Discord

by Jeremy Cooper

Charting the course of the intense and at times fractious relationship between middle-aged composer Rebekah Rosen and the young star-saxophonist Evie Bennet, Discord is a wry and insightful exploration of creative collaboration.
Jeremy Cooper, the author of Brian, returns with Discord, a subjective journey through the world of classical music. On a night in August, an audience at the Royal Albert Hall attends the first ever concert of Distant Voices. The Proms performance is the culmination of a year’s work between the middle-aged composer Rebekah Rosen and the young star-saxophonist Evie Bennet. Alternating between both perspectives, Discord charts the course of their intense and at times fractious relationship, the resonances and dissonances both women find within one another, as well as the struggles and satisfactions that accompany an artistic life. At the heart of the novel is an inquiry into the generative force behind creative collaboration. In what ways does the inexpressible – that amorphous space of friction and unity between musicians – become indelible? And by what process do flawed individuals create works of transcendence? Deeply insightful, at turns poignant and wry, Discord affirms Jeremy Cooper's status as one of the most interesting fiction writers at work today.

Genres: Fiction

240 pages, Paperback

Expected publication June 16, 2026

About the author

Jeremy Cooper is a writer and art historian, author of six previous novels and several works of non-fiction, including the standard work on nineteenth century furniture, studies of young British artists in the 1990s, and, in 2019, the British Museum's catalogue of artists' postcards. Early on he appeared in the first twenty-four of BBC's Antiques Roadshow and, in 2018, won
the first Fitzcarraldo Editions Novel Prize for Ash before Oak.

Reviews

[Heather Magee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmmm I’m not sure about this one! I was so engrossed at the start. Loved the unusual sentence structures and beautiful descriptions- and the relationship between the two protagonists, the composer and the soloist of a musical piece, was really dynamic, fruitful and interesting to follow. It did unfortunately wane towards the end. There were so many details added that were a little distracting from the book’s plot, which centres around the musical journey towards the performance of Rebekah’s piece in the Royal Albert Hall. the book’s structure reflects this trajectory, culminating in the big performance..but for such a build up it was a little underwhelming, and there was not a real sense of occasion around it. Maybe that was intentional ? I will reread the last bit. Anyway, solid 3.5 read

[Axel Koch · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having loved Jeremy Cooper's previous novel Brian and developed a mental image of the author as more or less similar to the early-middle-aged protagonist of that book, it was only more than midway through his follow-up Discord that I googled the man and realised he's well into retirement age and the furthest thing from a new kid on the block in the literary scene. I only mention this because it's this knowledge that helped me make sense of why parts of Discord struck me as so unconvincing and why, out of the two central characters whose perspectives this novel adopts, that of the twenty-something Evie seems so much less fully realised than that of the older Rebekah, who should, on paper, be the less likeable character, but whose neuroses and shortcomings end up much more relatable (even to me, being in age and outlook much closer to Evie than Rebekah), whereas the younger woman's ease and idealism comes off as alien and off-putting - which would make sense if the entire book was written from Rebekah's perspective, but which strikes me as an artistic shortcoming in a novel that deliberately goes over all of its narrative twice, embracing both characters' points of view in alternating chapters, a phenomenological bent which I did enjoy for how it illustrated how profoundly differently two people can experience the same events and circumstances, the ultimate unknowability of the other etc. (and to his credit Cooper does all of this with an aesthete's formal precision)

[g.m. · Rating 4 out of 5]

The narrative voice and sentence structures drew me in instantly. Cooper has this way of capturing the mundane in a potent way that cannot be boring but instead brings character to our everyday lives.

The novel follows the two protagonists in the buildup until their prom's performance. They are different in many ways but what holds them together is their passion for music.

I liked both Evie and Rebekah — they weren't perfect people but they were realistic. I liked the way they interact with each other, how their juxtapositions showed each other's pros and cons. How both taught each other so much implicitly through their interactions. There was just this feeling that flowed through the book, or perhaps a sound like when a piano key is pressed and you can still hear the sound and vibrations even after the action is done.

Cooper's writing in many ways reminded me of Ian McEwan's (my favourite author). There was a dedication to research and also the physicality of the world that often literature skips. But Cooper so vividly portrayed the train rides, the short trips to Europe and how Evie interacted with her saxophone.

I felt a bit empty after finishing this one, like the ending was too abrupt and that their world kind of collapsed — but in retrospect that is the very essence of life and relationships in the creative field.

Thank you to Fitzcarraldo for an early copy of this one!

[Stephanie Klemons · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was unforgettable. Moments of wandering part of its charms and downfall. Three succinct quotable moments that will stay with me forever. A MUST READ FOR ALL THE (TORTURED/PROFESSIONAL) ARTISTS!

[Lucy · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5*. With an appearance from a non cliche librarian.