Nothing Else

by Louise Beech

A professional pianist searches for her sister, who was taken when their parents died, aided on by her childhood care records and a single song that continues to haunt her.

Heather Harris is a piano teacher and professional musician, whose quiet life revolves around music, whose memories centre on a single song that haunts her. A song she longs to perform again. A song she wrote as a child, to drown out the violence in their home. A song she played with her little sister, Harriet.

But Harriet is gone … she disappeared when their parents died, and Heather never saw her again.

When Heather is offered an opportunity to play piano on a cruise ship, she leaps at the chance. She’ll read her recently released childhood care records by day – searching for clues to her sister’s disappearance – and play piano by night … coming to terms with the truth about a past she’s done everything to forget.

An exquisitely moving novel about surviving devastating trauma, about the unbreakable bond between sisters, Nothing Else is also a story of courage and love, and the power of music to transcend – and change – everything.

Genres: Contemporary, Fiction

300 pages, Paperback

First published April 23, 2022

About the author

Also publishes under Louise Swanson.

Louise Beech is the author of eleven novels and a memoir, Eighteen Seconds (2023). Her debut, How to be Brave, was a Guardian Readers’ Pick; The Lion Tamer Who Lost shortlisted for the Romantic Novel Awards 2019 and longlisted for the Polari Prize the same year; Call Me Star Girl was Best magazine’s Book of the Year; This Is How We Are Human was a Clare Mackintosh Book Club pick; and the audiobook of her memoir, Daffodils, shortlisted for the Audies23. Her thrillers, End of Story and Lights Out, are written as Louise Swanson; the former was chosen by Sophie Hannah as a Book of the Year in the Daily Mail, and the latter was reviewed by The Times. Her debut play, How to be Brave, toured Yorkshire venues in 2024. Wonderful will be published 1st June 2026.

Louise also writes as Louise Swanson.

Reviews

[Jo_Scho_Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heather is a piano teacher. Divorced and child free, she lives for her music and is haunted by her past. A traumatic past involving the loss of her little sister, Harriet, over thirty years ago and something she’s never fully gotten over.

When an opportunity arises to become the pianist on a cruise ship she takes the plunge and goes for it. There’s nothing to keep her at home. She hopes the vastness of the ocean will bring her peace and allow her to move on, but bringing her childhood care home records just opens old wounds. What happened to Harriet? Where did she disappear to? Can Heather ever find the answer?

What a glorious book! On so many levels. The writing was top notch; from the first chapter I was thoroughly invested. The first person narrative was so well written, I could feel the characters coming off the page. The story is split into then and now - I found the descriptions of life on the cruise ship utterly fascinating (never been on one) but equally I was also mesmerised by the sisters’ dreadful childhood; their incredibly loving bond juxtaposed with the brutality of their childhood really tugged at my heartstrings. Then there was the music. Whilst not a classical music fan I genuinely felt the sisters’ love of the piano, their delight was infectious, and I also found the detail of the orchestral symphonies wonderful. A soaring, sweeping triumph of a book.

Louise Beech, you’ve done it again!

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read everything that Louise Beech has written and have been a fan since book one. What is so special about this author is her ability to write beautifully in different genre. Whether a psychological thriller, or a romance or a ghost story, she never fails to engage her readers with her beautiful prose and carefully created characters.

It's very difficult to categorise Nothing Else into genre; it's contemporary fiction that deals with the effects of a broken home on the most innocent of victims. With a dual timeline that seems effortless, the author introduces her two lead characters whilst also detailing their earliest and formative years.

The use of music throughout this novel is wonderfully done, and it is the character's ability to lose themselves in the sounds of Chopin, Beethoven and more contemporary composers that adds so much to the story.

Heather Harris is divorced with no children. She lives in the dockside in Hull and teaches the piano, she also plays small gigs in local pubs. Heather's life is far from complete, she is haunted by the memory of her younger sister Harriet who she last saw almost thirty years ago. After the tragic death of their parents, Heather and Harriet were taken into care and one day Harriet disappeared. Heather was never told where she went and despite being brought up by a loving couple, she has always felt that a part of her is missing. Often imagining that she sees and hears Harriet.

When Heather makes the decision to take a six weeks contract playing piano on a cruise ship, she is excited, yet frightened of the unknown. However, this trip will change her life completely. She's applied for her care records and they arrive just as she's leaving home. Stuffing them into her bag, she decides to read them whilst she's away. Although the records don't tell her a lot, she finds a hidden cutting nestled in the back and what she finds out, changes everything that she believed about herself, and her parents.

Beech allows her readers to meet and get to know Harriet too in a clever structure style that works really well. However, for me, it was the descriptions of the girls early life that really resonated, the absolute love for their mother and the total fear of their father is so precise and so strong, it is heartbreaking in parts.

Beech deals with quite a few complex and serious issues within Nothing Else, and these are sensitively done. The cruise ship setting is very realistic, with the descriptions of life below deck and the glamour and glitz experienced by the passengers contrasting so well.

Tender and emotional, with a strong cast of female characters, this is an evocative and stylish story of the strength of the sisterly bond.

[Natalie "Curling up with a Coffee and a Kindle" Laird · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. This book has everything.
Characters you love and feel everything with them. A plot that shakes to your core and can't stop thinking about.
I cried so many times at this. A few tears shed, but I admit I bawled when I finished it, sad it was over.
There are so many elements to shout about here, which is tricky to write a spoiler-free review! But the pain and trauma the book takes you through are 'Something Else'.
This morning my head is still full of the story.
This novel proves book hangovers are real. Readers who love books with emotion will adore this one.
I adored it.

