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Discord
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.
- GenresFictionLiterary Fiction
242 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 12, 2026
16 people are currently reading
211 people want to read
About the author
Jeremy Cooper
46 books33 followersJeremy 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.
the first Fitzcarraldo Editions Novel Prize for Ash before Oak.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
March 14, 2026
Even if I don’t particularly vibe with the characters, Cooper always delivers concise, penetratingly insightful works that never fail to keep my attention
January 2, 2026
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
April 6, 2026
They needed to keep bashing away at the music. Explore. Experiment together. Decide. Practise, practise, practise. Stop wasting time with pointless mind games, after which more often than not Rebekah returned to precisely where she stood before the fuss.
How did she suppose a girl like Beth Mead, Evie's football idol, made it into the England side?
Through graft, through fighting injury and through self-belief.
I am a huge fan of Fitzcarraldo Editions, but primarily for their translated literature. But their taste in English-language originals from male authors doesn't quite coincide with mine (Counternarratives one exception).
And as a supporter of small presses, I like to subscribe to them when I am able - but that does mean one gets a curated rather than self-selected set of books to read, for good or for bad, depending on the overlap of the press's taste with one's own.
And I also admire how many small presses, Fitzcarraldo among them, remain loyal to their authors, here in particular as the author was the winner of their inaugural Novel Prize.
But putting that all together, means this is the fourth Jeremy Cooper novel I've read, after Ash before Oak,Bolt from the Blue and Brian, and the proceeding three have all been two star reads, so I came to this with the presumption I would not appreciate it.
Which I say by preamble to my review as I suspect this is a rather unfair take - other opinions are available.
The novel begins well, in 2022. It centres on two women - Evie Bonnet (29), a young celebrity saxophonist, and Rebecca Rosen (50), an experimental composer but rather lower profile. Rebecca has been commissioned to create and perform a piece at the Proms the following August and her agent has suggested Evie as the central performer.
The two women meet at the agent's north London home, Rebecca rather more taken with Evie ('this punkish girl might be right for her own awkward music') than the reverse (Evie's initial impression is of a 'dowdy middle-aged woman') but the two decided to persist, Evie thinking:
Rebekah was a maverick, at once both innovative and indecisive, two aspects of character difficult to reconcile. Despite the risk, Evie believed it was worth a try.
Because?
Because Rebekah was odd. Odd in secretive, screwball ways which Evie was attracted to. What mattered was to feel in performance a concrete sense of players and audience sharing a unique experience. And of re-entering, at the end, a world different from how things stood when the concert began.
Presentationally the narrative, largely centred on their meetings as they work on the project, is told from each woman's perspective - alternating whose is presented first (so the initial meeting has Rebekah's account followed by Evie; a follow up visit by Evie to Rebekah's southwest home is first told from Evie's perspective).
And this element of the novel works, both their contrasting views, but also the narrative development of their respective characters and family relationships. Evie is a Leeds-men and England-women (Beth Mead in particular) supporting fan whose stage gimmick is to wear de-studded football boots on stage:
Though Evie was keen on the yellow Nike Mercurials worn by Beth Mead, her current favourite was the white, red and black of the new Lionel Messi boot, with Carbitex carbon plate, hugging Speedskin upper and adaptive Primeknit collar.
There is however a narrative misfire (and which can't be put down to the character's flawed recollection) when, towards the end of the 2022-3 season, Evie attends a game at Elland Road and reports back to her Mum that it was a 1-1 draw but she is sure Allerdyce can still save them from relegation. Allerdyce's sole point in his four games was from a 2-2 draw with Newcastle, and while Leeds did draw 1-1 at home to Leicester a couple of games earlier, this was under Garcia, who was only dismissed another game later.
However, in the third set of twinned chapters, when the two women visit Amsterdam, the novel takes an unfortunate, and thereafter persistent, lapse into the pedantic. As they visit concerts, we get a complete info-dump on various modern composers. And that extends to tourists attractions where the narrator seems incapable of sharing with us the content of guide leaflets, which could make sense for lesser-known buildings, but three pages on the familiar story of Anne Frank (and latter two on Robben Island) were particular low points.
