The Upright Piano Player

ABBOTT’S debut novel centres on Henry, a retired advertising executive who is racked with guilt after the death of a young relative in his care.

The incident, of which he is blameless, becomes the focal point of his life and propels him to the perpetual search of redemption.

There is his estranged wife Nessa, dying of cancer in Florida, with whom he seeks and gains an understanding of their relative positions in life. Underlying the affliction of his loss and her own debilitating death sentence, there is a very close bond.