num_pages: 232
description: "There has to be give and take in a marriage," Tannis's father tells her when she becomes engaged. "You'll find the lasting value of a marriage appears not at the beginning but later, towards the end. It is a journey, not a destination. And it's how you travel, day by day, that makes the difference." The seven linked stories comprising Incidental Music show Tannis facing the contretemps of maturity, mid-life, aging and abandonment. Set in Montreal, Vancouver and Vancouver Island, these stories trace the geographic and emotional journeys of Tannis and her husband Stephen, as they negotiate the day-to-day twists, turns, impasses and throughways of their domestic and work lives. Incidental Music covers a range of life situations in which women struggle to make the choice that is right and good. An approaching marriage presents tensions between a future husband and an eccentric father; a woman has to choose between the worlds of her daily psychoanalysis and her domestic relationship; an aging voice artist opts to leave her day-trading fiancée. Music runs through these stories, in title, theme and event, suggesting the line between the remembered past and the unknown "Shhh," says one character, "listen to the music. Just follow it, one note at a time." Poignant, humorous, these compassionate stories are also concerned with the larger social landscape. Underlying each one is a sense of hope and a belief in people and in the bonds that unite them.
language: English
title: Incidental Music
titlecomplete: Incidental Music
ratings_count: 1
publisher: Oolichan Books