Cooper has taken the interesting decision to incorporate various real-life figures into the text, some with speaking parts - e.g. the conductor for the prom piece is Elim Chan; Evie has two extended scenes with the composer Frédéric Acquaviva; and Rebekah's step-son's best friend is the nephew of the violinist Tamsin Waley-Cohen:
It pleased her that as a teenager Simon had formed his one close friendship with Ben Waley-Cohen. Satisfying on two counts, firstly because Ben was an affectionate boy, and secondly because it was on collecting Simon from a weekend stay at the family's home deeper into Exmoor that she had met Ben's aunt, Tamsin Waley-Cohen, the violinist - not the older Tasmin Little, also a violinist, now retired, Rebekah found herself repeatedly having to explain on the telephone to her name-dropping mother. Rebekah had become a friend of Tamsin's not long after she had taken over as Artistic Director of the Two Moors Festival, at which Rebekah had regularly performed under the previous director. On one occasion, she had given a Haydn piano recital in the village hall in Lydford, close to where Simon's mother died. Tamsin's younger sister was a composer, both siblings with use of cottages on their father's estate outside Simonsbath.
This example carries on for two pages (and oh the irony of 'her name-dropping mother'!)
I'd have presumed these figures are included with consent, except the narration is not beyond rather personal criticism of other real-life figures - when they watch Femke Ylstra and The Syrene Saxophone Quartet in Amsterdam, Rebekah thinks Evie is 'twice the player of the saxophonists in the quartet' while Evie 'had her doubt about the provocative, stereotypical wearing of skimpy dresses.'
There's a shorter character-focused novella hidden here inside the info-dumping, but another disappointment for me.
How did she suppose a girl like Beth Mead, Evie's football idol, made it into the England side?
Through graft, through fighting injury and through self-belief.
I am a huge fan of Fitzcarraldo Editions, but primarily for their translated literature. But their taste in English-language originals from male authors doesn't quite coincide with mine (Counternarratives one exception).
And as a supporter of small presses, I like to subscribe to them when I am able - but that does mean one gets a curated rather than self-selected set of books to read, for good or for bad, depending on the overlap of the press's taste with one's own.
And I also admire how many small presses, Fitzcarraldo among them, remain loyal to their authors, here in particular as the author was the winner of their inaugural Novel Prize.
But putting that all together, means this is the fourth Jeremy Cooper novel I've read, after Ash before Oak,Bolt from the Blue and Brian, and the proceeding three have all been two star reads, so I came to this with the presumption I would not appreciate it.
Which I say by preamble to my review as I suspect this is a rather unfair take - other opinions are available.
The novel begins well, in 2022. It centres on two women - Evie Bonnet (29), a young celebrity saxophonist, and Rebecca Rosen (50), an experimental composer but rather lower profile. Rebecca has been commissioned to create and perform a piece at the Proms the following August and her agent has suggested Evie as the central performer.
The two women meet at the agent's north London home, Rebecca rather more taken with Evie ('this punkish girl might be right for her own awkward music') than the reverse (Evie's initial impression is of a 'dowdy middle-aged woman') but the two decided to persist, Evie thinking:
Rebekah was a maverick, at once both innovative and indecisive, two aspects of character difficult to reconcile. Despite the risk, Evie believed it was worth a try.
Because?
Because Rebekah was odd. Odd in secretive, screwball ways which Evie was attracted to. What mattered was to feel in performance a concrete sense of players and audience sharing a unique experience. And of re-entering, at the end, a world different from how things stood when the concert began.
Presentationally the narrative, largely centred on their meetings as they work on the project, is told from each woman's perspective - alternating whose is presented first (so the initial meeting has Rebekah's account followed by Evie; a follow up visit by Evie to Rebekah's southwest home is first told from Evie's perspective).
And this element of the novel works, both their contrasting views, but also the narrative development of their respective characters and family relationships. Evie is a Leeds-men and England-women (Beth Mead in particular) supporting fan whose stage gimmick is to wear de-studded football boots on stage:
Though Evie was keen on the yellow Nike Mercurials worn by Beth Mead, her current favourite was the white, red and black of the new Lionel Messi boot, with Carbitex carbon plate, hugging Speedskin upper and adaptive Primeknit collar.
There is however a narrative misfire (and which can't be put down to the character's flawed recollection) when, towards the end of the 2022-3 season, Evie attends a game at Elland Road and reports back to her Mum that it was a 1-1 draw but she is sure Allerdyce can still save them from relegation. Allerdyce's sole point in his four games was from a 2-2 draw with Newcastle, and while Leeds did draw 1-1 at home to Leicester a couple of games earlier, this was under Garcia, who was only dismissed another game later.
