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HomeEventsPenn's Village Reads: The Piano Tuner’s Wives, a short story by William Trevor

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Penn's Village Reads: The Piano Tuner’s Wives, a short story by William Trevor

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Jo Ellen Winters will read The Piano Tuner’s Wives, a short story by William Trevor. Owen Francis Dromgould, the elderly blind piano tuner, was caught between two wives--one living and one dead. His first wife, Violet, had been gone two years before Owen began courting Belle, his second wife, by touch.

The tidy first paragraph supplies the plot in miniature: "Violet married the piano tuner when he was a young man. Belle married him when he was old." Belle, the 59-year-old second wife, was once the town beauty, "smart in her clothes," who, decades before, was cast over by the piano tuner for her rival, Violet. Now Violet is in her grave and Belle is in the marriage bed, and yet Violet still haunts their lives. Because the piano tuner is blind, he had relied for decades on his first wife to be his eyes, so Belle literally hears her dead predecessor constantly speaking through her husband's descriptions of the physical world. In the brilliant climax of the tale, Belle vindictively decides that if she can't banish her predecessor, she'll just banish the world Violet once inhabited.

This will be an online event hosted via Zoom Conferencing. You do not need a Zoom account but you will need to download and install the Zoom app on your computer or mobile device to join the event. Please email us at info@pennsvillage.org in advance or check out our new Zoom Instructions if you need assistance installing the Zoom app. If you cannot join the event using your computer or mobile device and the Zoom app, you can join the event via teleconference and hear the audio portion. You will receive an email a day or so before the event with a link to the meeting, the Meeting ID, call-in telephone numbers and instructions for joining the meeting.

Please register by emailing info@pennsvillage.org or calling 215-925-7333.

This program is free of charge to our members, volunteers and donors. Guests are welcome to attend up to three programs before being required to join and/or volunteer with Penn’s Village.
During the coronavirus crisis, we are waiving the three-program limit and $10 fee for non-member guests to help our neighbors stay connected and engaged while social distancing.

Penn’s Village supports and actively encourages a diverse and inclusive community of members, staff, Board of Directors, and volunteers. Diversity and inclusiveness means excluding no one because of age, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, physical abilities, religious beliefs or political beliefs.
When:
Monday, May 18, 2020, 3:30 PM until 4:30 PM
Where:
A Zoom Conference link will be emailed to all registered participants.
Zoom

Additional Info:
Category:
Social
Registration is required
Payment In Full In Advance Only
No Fee
No Fee