Pianos and Flowers

Finished December 6

Pianos and Flowers: Brief Encounters of the Romantic Kind by Alexander McCall Smith

This collection of stories is inspired by old photographs the author selected from the archives of The Sunday Times, as part of a writing project for them. He used those images to create narratives set in the early twentieth century, with no other information about the photos. 

Using tiny clues from the images he imagines the people, the backstory, and the context for the images, making them come to life. 

The stories include lively characters, and interesting lives and were very engaging. Ranging from siblings to friends to lovers, most of their relationships developed over time, and are complex for short stories.