I can't remember when I last enjoyed a book as much as this. I got it from the library a couple of days ago, in a mad dash just before closing time - started it after dinner - and regretfully turned out the light with throbbing eyes at 5am and realised I had read the night away. Well, the next day was a write-off. But now I am going slowly because I don't want it to finish.

So thank you to Cornflower, who introduced me to Sue Gee a few years ago with her equally entrancing The Mysteries of Glass.

Trio is set in Northumberland in the late 1930s when Steven, a young history teacher, living in a remote cottage, is grieving for the loss of his wife from tuberculosis. The world is moving towards another war as the last war still reverberates through many lives. Through a charismatic colleague whose beautiful sister plays the cello in a musical trio, Steven is drawn into a privileged, graceful world of country houses and finds healing in music that you can almost hear coming off the page. (I've even been stopping to listen to recordings on YouTube as I'm reading.)

There is a containment and restraint in Sue Gee's writing that makes the emotions she describes so powerful.

I am loving this book - and I still have 100 pages to go. Slowly.