[Eva · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is always massive anticipation and high expectations when a new Louise Beech book finds its way into your hands. She is such a remarkable author, who easily crosses genres back and forth and cannot be confined to just one “box” or label. You never really know what to expect when you start reading one of her books. But maybe my expectations were just a tad too high this time around and while I enjoyed some of Nothing Else, I’m sad to say I didn’t love it as I’ve done so many of Louise’s previous offerings.

I could really relate to the escapism music offers. Music has always been a big part of my life too and it’s definitely something I turn to when I’m sad or anxious, or just to make cleaning the house fun. For Heather and her sister it’s a way to drown out the sounds of an abusive father. As hard as those chapters set in the past were to read, they were also my favourite. These, I felt, were the ones where Louise Beech stood out as she normally does. But the present chapters failed to convince me. I didn’t particularly like Heather, nor could I understand why it took her so long to try and find out what happened to her sister. It didn’t feel like very much was happening and towards the end, it all felt a little too schmaltzy for me.

I do realise I set the bar impossibly high and I’m sure someone a lot less cold-hearted than myself will enjoy this novel a lot more than I did.

[Cathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having enjoyed many of Louise Beech’s previous novels – Maria in the Moon, Call Me Star Girl, I Am Dust and This Is How We Are Human – I think I can say a consistent theme of her books is the insightful exploration of relationships and her ability to take the reader on an emotional journey. Nothing Else is another interesting variation on this theme. (I’m going to apologise now for all the musical metaphors in this review.)

Heather’s decision to embark on a determined search for Harriet after so many years is not prompted by a pivotal event in her life but by a chance encounter and perhaps a general sense of dissatisfaction with her life, a feeling that she is drifting and there are ghosts of the past she needs to lay to rest. In particular, she nurses a sense of guilt that she failed to protect Harriet in the way an elder sister should.

The atmosphere of a modern cruise ship which is more like a floating hotel didn’t feel like an obvious place for Heather, although I can see it would appeal to someone seeking a sense of adventure. I did like how we see the power of music not only to entertain but to provoke memories, such as the lovely scene involving an elderly couple. (A neat touch is the book’s accompanying playlist containing many of the pieces Heather performs.)

As a pianist myself (although very much an amateur) it made sense to me that Heather would often see the world in musical terms. For example, boarding the ship along with other crew members, she likens the booming voice of the crew manager who greets them to Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture, ‘a bombastic work that uses artillery in the percussion section for effect’. In the same vein, she sees the crew with its mix of different nationalities and ages as a composition ‘that had used every note on the keyboard’.  These comparisons are in stark constrast to the jarring soundtrack of Heather’s childhood during which ‘unexplained sounds were rarely good’ and playing duets with her sister was a much-needed distraction.

Your view of what happens around halfway through the book will depend on whether you are a strong believer in fate.  I’ll just say that it does provide answers to the many questions that have haunted Heather and help to assuage the feeling of guilt she has been burdened with for so many years.

Nothing Else is an assured composition written in both major and minor keys. Although in musical terms I would describe the tempo as andante, it ends with a crowd-pleasing flourish akin to the rousing notes at the end of a symphony.

[Priya · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a deeply emotional read about the power of music and the way a song keeps two sisters separated by fate, together in their hearts.
It has some heartbreaking moments that make you wonder why life cannot be simpler; it also has beautifully written scenes of happiness that are touching and will stay with you.
Heather and Harriet - sisters, friends and so much more, are cruelly taken away from each other when their parents die. More than 3 decades later, Heather, a pianist, decides to take a job on a cruise while also wanting to finally look for her sister once again. As little girls, the music they played together on the piano was their shield against the violence and trauma in their home, the thing that saved them from having to acknowledge it though they always knew. It's gut wrenching to read about two children wondering why everything is so sad and vowing to create happiness with their music before they are taken away from each other.
As Heather plays her music on the ship she recalls the one piece of music she created with her sister, the melody of which was enough to drown out everything until there was Nothing else.
The author has told a story where you cannot help but feel for all the characters caught in their own ways, trying their best to do the right thing. I was so invested in the journey of Heather and Harriet, rooting for them and hoping they would get the chance to tell each other their life stories and play their very unique melody together again.
It is a book with heavy themes but one that is difficult to put down until you know the ending.

[Louisa Treger · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Louise Beech’s versatility. Each book she writes is completely different to the one before, and she keeps getting better and better! And the bar was always set high.
I absolutely loved this story of Heather and her tragic past, and how the past colours her present. I trained as a classical musician, and Beech’s descriptions of music and musicians are spot on. I related to the way music is an escape and a lifeline for Heather. Heart-rending yet uplifting, this is a must-read! I couldn’t put it down.

[Madeleine Black · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story of two sisters, Heather and Harriet, who were so close when they were little girls. As children they fell in love with the piano and went for secret lessons with a neighbour. Their mission was to make their lovely mum's world a bit happier by distracting her with music to escape their abusive father.

Playing their powerful song "Nothing Else" helped them to focus on their music and escape the challenging times. They were both placed in care after their parents died but Harriet disappeared one day and Heather longed with every atom in her body to find her

A tender and beautiful story about the loving and unbreakable bond between sisters

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

How do you translate a feeling into words? I’m a writer; I’m supposed to be able to do this, right? And yet here I am. Two weeks after turning the last page of Nothing Else, the latest book from the immaculate pen of Louise Beech, sitting with a multitude of the sweetest feelings, floating like feathers, refusing to become words.

