When Kenneth Earl realizes his memory is failing, he advertises for someone to help him catalogue his vast collection of music, and so create a record of his life. Maggie, the final candidate, is his last hope. When he tells her she's got the position, however, he doesn't guess that the archive will be as much about her past as his - because this isn't the first time that Maggie has been to Earl House, and it's no coincidence that she applied for the job...

When Kenneth Earl realizes his memory is failing, he advertises for someone to help him catalogue his vast collection of music, and so create a record of his life. Maggie, the final candidate, is his last hope. When he tells her she's got the position, however, he doesn't guess that the archive will be as much about her past as his - because this isn't the first time that Maggie has been to Earl House, and it's no coincidence that she applied for the job. As a child, Maggie and her mother lived near the river that runs past the house. Maggie's memories of that time are patchy: she remembers Kenneth's son, William; a boat; a dog; she remembers children singing, and being alone, afraid. She remembers - afterwards - returning home, mute, refusing to speak. For her, going back to Earl House as an adult offers the chance to fill in the gaps and finally perhaps, lay to rest the ghosts of her childhood. A novel about secrets and lies, about language and music, memory and place, about who we are and the narratives we weave about the events of our lives, The Song House is both beautiful and haunting, and will resonate with the reader long after the final page is finished.