However, in the third set of twinned chapters, when the two women visit Amsterdam, the novel takes an unfortunate, and thereafter persistent, lapse into the pedantic. As they visit concerts, we get a complete info-dump on various modern composers. And that extends to tourists attractions where the narrator seems incapable of sharing with us the content of guide leaflets, which could make sense for lesser-known buildings, but three pages on the familiar story of Anne Frank (and latter two on Robben Island) were particular low points.
Cooper has taken the interesting decision to incorporate various real-life figures into the text, some with speaking parts - e.g. the conductor for the prom piece is Elim Chan; Evie has two extended scenes with the composer Frédéric Acquaviva; and Rebekah's step-son's best friend is the nephew of the violinist Tamsin Waley-Cohen:
It pleased her that as a teenager Simon had formed his one close friendship with Ben Waley-Cohen. Satisfying on two counts, firstly because Ben was an affectionate boy, and secondly because it was on collecting Simon from a weekend stay at the family's home deeper into Exmoor that she had met Ben's aunt, Tamsin Waley-Cohen, the violinist - not the older Tasmin Little, also a violinist, now retired, Rebekah found herself repeatedly having to explain on the telephone to her name-dropping mother. Rebekah had become a friend of Tamsin's not long after she had taken over as Artistic Director of the Two Moors Festival, at which Rebekah had regularly performed under the previous director. On one occasion, she had given a Haydn piano recital in the village hall in Lydford, close to where Simon's mother died. Tamsin's younger sister was a composer, both siblings with use of cottages on their father's estate outside Simonsbath.
This example carries on for two pages (and oh the irony of 'her name-dropping mother'!)
I'd have presumed these figures are included with consent, except the narration is not beyond rather personal criticism of other real-life figures - when they watch Femke Ylstra and The Syrene Saxophone Quartet in Amsterdam, Rebekah thinks Evie is 'twice the player of the saxophonists in the quartet' while Evie 'had her doubt about the provocative, stereotypical wearing of skimpy dresses.'
There's a shorter character-focused novella hidden here inside the info-dumping, but another disappointment for me.
March 16, 2026
While I enjoyed the introduction to the characters and the premise that sets their different personalities and musical approaches at odds, I unfortunately found myself skimming toward the end, hoping for interesting things to happen to/with them. Jeremy Cooper’s writing is thorough and detailed (sometimes overly so) and I enjoyed the musical intricacies and references throughout.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
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)
March 5, 2026
Very current but honestly a bit too real for me with the mention of Brexit and Covid, etc. - would rather escape from that atm lol
Liked Rebekah’s characterisation but felt like Evie was a caricature of what older people think young ‘woke’ people are like and was just so one-dimensional - like she loves the environment and politics and sustainability and wants to make a change in the world!!!! Okay!
Also the whole book leading up to the concert for it to only be 1 paragraph long - Evie and her irrelevant bf got more lines detailing how they joined a k-pop dance class for literally no reason plzzz 😭😭
Liked Rebekah’s characterisation but felt like Evie was a caricature of what older people think young ‘woke’ people are like and was just so one-dimensional - like she loves the environment and politics and sustainability and wants to make a change in the world!!!! Okay!
Also the whole book leading up to the concert for it to only be 1 paragraph long - Evie and her irrelevant bf got more lines detailing how they joined a k-pop dance class for literally no reason plzzz 😭😭
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 6, 2026
when a book blurb describes the plot as depicting the course of an ‘intense and at times fractious relationship’ i will, in fact, expect a depiction of an intense and fractious relationship and be disappointed when it isn’t delivered.
February 6, 2026
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!
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!
March 26, 2026
I found this really captivating - not sure if there’s a word for the perspective it’s writing in - contemporary omniscient? The narrators doubt themselves and show their thought process throughout which I find very endearing because their quite messy people. I found the novel shy, like it didn’t want to show everything all at once, even revealing new dimensions to plot and character in its final few pages. It’s really evocative about the nature of artistic collaboration - it builds towards something (a big concert of a new composed piece of music for an orchestra) but it doesn’t really make that event the main focus, it’s just what you keep in sight to keep your interest. What it’s really interested in is about the life and work of an artist, and also of these two complex women, who like and dislike each other, one of whom may be obsessed with the other. Some readers might feel frustrated by it because you keep waiting for a payoff, and there are many hints of dramas or exciting bits of plot (a thieving agent for one) but we never get the meat of those feelings, just descriptions of them… it was like the novel didn’t want to be known. Which is kind of intriguing and ultimately, for me, was a great read. I also loved how of its place it was; it really loves London (and reminds me that what I think I like most about London is its immense history and hidden nooks and crannies) and all the descriptions of London were so great and interesting and gave me so many places to explore!