In the interests of actually writing this review I shall now endeavour to get a grip, and begin by telling you, Louise Beech is word witch. She is particularly good at unpicking human trauma in a way that gets under the skin and makes her reader think. Her previous books stand testament to this. Whatever issue she writes about, she is instantly empathetic and you sense an affinity based on personal knowledge. It’s what novelists often do of course – they trawl their own lives and turn facets of their lived experience into fiction. And Beech excels at this – she writes from her bruised, fearless and joyful heart – her pen dipped in tears but with a humour and intelligence that transcends any notion of ego. Her characters shine in their absolute, imaginative and glorious autonomy; their utterly authentic existence.

In Nothing Else, the story of adult sisters Heather and Harriet, lost to one another since childhood, the unfolding of their past and present is a spell set to music, rendered powerful, mesmerising and honest. It’s a book entirely about feelings, about long lost secrets and the power of enduring sibling love. Nothing Else is nothing less than lyrical and I loved every word. Highly recommended.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a story of love – of the unbreakable bond between sisters – but also about being brave enough to acknowledge the past, to face the memories, to overcome loss and grief, and to live life in the present. It’s also very much about the healing power of music – and the melodies continued to haunt me long after I finished reading, because the whole story and the author’s simply wonderful writing had once again touched my heart.

Heather is now in her forties, an accomplished pianist who has turned her talents to teaching others, always preferring to work with older children – she relishes the challenge, but also finds it easier that they don’t bring back painful thoughts of her lost sister Harriet. But one day she agrees to teach a younger child who looks uncomfortably like the sister who is never far from her thoughts, and it throws her life off kilter – the memories flood back, and she’s unable to carry on with her teaching. At the urging of a friend, she decides to take a job on a cruise ship, playing the piano for the happy holidaymakers three times a day – but, before she departs, she also decides to apply for her care records, taking them with her in an attempt to understand exactly what happened all those years ago, with the possibility of trying to find her sister.

Told in a series of flashbacks, we find out about her early life – the loving mother, the cold and abusive father, the atmosphere of fear and control permeating the home where the girls escape into music to cover the sounds of violence coming from downstairs, but are only too aware of their mother’s bruises the next morning. And then there’s the unexpected arrival of a piano – to be played when their father is absent, with any idea of lessons in how to play strictly forbidden. Their mother takes an extraordinary risk – having secretly introduced them to the beauty of the music of Chopin (and I’m filling up with tears just thinking about that moment…) she defies her husband and arranges sessions with a music teacher, and both girls discover that they have an innate talent and ability on the keyboard. Together they devise a four-handed piece, the Nothing Else of the book’s title, sitting together on the wide piano stool, Heather the primo on the right, Harriet to her left – and creating the melody becomes their escape. And then their parents die – and they find themselves in a children’s home, the music and their tight bond sustaining them… until the day that Harriet disappears.

And, in the present, we follow Heather’s life on the cruise ship – a fascinating look at life below decks, the friendships and alliances, the characters, the crew parties, punctuated by her performances at lunchtime, early evening and late at night in the three main (and wonderfully described) lounges, and her solitary moments revisiting the layers of her memories. And she finally feels able to play her own music – including Nothing Else, despite her pain at the absence of her sister at her side. And then, the focus of the narrative shifts… and the story follows an unexpected path, but one that was immensely powerful and moving, and delivered everything I could have possibly asked for.

It’s quite impossible to convey how deeply this book affected me – it’s filled with moments that seared themselves into my memory, from the elusive image of the piano being in the garden in their childhood to Heather, serene and detached and in her element, seated at the piano while the dancers swirl around the dance floor. Its characters – major and minor – are perfectly drawn, the settings vividly recreated, the emotional content so very powerful and entirely engaging. There are moments of lightness and sheer joy, times of laughter – but also moments of darkness in the sisters’ past that made me ache unbearably inside. I loved the way she conveyed the healing power of the music – there are times when I’d swear I could hear it, rising and falling in the background, and I found that intensely moving. The unfolding story entirely enthralled me from beginning to end – the strength and originality of the author’s storytelling took my breath away.

This book is perhaps rather different from her others, although it’s probably fair to say that her books are never entirely what you might be expecting – it might surprise some readers, but it certainly won’t lessen their enjoyment. I’ve declared every one of her books my new favourite, and this time is no exception. This book is simply stunning – a story that entirely engrossed me, beautifully told, powerful and intensely moving, tender and overflowing with love, infused with its characters strength and bravery, gloriously positive and uplifting… and I loved every single moment.

[Zoé-Lee O'Farrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ok, why do I ALWAYS forget the bloody tissues when reading a book by Louise. I didn’t break at this book, I’m still haunted by The Lion Tamer Who Lost but this story was beautiful. The tale of Heather and Harriet was heartbreaking and sad and to see where they were in their present was hard.

Heather was far more affected by their past and that hurt but yet she didn’t have all the answers. Harriet had them and gosh was that hard too!

I loved this story, the sights and scenery. I felt I was on the cruise ship with Heather listening to the music, savouring the magic of it all. I can imagine she was mesmerising to watch. And then when we have that scene, that was it, the dams broke and I couldn’t stop crying.

Louise’s writing is melancholy, evocative and haunting but beautiful, always beautiful. She writes these amazing stories, with so much darkness but the light to counter it and it’s so pure. I am just in awe of how she does this. And how much she can make you cry!!!!! Gosh! She can pull those heartstrings so tightly with her characters and words and boy in the second half of this book, she does that!

This is a book to experience, not to be told about. It’s one that I easily lost a few hours in, taking in the journey.

[Emma Hardy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heather's haunting of where her sister might be is powerful and moving. There are so many questions that I felt needed answering immediately!

The story weaves so brilliantly through the sisters' childhood and then back to modern day. I was a bit concerned that the book may feel repetitive, but happy to have been wrong, as it gives a fresh look.

