Chaconne The Novel

In this epic story the protagonist, Milo, is abandoned by his father at a young age. Two tragic accidents leave him feeling responsible for the death of two little girls, their dead eyes ever haunting him. Crushed by the burden of pain, guilt and anger, his dream to fly is blown apart. Milo’s earliest memory is of his father playing Bach’s Chaconne. He intuits a resonant truth in the music that he uses as a compass to find his way. Milo struggles from the slums of Brooklyn to become a pilot against staggering odds and seeks redemption in a dangerous rescue at sea. Heard as a boy, the poignant birdsong of a chaffinch becomes the theme for Johann Sebastian Bach's Chaconne, written in memory of his beloved wife, who died and was buried while he was away on a five-day travel. The author carefully, tenderly and artfully entwines the lives of Milo and Sebastian—their tragedy, pain and joy—to make the reader laugh, cry and learn the magic of music and the power of will.