Maestro

Paul Crabbe and his family move to Darwin, Australia where Paul starts to take lessons from Eduard Keller, a renowned pianist who is missing part of his little finger. Keller has an Eastern European accent and is an eccentric teacher—for several lessons, he doesn’t even allow Paul to play the piano. Instead, they go back to basics, even though Paul has played piano for many years. Finally, when Keller does allow Paul to play, it is only out of The Children’s Bach, which Paul finds insulting. However, Paul and his parents decide it would be best for Paul to continue with his lessons because Keller comes from a long line of famous pianists and his instruction is Paul’s best chance of becoming a renowned pianist in his own right. Furthermore, Paul and his family find Keller’s past intriguing. One day, Paul sees photographs of a woman and a child, which Keller reveals depict his wife, Mathilde, and his son, Eric. However, he does not say anything more.

Meanwhile, at school, Paul is struggling to fit in. He briefly makes friends with a boy named Bennie Reid, who is also a social outcast, but their friendship does not last long. Paul also has an interest in girls but has difficult making them interested in him. In particular, he is infatuated with a girl named Megan Murray, but she already has a boyfriend and rejects him when he asks her out. Eventually, Paul meets Rosie Zollo, a girl who takes an interest in piano and who also clearly has a crush on Paul. At first, Paul is not interested in Rosie, but eventually, he decides he likes her after all, and they begin to date.

While away on holiday, Paul researches Keller in a library and discovers that Mathilde was Jewish and died in the Holocaust. Without prying too much, Paul tries to get more information out of Keller, but Keller remains secretive about his past. As Paul’s lessons with Keller continue, they become more intense and, although much goes unsaid between them, a strong bond begins to form. At school, Paul makes friends with several boys in a band called Rough Stuff, one of whom dates Megan. When the boys realize that Paul is musically gifted, they ask him to join the band. Paul begins practicing with Rough Stuff regularly in addition to his lessons with Keller. One day, Megan offers to drive Paul to practice, but instead they end up sneaking away and having sex behind the backs of both Rosie, whom Paul is still dating, and Scotty, Megan’s boyfriend. Paul finds the experience incredibly disappointing and goes to Rosie’s house immediately afterward to confess his love to her, though he does not reveal what he has done.

Eventually, Rough Stuff becomes well-loved enough to be invited to perform at a show in Adelaide. Paul’s parents are not sure whether he should go, but they agree to let him once Keller informs them that there is a piano competition happening nearby. Keller promises to accompany Paul and help him practice for the piano competition if Paul’s parents will let him go. In Adelaide, Paul performs with Rough Stuff, but the show goes poorly, and Paul decides he does not want to play with them anymore. After, Paul plays in the piano competition, but only places third. Following the competition, Paul, along with his parents and Keller, decide that maybe he should not pursue music after all.

Ultimately, Paul decides to go to law school, though he quickly loses interest in it. Instead, he once again begins playing piano, which is the only thing that seems to keep his attention, even if he will never become a great pianist. As an adult, Paul gradually learns more about Keller’s past. Some of what he learns comes from Keller, while other things come from Keller’s friends. Paul discovers that, leading up to World War II, Keller lived with his family in Vienna, where he was friends with everyone in the art scene, many of whom would go on to become Nazis. Because Keller was a famous musician and was not Jewish himself, he thought that he and his family would be safe from persecution. However, while Keller was away from Vienna, performing for high-ranking Nazi officials, including Hitler, the Nazis rounded up Mathilde and Eric and put them in a concentration camp. Feeling immensely guilty, Keller claimed he was Jewish to get himself sent to a camp as well, while also swearing that he would never play the piano again. While in the concentration camp, a Nazi tried to get Keller to play the piano, so instead Keller cut off part of his little finger. Paul also learns that, because of false records, the world—including Keller’s closest friends—thinks Keller is dead.

In the present, years pass, and Paul is now a middle-aged man. He receives a letter from the Darwin Hospital, letting him know that Keller listed him as next of kin and is about to die. Paul goes to see Keller to keep him company in his dying days. Although Keller recognizes Paul, he is largely nonresponsive. After Keller dies, Paul wants desperately to share with the world that a musical genius has passed away. However, his efforts largely feel wasted because Keller’s friends and the historical record already assumed Keller was dead anyway. As such, Paul has to mourn Keller alone. The novel ends with him contemplating the relationship of the past to the present, both in his own life and in Keller’s.