This books focuses on some delicate subject matters incredibly well. The theme of sound and hearing is powerful, and hats off to the author for a slight pancreatic cancer mention too.

I found myself wanting to race to the end, hoping to see the sisters reunited and had that reader dilemma of rushing through it against absorbing the detail in every word. I felt so invested in these characters and despite being set on a cruise which can often feel like a claustrophobic read, this felt liberating.

Emotional, poignant, delightful.

[David Harris · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am always very pleased to see that a new book by Louise is on the way. They always grab me, and Nothing Else lived up to my expectations. At the same time heartbreaking, uplifting and compulsively readable, I hope it'll grab you, too.

Heather is a piano teacher, a rather solitary woman who lives - perhaps not for her music, but with it. She's not a total loner - her stepparents are dead, she was married and has parted amicably from her ex-husband - but there is a space in her life, which Beech slowly shows us was left by Harriet, the sister from whom Heather was parted in childhood.

On an impulse, Heather decides to take the job of pianist on a luxury liner. It's most unlike her to do such a spur of the moment thing, but she looks forward to the change and to the opportunity for some reflection. She will cruise across the Atlantic and then travel to the Caribbean, with a stop in New York. It seems exciting, different, a chance to explore a different lifestyle - and Heather is very nervous. But she's recently received the files Social Service kept on her, and hopes that she may find a clue there about Harriet - what happened to her, and, perhaps, where she is now.


Louise Beech
The first part of the novel therefore follows Heather as she settles in aboard the Queen of the Seas, makes acquaintanceships among the crew of the ship (a warm friendship with Frederica, who's a writer and aboard the ship to give workshops, not so much with Barry Lung, an old-school comedian who sees the trip as an opportunity to drink and chase the girls) and finds her way playing in the different bars and venues. Heather has a good deal of spare time and we also witness her reaction to reading the (heavily redacted) Social Services files and the memories they stimulate of early life.

Heather's own memories have many gaps. Her childhood wasn't easy, and doesn't make easy reading. There are scenes here of domestic abuse, less the gross, physical side than the creeping atmosphere of dread and restraint, the miasma cast over the girls' early life by their controlling father. It is effective and horrible, and the contrast with the more or less carefree life aboard ship (I really loved the sense of place and community that Beech gives to this) only makes things seem, somehow, even darker. Heather wants to know about Harriet, but one senses that there may be ominous secrets to come out.

One of the things I love about Louise Beech's books is this ability to create menace and depth in situations which nevertheless remain, as it were, bounded and even appealing. The little world aboard a ship is a good example of that. Heather may have spare time to relive her past but she has so much to do, so much to explore, and a public role in the ship - she has to be be there at the right times, a smile on her face, attractively dressed and ready to entertain - so that the buried memories which begin to emerge can't, they just can't, take over completely. So we get a kind of mystery, a deepening of our understanding of Heather's personality, demonstrated through her love for her mother, through her family's tragedy and in her relationship with Mr Hibbert, who taught her and Harriet piano (his story, glimpsed in passing, is rather sad). But it's demonstrated most of all, perhaps, though Beech's use of Heather's music, her choices of what to play and the descriptions of how she does that.

Heather doesn't particularly try to challenge the passengers with her repertoire, but she plays with great feeling and there's a haunting quality to how this is explained in the story, reminding me that Beech's stories often use art or performance to get over the depths of what people are experiencing. That is heightened when Heather plays "Nothing Else", a piece in two parts which she and her sister composed together when their father was at his worst. Heather has never been able to play Harriet's part, pointing at the void left behind, but she is something of a hit playing her own and even becomes a minor online sensation as the music is recorded and shares across social media.

I don't want to say too much more about what happens in the story, because, while the general course of it might be something you'll guess, the detailed working out isn't. Rather it's wrapped round the mystery about Harriet's disappearance. And other mysteries too. Beech, as ever, is queen of the taut, suspenseful plot. This isn't a crime novel (at least not in its present-day parts) or thriller, but Beech still serves up a few red herrings and a few clues as to what was going on - and keeps us guessing about exactly how things will turn out.

This is a story, at its root, of love and loss, and lost time, but one that testifies to the power of truth and the endurance of love. As a complex piece of music moves towards its resolution, so Nothing Else explores its themes, eventually presenting Heather with a very different outcome from what she might have expected - and forcing some choices on her.

Another excellent book from this author - one that I think may just be her best yet (and that's a high bar).

[Louise Fisher · Rating 5 out of 5]

NOTHING ELSE. By
LOUISE BEECH.
This beautiful story revolves around sisters Heather and Harriet. Life for the girls was not always easy, growing up in a home where playing music on their beloved piano was the only way to drown out the sounds of the harsh bashings their aggressive father inflicted on their soft-hearted mother. Music was their only comfort, their only joy, their Band-Aid that would fix everything. It blocked out the ugly sounds nobody wanted to hear. Sisters Heather and Harriet would sit side by side on their music stool, as their little fingers played songs to comfort both themselves and their mother. There was one song, one song belonging uniquely to them. Nothing Else was a song they composed, it was their song, a song which would always hold a unique and special bond amongst sisters.
Life can change in a split second …
Heather and Harriet’s childhood is taken away at just eight and ten years old when the girls are orphaned (no spoilers I promise)
They are sent to an orphanage and just like that …one day Harriet disappears.
Fast forward 37 years and the story continues… Heather, an accomplished pianist and piano teacher, decides it’s time for a change and applies for a job as a musician on a cruise ship.
STOP Louise,
say no more!!!
By sharing anymore I might just give the storyline away! Instead, trust me on this one. It’s beautiful, it’s a tug at your heartstrings story needing a tissue or two , it’s a story about sisterhood, and the power of healing through the love of music. What do you think happened to Harriet …
A WONDERFUL READ NOT TO BE MISSED 🌟⭐️🌟⭐️🌟

[Donna Irwin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sublime writing. Perfect story, perfect characters.
Perfect narration on audible.

[Jodie Allin · Rating 5 out of 5]

First book in ages that I read in one day! Beautifully written and heart warming

[Debbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant book thank you Louise xxx

[Jaffareadstoo · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are afew authors whose work I will read without even looking at the blurb and who I have in my literary armoury of 'books I know I will love'. Louise Beech is one of those authors who takes you by the hand and doesn't let go until the story is told.

Heather Harris takes a job on board the cruise ship Queen of the Seas where she is booked as the resident pianist for the duration of the voyage. Immersing herself in music has always been of great comfort to Heather especially as her childhood was filled with trauma so deep it has left a lasting scar. Now in her late forties, and at something of a crossroads in her life, Heather needs to face the demons of her troubled past, but as painful memories of Harriet, the little sister she once shared piano lessons with starts to emerge so Heather must begin to peel back the layers of hurt which she has carried within her for so long.

The power of music in all its different genres is very evident and there is a definite soundtrack running throughout the narrative, which is helped enormously by listening to the Spotify soundtrack mentioned at the start of the novel but even without this it is very easy to become immersed in the way Heather uses her connection to music in order to tell us a powerful story. Childhood trauma is never an easy subject and all credit to this talented writer for giving us Heather and Harriet's story in such a sensitive but very powerful way.

Nothing Else is one of those wonderful stories which just absolutely fits the moment. Beautifully written, and sensitively described, I was carried along on every step of Heather's journey, from the quiet times on board the Queen of the Seas when she is lost in her music, to the utter joy when life finally gives her, and the one person she loves most in the world, something to celebrate.

[Terri (BooklyMatters) · Rating 5 out of 5]

A masterpiece of emotional artistry, as spectacularly tender as it is disquieting, this book will stay with you long after you finish it.

Heather and Harriet, six and nine years old respectively, are two little girls who have a special bond. As sisters, the love they share is pure and inviolable - for each other, for their mother, and for the power and joy of the music they see and feel everywhere - a benign but potent defense buffering them against the terrible episodes of domestic violence they endure daily.

“I noticed her hands were trembling. That her wedding ring caught the light, then didn’t, catching the light, then didn’t, an awful flashing song that said, Help me, help me, help me. But I didn’t know how.”

This story will break your heart as profoundly as it will melt it - as the redemptive power of love (all forms of love, and nothing else) is pitted repeatedly against some of life’s greatest evils (some, arguably, well-intentioned, but most, deliberate and traumatic).

Budding pianists from a very young age, with innate abilities rooted in their ancestry, the girls practice covertly, learning to harness the secrets of their craft, creating a deeply symbolic four-handed song, (played simultaneously in breathtaking harmony) - their poignant effort to both diffuse and distract the violence, providing a sort-of hopeful beacon for their helplessly suffering mother.

“I knew nothing bad could happen to the three of us while it played. That the safe hands of such beauty would not let any harm come to us. “

As the plot unwinds with terrible urgency to include unforeseen terrors, grief, sadness, separations and the inexorable passing of time, (much time), Heather and Harriet’s bond is tested to its limit.

As Harriet, seeking solace, takes to the sea on her first-ever cruise - the reader is left wondering: could the following gorgeously-phrased observation (one of my favorites, of many literary gems penned by this enormously talented author) suggest a long-overdue respite?

“I woke to calmer seas, to a sunrise like butter melting over liquid-gold waves.”

No spoilers here, you will need to read this beautifully moving book, to find out more.

A great big thank you to @orendaBooks for an ARC of this book. All thoughts presented are my own.

[Kerry https://likeherdingcatsblog.wordpress.com Robinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Louise Beech is the most beautiful writer I have ever read and I love to savour every word that she writes.
Nothing Else is a beautiful story of the strength of sibling love, the journey to heal from trauma and the power of music. Louise writes with a lyrical and elegant style which washed over me as I read – just like music does. It lifted my heart, gave me goosebumps and tears and left me haunted and bereft at times. I do not know how Louise evokes these feelings with words – it’s a talent so rare and wonderful. Maybe it’s because every story, including this one, is steeped in her own experiences and she truly writes from the heart – giving the characters a voice as they guide her stories.
Through a series of flashbacks, entwined with present day narrative, Louise tells us the story of sisters Heather and Harriet who were separated as children and grew up apart.
As children, the girls lived with violence and to escape, they found solitude in playing music together (when father was not home) and discovered they had an aptitude for it. When tragedy strikes, the girls are all each other have left and this tests and strengthen their relationship until one day Harriet disappears.
In the present day, Heather is playing piano on a cruise ship, using music to maintain her links with her sister and her past but also being held back slightly due to these links.
The sisterly bond is portrayed so intensely that you can feel it. The poignant story of the girls will take your breath away and leave you haunted for a long time afterwards. Using music as the thread that weaves everything together is especially emotive and works really well. I could almost imagine Louise’s fingers nimbly dancing over the keyboard in time with the music as she wrote this.
A haunting, but beautiful story of sisterhood, music and healing.

[Monika Armet · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book follows the story of two sisters, Heather and Harriet, who after the death of their parents ended up in care. The two girls were soon separated and haven’t seen each other since.

Heather was 10 when she last saw her sister, she is now 47 and always wondered what happened to Harriet.

Heather applies for a job as a pianist on a cruise ship, and she is successful. She also applies for her care documents which arrive just in time for her to take on the ship with her.

When she starts reading her care documents, she begins to reflect on her childhood: her timid mother who loved music and encouraged the girls’ passion for piano, and their violent and abusive father.

Meanwhile, the reader meets Harriet and discovers how things worked out for her. She lives on another continent, has a daughter, and experiences a degree of a hearing loss. By chance (or maybe fate) she ends up on a cruise ship, where Heather works… Will the two sisters reunite?

You’ll have to read this book for yourselves to find out.

This book is beautifully written, the descriptions poetic and lyrical. I was heartbroken to read the abuse their father was inflicting on their mother. She was such a quiet woman, but she loved her daughters and she found money to pay for their piano lessons. She was the one that installed the love of music onto her daughters.

I loved how the title relates to the song that the girls had written when they were young. It was their escape from the abuse and the trauma of their childhood.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough. I was spellbound from the beginning all the way to the end.

[Philippa Mckenna · Rating 5 out of 5]

You always know you're in for a treat when a new book by Louise Beech hits the shelves or your kindle, and Nothing Else is no exception. It is a story of two sisters, aged 6 and 8 when we meet them. Younger sister Harriet is quirky, funny and mischievous, whilst older sister Heather is more serious and considered.

Both are terrified of their abusive father, who takes his temper out on their beloved mother almost every day. The girls are joined by their love of music, and together learn to play the piano and compose their own song, Nothing Else. It is this beautiful piece of music that will tie these girls together throughout their lives, and as the story evolves, we meet both, now adults, and living completely separate lives.

This book is hard to read in places. The descriptions of the abuse suffered by their mother at the hands of their father will squeeze your stomach and make your mouth go dry. It is sad and heartbreaking. As a wannabe pianist myself, who has never made it past Grade 1 despite playing for many years, I was completely drawn in by the music described in the book, and often played these pieces on youtube in the background whilst I was reading. Oh how I wish I could have heard Nothing Else. I feel inspired to dust off my piano and start to play again.

I would like to thank Louise Beech for the gift of this book. My review in no way does it justice, which is always the case when something is too good to put into words.

[Fiona Mitchell · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a breath-takingly beautiful book this is. I adored it – from the cruise ship setting (Louise Beech does boats so well!) to the gorgeous characterisation — darling little Harriet who repeats things people say, and kindly piano teacher Mr Hibbert with his exclamations of ‘as I live and breathe’.

The journey through music and through the Atlantic Ocean is poignant and packed with love – and one I was thoroughly moved by. And the attention to musical detail is so excellent that it’s hard to believe that Beech isn’t herself an accomplished pianist. This is a heart-squeezer of a novel that made my eyes wet, and also made me slightly knackered as I kept on staying up late to read it!

If you want to read something emotional and uplifting, this story about sisterly love will have you hooked.

[Mrs A & Mr R Robinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was expecting to love this book and although I enjoyed parts of it, I ended up feeling quite frustrated with it at times. I did not particularly warm to either of the main characters, sisters Heather and Harriet whose parents had died when they were young and who had not seen each other for 37 years. As each told their version of their lives, I really wanted to like them but became frustrated by their lack of action to find each other and discover what had actually happened all those years ago. Louise Beech is a good writer, but this story felt slow and if I’m honest a little boring. It simply did not move on fast enough for my liking.

[Karen Cole · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't think of any authors who tug at my heartstrings as reliably as Louise Beech but in Nothing Else, she doesn't so much tug on them as play a haunting symphony of love, loss and hope. Heather is a piano teacher but when a little girl sparks a memory so painful, she has to walk out, she makes two momentous decisions. One is to apply for a job playing piano on a cruise ship, the other is to send off for her childhood care records.
From the very start of Nothing Else, it is made clear that Heather and her younger sister, Harriet witnessed terrible domestic abuse when they were children. As the older sibling, Heather tried to protect Harriet, first by reading stories and later through the music they play together on their piano. This is a story of past and present, and although love exists throughout, there are also some scenes which are particularly distressing; while Louise Beech never overplays the violence, neither does she tone down the lasting impact of witnessing these assaults. The adult Heather is understandably still affected by the losses she suffered as a child and is consequently a cautious, sensitive woman whose affinity for music lends her strength and brings succour. However, it is also music that most emphasises the hole in her life – especially the song that plays constantly in her head but is missing the person she needs for it to be played as it was first composed.
Nothing Else is the title of the song as well as the book; as Heather entertains guests aboard the Queen of the Seas, it's a perpetual refrain, reminding her of the sister she hasn't seen for thirty-seven years. The immersive scenes on the cruise ship authentically capture the sense of place and it's notable that embarking on this trip away from Hull should also signal her metaphorical voyage into her past. As she reads the redacted reports in her record, she begins to recall more and her memories are achingly bittersweet; from the shared joy of learning to play the piano to the fear of triggering more brutal attacks, and then the confusion and longing following the sudden separation of the sisters. The Portuguese word, 'saudade' meaning the sad state of intense longing for someone or something that is absent, is mentioned and it's heartbreakingly accurate throughout the book.
Most of the book follows Heather's perspective – the aptly subtitled 'Primo' chapters – but there are also the Secondo sections which are written from Harriet's point of view too. Her sense of loss and guilt almost mirrors her older sister's and I thought the exploration of the enduring bonds between siblings was beautifully expressed. Early on in both sisters' storylines, it's noticeable that perhaps neither has been particularly proactive when it most matters. Despite Heather's desperate wish to be reunited with her sister, she hasn't taken any steps to look for her until recently, Meanwhile, Harriet has recent worries of her own and although her fears are entirely reasonable, she has to be pushed into taking action. It does become evident, however, why they are like this. As children they had very little control over their lives; for many years their father's moods dictated much of their day-to-day existence and then later, while they were in care, choices were made on their behalf without their input or knowledge. It's sobering to consider how many real-life Heathers and Harriets were similarly affected by the decisions which were made for them, perhaps with the best intentions but without addressing the long-term consequences. There are moving revelations regarding the circumstances of Harriet's absence from Heather's life, some more expected than others but what I really loved is that it examines a different sort of love to the romantic sort, recognising that familial bonds are at least as important and lasting.
There's a Nothing Else playlist at the start of the book which is as genre fluid as its author; from A-ha to Vivaldi, Chopin to Simon and Garfunkel, John Barry to Bach, music isn't just the backdrop to the story, it's the heart and soul of it. During the course of this compelling novel, we are consistently reminded of music's power to soothe and console, to stimulate memories as well as make them, to bring people together and allow them to escape from reality for at least a while. Louise Beech's beautifully lyrical prose, with its empathetic understanding and exploration of light and darkness, elicits the same effect. Nothing Else is a profoundly captivating paean to music, courage, hope and most of all, love. I thought it was wonderful and highly recommend it.

[Susan Corcoran · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a devoted fan of Louise Beeches writing, so I am admitting now, that this is going to be an unapologetically gushing review.

Here we have on the surface a book about two sisters, separated as children following the death of their parents. The older of the two now an adult, sets out to discover more about her past and to try and solve the mystery around the sudden disappearance of her sister as a child. Now that all seems pretty run of the mill, but in the hands of Louise Beech it is so much more, becoming a mediation on grief, loss, love and longing.

The story is delivered straight from the heart and is full of emotional poignancy. It is powerful, startlingly honest and it’s greatest gift to the reader, is the way the writer taps into our shared experiences of loss and longing. Most of us at some point have suffered the loss of a loved one, leaving us feeling incomplete and so will feel an instant connection with the story being told. Louise Beech adds an extra dimension to this though, with a story about the death of a loved one and the disappearance of another. Leaving Heather to deal with one loss that at least on the surface has a sense of closure and a never ending longing to know the fate of her younger sister. It adds dimension and layers to a story that other writers would shy away from, for fear of overloading the reader with too much emotion. But grief and loss is complex and the writer trusts the reader to know the pain her characters suffer from is found in many forms and asks them to embrace it.

Heather’s anguish felt all the more real to me, because for us and her the pain has the potential to be an open wound throughout her life. She tapped into the complex feelings of adopted children who are searching for answers and created from it a character of who feels sad and lost at the beginning of the story, but comes alive as the journey through the story progresses. Because she learns to trust, not just those around her which is never easy, but herself. With Nothing Else the writer never seeks to make a cheap emotional story, but delivers one that brings Heather’s story to life like the petals of a flower, blooming as the sun warms them.

It is rare for any book to make me feel a sense of longing that a character finds the answers they need, to find the love that was ripped from them. I can think of only a few, one being Madeline Miller’s The Song of Achilles which found me so desperate that Achilles and Patroclus find each other before I reached the last page, that I felt my heart being wrenched out of alignment. I felt a similar need for Heather to find the answers she needed, to know what happened to her sister and find closure. That is solely down the the quality of the narrative and the writers ability to make me care. As I read the last part of the book, I felt an ache in my chest that I prayed would be eased by the last page. She threatened to break my heart, but also promised me and Heather the hope of happiness. As perverse as it sounds to a non reader maybe, isn’t this the feeling we are looking for in the novels we read, the delicious pain created deep in our souls about characters we have come to love? An inborn sense of yearning for a character to find peace or if they can’t, that we understand and embrace our hearts being toyed with.

That dear readers is why you should read Nothing Else!

[B.S. Casey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heather Harris lives and breathes music, so when the chance to play piano on a cruise ship presents itself, she can’t wait to play, to travel, to perform, and most importantly, to get away.

To get away and research what really happened all those years ago, when her parents died and her little sister Harriet disappeared without a trace.

Spending her days combing through evidence she’s finally got the courage to find, acquired from her childhood years, she tries to drown out the violent memories she’s tried to forget about the years gone by, and once she does, maybe she’ll start to finally get her head above water and see what’s ahead for the first time in years. Because even after all these years , without Harriet there is nothing else.

“In my dream that night, we were both in a glow. Harriet and me. Side by side, we shared it. First it came from flames that devoured a car; then from the sun rising over the ocean; finally, it came from a theatre spotlight, intense, blinding.

But really, we were the light.”



There is really is Nothing Else like the way Louise Beech makes you feel things.

A tale about devastating loss and trauma, and the lasting power of love and sisterhood. Visceral and emotive, we learn along with Heather as she reads through the records of her childhood and remembers her violent, neglectful childhood - and the day Harriet left their childrens home to never return.

Full of lyrical, poetic prose, this story flowed beautifully and blended the past and present to create a sense of desperation and desire for Heather to find her future. Everything was vivid and vibrant, I felt the terror of the children, smelled the sea from the boat, experienced the deep loss and hurt along with her.

This wasn't the story I expected. There were no sudden twists or dramatic turns, only painfully real time passing, and revelations not from a big screen but from the quiet, unspoken parts of real life that can be more heartbreaking than anything our imaginations can conjure. But despite the lack of explosions, the simmering sadness left an impact far beyond I expected.

A musical journey of love, loss and discovery that will stay in my head for quite some time.

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Nothing Else, by Louise Beech, we go on a literal and metaphorical journey with musician Heather, as she takes a job playing piano on a cruise ship while trying to untangle the mystery of what happened to her beloved sister, Harriet, 37 years previously.

As children, the pair learned to play a piano their mother had won in a raffle and even composed their own pieces, including one they called Nothing Else. They used music to comfort themselves and their mother when their father was in a violent mood.

When Heather was ten and Harriet was eight, they were orphaned and placed in a children’s home. Soon after that, Harriet seemed to disappear into thin air, and nobody told Heather where she went. Heather was eventually adopted by a kind couple who nurtured her into adulthood, but she never ceased to be aware of the empty space beside her on the piano stool.

This is a gorgeous novel that made me feel so many things. First up was a sense of adventure and escapism as Heather took her place on the cruise ship. I loved reading about life on board, both for the holidaymakers and the entertainers, and watching Heather make new friends and win over audiences.

Furthermore, as someone who loves music but is completely lacking in musical competence, let alone talent, I always enjoy the opportunity to live vicariously through characters who are not only ‘good at’ music, but are passionate about it and make their living from it. I would love to be so immersed in music every single day, and create atmospheres and pleasure for people, like Heather is and does.

The scenes from Heather and Harriet’s childhood, meanwhile, are laced with foreboding, and I shared their feelings of fear and helplessness as their father ruled the household with an iron fist. As I learned how they came to be separated, I despaired that that it been allowed to happen, but having read My Name is Why, by Lemn Sissay, it was sadly all too believable of the British care system in the 1980s, which prioritised adults’ feelings and convenience over children’s best interests.

My despair turned to joy, though, as (without giving too much away!) Heather and Harriet are reunited at last in a stunning scene. While they end up in the same location more or less by chance (albeit with a hint of unseen forces at work), Beech retains a sense of realism. Finding one another again doesn’t magically solve all the sisters’ problems, and they still have obstacles to navigate and new knowledge to process as we take our leave of them.

This book made me think about the potency of childhood memories and feelings (and how untraumatised adults don’t always appreciate how strong these can be, especially for children who have experienced loss); nature versus nurture (Heather and Harriet’s lives could have gone so many different ways, whether they were together or apart); and what music can do in terms of consolidating memories, bringing people together, and much more besides.

Nothing Else is a beautiful and moving story about the power of music and memory.

[Jacob Collins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Louise Beech is a writer who really knows how to delve into the emotions of her characters. Nothing Else, her latest book, is a powerful read that will pull at the heartstrings. It’s not the type of book I normally read, but I was completely and utterly hooked by Heather and Harriet’s tragic tale. It’s really a novel to savour.

We meet Heather as she is contemplating taking a job on a cruise as a pianist, but she is reluctant about this at first. Only after some gentle pushing by her friends does she apply. Heather teaches piano, but she doesn’t perform herself in front of crowds. As Heather sets sail on the cruise, we begin to see just how tragic her backstory is, and how this adds a deeper meaning to the music she plays, particularly her own compositions.

I could really feel Heather’s loss. She hasn’t seen her sister in more than thirty years, after they were cruelly separated by social services, after the death of their parents. Their grandmother, who neither Heather, nor her sister Harriet liked, didn’t even offer to take care of them. You can feel Heather’s yearning to have her sister in her life again. I wanted to find out what had happened to Harriet after they were separated.

We also see what happened in Heather and Harriet’s childhood, and these are some tough scenes to read. But there is also some hope for the future in these scenes, especially as they both learn to play the piano together and you can see how much joy this brings them. This also helps strengthen their bond further and they both know they can rely on the piano in the times of darkness.

I really enjoyed the scenes when Heather is on the cruise and I loved the interactions that she has with the other passengers, as well as the other people in the same quarters as her. I particularly liked the friendship she developed with Frederica, a writer who is running creative writing workshops on the ship. I loved Frederica’s personality and I was glad that Heather had her as a friend on the ship.

Nothing Else is a deeply moving story. Heather and Harriet’s tale engaged me right from the start and I was rooting for Heather all the way through to find out what happened to her sister. If you’re a fan of Louise Beech’s work you need to read this book as soon as possible.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating: 4.5 Stars

A visceral, poignant and heart-wrenching novel, Louise Beech’s Nothing Else is a haunting and powerful exploration of grief, trauma and despair that readers won’t forget in a hurry.

Heather Harris’ entire life revolves around music. A piano teacher and professional musician, Heather cannot remember a time when she didn’t find great solace in music. Haunted by a single song she had written as a child, Heather longs to perform it again. This song holds a lot of special memories for Heather. It is a song that she used to sing with her sister, Harriet in order to drown out the pain, anguish and violence of their home.

Heather hasn’t seen Harriet in a very long time. When her parents died, Harriet had disappeared and Heather had never stopped wondering what happened to her sister. When she gets the chance to play piano on a cruise ship, Heather jumps at the opportunity. With her care records having recently been released, Heather hopes to spend her days reading them in order to find clues about her sister’s disappearance and her nights seeking comfort in her music. Will Heather manage to come to terms with her past? Will she find the answers she seeks? Or is delving into her past going to result in more heartache and disappointment for her?

Louise Beech’s Nothing Else is an elegantly written, thought-provoking and heart-breaking tale that really gets under the skin and will linger in readers’ minds for weeks. Louise Beech writes so sensitively and so skillfully about grief, pain, despair, hope and the love between sisters that many was the time I found myself reaching for the tissues.

Louise Beech has won plenty of reader and critical acclaim and after reading Nothing Else, it’s not difficult to see why. A gifted and talented writer with a wonderful gift for making her readers live the story she is writing, with Nothing Else, Louise Beech has written a first class tale that I recommend without hesitation.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.