FOMITE
Shortlisted for the 2022 Australian Prime Minister’s Literary Award — Fiction
The Hands of Pianists’ narrator is a neurotic freelance writer who aims to prove that pianos kill elite pianists. For decades, he has grappled with the guilt that followed an accident in which he severed his talented sister’s fingers, ending her promising career at the keyboard. His investigations centre on the violent deaths at 31 of three great pianists, his detective work taking him from Melbourne to Geelong and Sydney, to the south of France, London, Sussex and the Czech Republic.
About the Author
Stephen Downes is a Franco-Australian writer whose food-themed non-fiction has won international and national awards. “Last Meal”, one of his short stories, won the 2020 UK Fiction Factory’s competition, and others have been longlisted and shortlisted in prestigious British contests.
