Family Snapshots — Bridget McGowan

Nicholas Keating is a violinist of some renown. When he was on loan to an American philharmonic, he met the woman of his dreams. But how did he get to be the man Rachel Trent fell in love with? In this prequel to Symphony of Sorrow and Joy, we follow Nicholas Keating from an inquisitive boy of three who can mimic his sisters' piano lessons without being able to read a note through a childhood filled with music, sibling rivalry and challenging friendships. The boy who slips into speaking Welsh whenever he's stressed, enters an adolescence filled with first parties and first kisses while enduring insults and bullying because he doesn't play a “cool” musical instrument. When Nicholas is accepted at the Conservatoire in Cardiff, he thinks his life is complete. But he isn't prepared for the mentally unstable girl who strings him along only to break things off to get him out of the way so she can kill herself or a more personal tragedy that finally brings him closer to his sister, Jean. The story contains all of the ups and downs of a boy growing up in late 20th century Wales and coming of age on the eve of the new Millennium.