Wow, just absolutely wow. This was beautifully written. The emotional gut punch was one that I wasn’t expecting to hit me quite as hard as it did. This is such a realistic, relatable story on grief, self discovery and learning to live in a world post loss, I will be recommending this to everyone I know. It gave me absolute chills.

This is a thoughtful and deeply introspective exploration of classical music. I cannot begin to describe how much I love, adore and appreciate this book. This book made me think deeply of the kind of classical music I love listening to and why.⁣
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Caroline Sanderson fell in love with the pieces by Mozart when she was four, but it wasn’t long before she started listening to what was more popular and her father didn’t manage to persuade her to listen to more classical music. It was only after he passed away that she decided to listen carefully and attentively to the music that her late father once loved.⁣
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Within this book, Sanderson writes about all of that - eight chapters in total - a piece by each composer, from Mozart, Stravinsky, Kathleen Ferrier, Brahms, Schumann, Sibelius, Chopin to Strauss. In each of the chapters, there’s the personal bit of what she experiences and what she notices, but there is also the historical context I really enjoyed reading about.⁣
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This book is Sanderson’s tribute not only to classical music, but also love and respect for her father. It’s her way of grieving. ⁣
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“Grief sits by your side on that epic, grinding, post-bereavement journey that you never wanted to go on and wish would end. Am I nearly there yet? Sometimes I think that I’ve made peace with the truth that nothing can stay the same in life, but then I find myself repeatedly battering myself against that truth. Grief for me is a dull soreness beneath the plaster I’ve stuck on it, a childhood graze on my knee which makes me wince when I knock it against something.”⁣
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This book is an incredibly touching one to read and I didn’t want it to end. Thank you to the publisher for letting me read this early.

Listen with Father is an ode to music and the connections we form through it. Using eight pieces her father loved as a starting point, Sanderson embarks on her own journey into classical music, learning to listen to them in an entirely new light. Her brief histories of the composers and their works are delicately interwoven with personal memories of her father.

I found it very relatable; my father is also a lover of classical music, but I grew up with a very different music taste and have never really been able to appreciate it. Sanderson's reflections on her chosen pieces and her honest, evolving relationship with them helped me to find a new way into the music, and I now have several pieces on rotation alongside my usual playlist of heavy metal and k-pop.

The book is also a smart and sensitive meditation on grief and the quiet, everyday acts of remembrance. Sanderson makes several references to H is for Hawk, which she read shortly after her father’s death, and her own account carries a similar sense of intimacy and grace.

Deft and heartfelt, Listen with Father is a symphony of remembrance.

For readers who listened with their fathers and got their love of classical music from them.
This is Caroline Sanderson's accounting and commentary on her experience with classical music.
Each chapter works like a personal, anecdotal essay with references to and information about classical music, and the role music plays in our loves.
Equal parts touching and sophisticated, personal and universal, this is a wonderful testament to classical music, our parents, and what connects us.
Sanderson' writing is gripping.