The Weight of a Piano

The story follows a Blüthner piano that was owned in the 1960s by an Ekaterina Dmitrievna "Katya", who lives in Zagorsk, Russia, and in 2012 by an American woman named Clara Lundy, living in Bakersfield, California. The novel explains how the piano went from Russia to the United States.

Clara and a man who purchases her piano, Greg, have no living parents in the duration of the story. Alex Clark of The Observer wrote that "parental loss" is the "central subject".{{cite web|last=Clark|first=Alex|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/jan/12/the-weight-of-a-piano-chris-cander-review|title=The Weight of a Piano by Chris Cander review – tale of transgenerational trauma|newspaper=The Observer|date=2020-01-12|accessdate=2022-07-16}}

Clark concluded that The Weight of a Piano "is an interesting exploration of an abiding dilemma".

James Barron of The New York Times compared the novel's mixture of themes to using a Cuisinart and stated it is "immense, intense and imaginative."{{cite web|last=Barron|first=James|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/30/books/review/weight-piano-chris-cander.html|title=A Novel About the Fate of a Piano — and the Dreams It Embodies|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2019-01-30|accessdate=2022-07-16}}

Carol Memmott, in the Washington Post, described the story as "ably and convincingly told".{{cite web|last=Memmott|first=Carol|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/one-instrument-connects-two-women-a-world-apart-in-the-weight-of-a-piano/2019/01/23/21ee58d2-1e4d-11e9-8e21-59a09ff1e2a1_story.html|title=One instrument connects two women a world apart in 'The Weight of a Piano'|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=2019-01-23|accessdate=2022-07-16}}

Beth Andersen, in Library Journal, praised the work, calling it "beautiful".{{cite web|last=Andersen|first=Beth|url=https://www.libraryjournal.com/review/the-weight-of-a-piano|title=The Weight of a Piano |work=Library Journal|date=2018-11-15|accessdate=2022-07-16}}

Publishers Weekly gave the book a starred review, calling it one of "PW's picks", and compared it to Accordion Crimes.{{cite web|url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-525-65467-4|title=The Weight of a Piano|work=Publishers Weekly|accessdate=2022-07-16}}

Kirkus Reviews described the book as "Deftly plotted and well written".{{cite web|url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/chris-cander/the-weight-of-a-piano/|title=The Weight of a Piano|publisher=Kirkus Reviews|date=2018-10-02|accessdate=2022-07-16}}

• A Gracious Neighbor - A 2022 novel by Cander

{{reflist}}

• [https://chriscander.com/novels/the-weight-of-a-piano/ The Weight of a Piano] - Chris Cander official website
• [https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/577105/the-weight-of-a-piano-by-chris-cander/ The Weight of a Piano] - Penguin Random House

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Category:2019 American novels

Category:Novels set in the Soviet Union

Category:Novels set in Bakersfield, California

Category:Alfred A. Knopf books

Category:Moscow Oblast

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