby, the Forsyth Trioβa chamber group they created as students with their Juilliard classmate Gavin Glantz. In the intervening years, Gavin has gone on to become one of the classical music worldβs reigning stars, while Bridget and Will have learned to embrace the warm reviews and smaller venues that accompany modest success.
Bridget has been dreaming of spending the summer at her well-worn Connecticut country home with her boyfriend Sterling. But her plans are upended when Sterling, dutifully following his ex-wifeβs advice, breaks up with her over email and her twin twenty-somethings arrive unannounced, filling her empty nest with their big dogs, dirty laundry, and respective crises.
Bridget has problems of her own: her elderly father announces heβs getting married, and the Forsyth Trio is once again missing its violinist. She concocts a plan to host her dadβs wedding on her ramshackle property, while putting the Forsyth Trio back into the spotlight. But to catch the attention of the music world, she and Will place their bets on luring back Gavin, whom theyβve both avoided ever since their stormy parting.
With her trademark humor, pitch-perfect voice, and sly perspective on the human heart, Amy Poeppel crafts a love letter to modern family life with all of its discord and harmony. In the tradition of novels by Maria Semple and Stephen McCauley,Musical Chairsis an irresistibly romantic story of role reversals, reinvention, and sweet synchronicity.