I do wish it had delved into some things instead of just breezing past them, but I myself breezed through this book myself so ultimately I’m really happy with it. And really hope that the friends I recommend it to (Jas for example) enjoy it as well. I also loved glimpsing into the world of classical music - a world I’ve always been fascinated by (which is why I watched and read Mozart in the Jungle almost a decade ago) but I’m wondering how accurate this book is… would love to read more of Jeremy Cooper’s work.
I do wish it had delved into some things instead of just breezing past them, but I myself breezed through this book myself so ultimately I’m really happy with it. And really hope that the friends I recommend it to (Jas for example) enjoy it as well. I also loved glimpsing into the world of classical music - a world I’ve always been fascinated by (which is why I watched and read Mozart in the Jungle almost a decade ago) but I’m wondering how accurate this book is… would love to read more of Jeremy Cooper’s work.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
After focusing on film with his last book, Brian, Jeremy Cooper returns to the world of music with his latest, Discord.
The main protagonists are Rebekah; a fifty year old composer who has made a name for herself and Evie, a thirty year old saxophonist. When Rebekah’s agent requests that the two collaborate for the proms at Royal Albert Hall, the two agree.
Using alternating chapters to emphasize each character’s perspective, the book is about how two people from different generations and backgrounds and personalities have to work together in order to create art: Evie is outgoing, the other shy. Rebekah is a step mother while Evie’s view of children is different. Their tastes in music is different- even their approach to listening to it. Yet differences have to be compromised when creating.
Discord is a profound book in which its power sneaks upon reader subtly. It’s also quite an engrossing read. Highly recommended.
The main protagonists are Rebekah; a fifty year old composer who has made a name for herself and Evie, a thirty year old saxophonist. When Rebekah’s agent requests that the two collaborate for the proms at Royal Albert Hall, the two agree.
Using alternating chapters to emphasize each character’s perspective, the book is about how two people from different generations and backgrounds and personalities have to work together in order to create art: Evie is outgoing, the other shy. Rebekah is a step mother while Evie’s view of children is different. Their tastes in music is different- even their approach to listening to it. Yet differences have to be compromised when creating.
Discord is a profound book in which its power sneaks upon reader subtly. It’s also quite an engrossing read. Highly recommended.
Review of advance copy
A peacful type of story. I would not recommend but can't say I disliked it. Admittedly I skimmed a little bit in the very end... getting to know the charcters and the awkward realness/tension of their realtionship was interesting. After everything was established though, I found myself almost entirely uninvested.
Review of advance copy
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!
April 7, 2026
Another fantastic book from Jeremy Cooper.
Perhaps I didn't love the characters Evie and Rebekah as much as Brian, but I don't think I was supposed to; they are both realistically faulty humans.
I was still completely engrossed until the last page.
Perhaps I didn't love the characters Evie and Rebekah as much as Brian, but I don't think I was supposed to; they are both realistically faulty humans.
I was still completely engrossed until the last page.
February 24, 2026
3.5*. With an appearance from a non cliche librarian.
March 16, 2026
Loved Brian so expected good things but found this book so boring. Skipped through long sections of narrative voice wondering when we would get back to the story. It’s an extended essay, not a novel.
March 24, 2026
leaning more to 2.5
there may have been a correlation between this book and my reading slump. it just felt… muted
there may have been a correlation between this book and my reading slump. it just felt… muted
Read
April 25, 2026Dissonance compositionally and relationally.
In a different life, in a different time, I would have been a composer, creating orchestral pieces inspired by old radiators, air ducts, Stellar Jays dominating the back yard. Or perhaps inspired by household tech humming to itself while the house sleeps.
Discordant dreams just for me.
In a different life, in a different time, I would have been a composer, creating orchestral pieces inspired by old radiators, air ducts, Stellar Jays dominating the back yard. Or perhaps inspired by household tech humming to itself while the house sleeps.
Discordant dreams just for me.
April 4, 2026
An unusual book, focusing entirely on the parallel stories of two women briefly involved in a joint project, the performance of Rebekah’s piece by Evie. I expected this to be developed in more conventional ways (especially just having read The Safekeep). and the continued, in some ways increasing, distance between them was more original and realistic; it meant the story didn’t have as much intensity and sense of movement towards an end point. The end point is the performance and only that. I felt something was lacking in the characters and felt it hard to get into their heads, but I read this when I was tired, and need to digest it a bit more to know whether it will stay with me.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews