Solo

A former star musician, humiliated by a disastrous performance, abandons her career. Years later, she mentors a gifted but underprivileged teen horn player. As her protégé’s big break approaches, Cate must confront her past and seek redemption through the music that once broke her.

You’ve heard of ‘girl meets boy’? This isn’t that. It’s ‘girl meets horn’.

Cate was a top musician in a leading orchestra—until a disastrous solo humiliated her on the world stage. Traumatised, she abandons her instrument, retrains as a language teacher, reinvents herself online, and travels the world.

Ten years later, after her mother’s death, Cate returns to her bleak Midlands hometown, where she’s drawn into mentoring Sarah, a talented teenage horn player with no professional training. Sarah dreams of making music her career, but her family can’t afford a decent instrument or lessons. She learns by ear, her talent undeniable but her future uncertain.

Cate is the only one who can help.

When a local amateur orchestra announces a concert featuring the piece that once destroyed Cate’s career, Sarah’s big break is at stake. For Cate, helping her succeed could mean redemption—if she can finally face her own past.

• | Author: Caroline Swinburne
• | Publisher: The Book Guild Ltd
• | Publication Date: Sep 28, 2025
• | Number of Pages:
• | Language:
• | Binding: Paperback / softback
• | ISBN-13: 9781835742877
• | ISBN-10: 1835742874