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Cloister
Matthew Marcan returns to Bristol, his childhood home, to attend the funeral of his mentor, Richard, the director of music at the cathedral. Matthew sees himself as Richard’s natural successor but is passed over in favour of Geraint, and reluctantly agrees to take on the role of assistant organist. Filling the atmospheric cathedral with music for its daily choral services is his obsession, but his lazy new boss proves a determined hindrance to his work. Matthew meets blues musician Chloë, and finds himself drawn into a love triangle with her former lover, a man who brings death with him from the gothic South of the USA. As work and conflict at the cathedral thwart his expectations, Matthew comes to see his life and his career as a musician very differently. Does love offer refuge? Can he and Chloë establish a relationship without falling foul of her ex, who will seemingly stop at nothing, even murder, to get Chloë, and then Matthew, to agree to his sinister ultimatum?
379 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 2024
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8 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
June 30, 2025
There's that quote that sometimes circulates about how "writing about music is like dancing about architecture," which I consider completely uncalled for and also sometimes true. I tend to give novels on music a wide berth as a general rule. It's hard to write well about music in criticism; it's even harder to do in fiction where it is all too often idealized in ways I find off-putting.
That is absolutely not what is happening here. Not only is the author a trained, professional musician, he's my favorite kind--the type who can actually write intelligibly and with nuance about music and the cultures around it.
The story focuses on Matthew Marcan, a hard-working, earnest church organist waiting for his life to begin. Upon the death of his mentor and father figure, Richard, he quits his current position and returns home, grief-stricken but anticipating that he will uphold his end of a gentleman's agreement to succeed Richard as director of music at Bristol Cathedral--and then, finally, he will have arrived. Their understanding, however, is not honored, as the position has already been offered to his polar opposite: the insufferably talented but indolent Geraint, a musician coasting through life waiting for it to end. After a humiliating audition, no longer certain of the future, Matthew accepts the position of assistant organist, hoping to reclaim what he sees as his professional birthright.
What follows is a loosely Orphic tale reminiscent of Moulin Rouge in that an idealistic artist finds himself drawn to a new world of art lurking with danger. Matthew, frustrated by professional and aesthetic disagreements with management about what the point of music even is, meets--and becomes smitten with--brilliant blues musician Chloe Balducci. They both feel a little out of their depth, both haunted by past romantic failures, though one more literally than the other. Chloe can't shake her self-destructive stalker ex-boyfriend, Troy, who is more than happy to drag Matthew into his crazy. Increasingly, Matthew realizes that if he wants to be with Chloe, he must relinquish the practiced control and certainty that brings him comfort and step into a supporting role to help her defeat her own ghosts.
(Basically, he's a cinnamon roll in denial who finally realizes he's a cinnamon roll and is perfectly okay with that.)
Cloister is a vivid illustration of music that can be summarized in protagonist's observation that "it isn't magic, but it is." This is a novel which revels in the highs and haunting beauty of the art, counterbalanced by the lows, blood, sweat, tears, and frustrations of practical musicianship. Fraser writes clearly and beautifully in a way that is informed by an intimate knowledge of music's structure and form without being, I think, too technical for a non-musician.
That is absolutely not what is happening here. Not only is the author a trained, professional musician, he's my favorite kind--the type who can actually write intelligibly and with nuance about music and the cultures around it.
The story focuses on Matthew Marcan, a hard-working, earnest church organist waiting for his life to begin. Upon the death of his mentor and father figure, Richard, he quits his current position and returns home, grief-stricken but anticipating that he will uphold his end of a gentleman's agreement to succeed Richard as director of music at Bristol Cathedral--and then, finally, he will have arrived. Their understanding, however, is not honored, as the position has already been offered to his polar opposite: the insufferably talented but indolent Geraint, a musician coasting through life waiting for it to end. After a humiliating audition, no longer certain of the future, Matthew accepts the position of assistant organist, hoping to reclaim what he sees as his professional birthright.
What follows is a loosely Orphic tale reminiscent of Moulin Rouge in that an idealistic artist finds himself drawn to a new world of art lurking with danger. Matthew, frustrated by professional and aesthetic disagreements with management about what the point of music even is, meets--and becomes smitten with--brilliant blues musician Chloe Balducci. They both feel a little out of their depth, both haunted by past romantic failures, though one more literally than the other. Chloe can't shake her self-destructive stalker ex-boyfriend, Troy, who is more than happy to drag Matthew into his crazy. Increasingly, Matthew realizes that if he wants to be with Chloe, he must relinquish the practiced control and certainty that brings him comfort and step into a supporting role to help her defeat her own ghosts.
(Basically, he's a cinnamon roll in denial who finally realizes he's a cinnamon roll and is perfectly okay with that.)
Cloister is a vivid illustration of music that can be summarized in protagonist's observation that "it isn't magic, but it is." This is a novel which revels in the highs and haunting beauty of the art, counterbalanced by the lows, blood, sweat, tears, and frustrations of practical musicianship. Fraser writes clearly and beautifully in a way that is informed by an intimate knowledge of music's structure and form without being, I think, too technical for a non-musician.
June 18, 2025
Cloister by Will Fraser is a dark, elegant thriller set in the world of cathedral music. Rich in atmosphere and tension, it explores ambition, obsession, and love with gothic flair.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews