Lessons in Harmony - Signed Copy

SIGNED HARDBACK PRE-ORDER

Signed Hardback Pre-Order | Lessons in Harmony by Jonathan Coe

Pre-order a signed hardback copy of Lessons in Harmony by Jonathan Coe.

Published by Viking, this 272-page hardback is a new work of modern and contemporary fiction from the bestselling author. Blending music, memory and character-led storytelling, it is a brilliant choice for readers who enjoy literary fiction, historical fiction, thoughtful contemporary novels and beautifully written stories with emotional depth.

Publication date: 12 November 2026. All signed hardback pre-orders will be dispatched as soon as stock arrives.

Secure your signed copy today from an independent UK bookshop. Carefully packaged to ensure it arrives in excellent condition.

A STUNNING, HEARTFELT NEW NOVEL ABOUT A DECADES-LONG FRIENDSHIP BETWEEN TWO COMPOSERS FROM THE AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR OF THE PROOF OF MY INNOCENCE, BOURNVILLE AND MIDDLE ENGLAND

The year is 1907 and Maurice Ravel is one of the most admired young composers in France. In Belle Epoque Paris he cuts a charismatic, dandyish figure, whose technically flawless music hides a deep emotional core, and whose unpredictable talent is as hard to pin down as his mysterious personal life.

When Ravel's devoted acolyte Mylo encourages him to take on a new pupil - a rising British composer called Ralph Vaughan Williams - an unlikely cross-channel friendship starts to blossom. An aristocratic Englishman and collector of folk songs, Vaughan Williams appears to have nothing in common with his teacher except that, somehow, each of them seems to represent an archetype of his own country.

But as the shadow of war approaches, their friendship becomes entwined with Mylo's own tragic story. The two friends must pursue their vocation through one of the most turbulent but creative periods in history. Will their differing senses of national identity - one 'typically French', the other 'so British' - liberate or constrain them?
LESSONS IN HARMONY is a stunning novel about the power of music to create beauty, to freeze time, and, at its greatest, to express the personality not just of its composer, but of an entire nation.

'A new Jonathan Coe is always a treat' The Times

'My comfort read: anything by Jonathan Coe' Bob Mortimer

'Probably the best English novelist of his generation' Nick Hornby

'Please God... if there is a next life, let me write as well as Jonathan Coe' Anthony Bourdain

'A novelist who gains in range and reputation with every book' Pat Barker