--- product_id: 119387696 title: "Love Is Blind: A novel" price: "31 kr" currency: NOK in_stock: false reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.no/products/119387696-love-is-blind-a-novel store_origin: NO region: Norway --- # Love Is Blind: A novel **Price:** 31 kr **Availability:** ❌ Out of Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** Love Is Blind: A novel - **How much does it cost?** 31 kr with free shipping - **Is it available?** Currently out of stock - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.no](https://www.desertcart.no/products/119387696-love-is-blind-a-novel) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description When he is hired as the personal piano tuner for a brilliant pianist, Brodie Moncur suddenly finds himself swept up into a life of luxury that he could never have imagined. But while accompanying his new employer on tours from Paris to St. Petersburg, Brodie falls madly in love with the Russian soprano Lika Blum: beautiful, worldly, seductive—and forbidden. Though seemingly doomed from the start, Brodie’s passion for Lika only grows as their lives become increasingly more intertwined, more secretive, and, finally, more dangerous. A tale of dizzying passion and brutal revenge; of artistic endeavor and the illusions it can create; of the possibilities that life offers and the cruel speed with which they can be snatched away, Love Is Blind is a dazzling work of historical fiction that unfolds across fin de siècle Europe. Review: "Look at your love for me. It's blind. You don't see me as I really am." - “Love is blind” may seem like a tired proverb, but it fits literally and figuratively as a theme for the protagonist in Boyd’s new novel, which spans over a decade at the turn of the 19th century. Brodie Moncur is a 24-year-old handsome, educated gentleman, a first-rate piano tuner in Edinburgh,with perfect pitch and attention to detail. He has poor vision, though, and depends on his Franklin bifocals; otherwise the world appears “utterly aqueous.” When Brody’s boss at Channing & Co, a family-run piano shop, offers him a showroom managerial position in their Paris store in 1894, Brodie accepts. He offers an innovative idea to employ a pianist, John Kilbarron, known as the “Irish Liszt,” to play a Channon piano in concerts and hence boost sales. This leads Brodie to the love of his life--a tall, beautiful Russian opera singer--and thus to the main action of the story. Boyd’s novels tend to be genre-benders, and this is no exception. It is part romance, international adventure, classic drama, a bit of melodrama, and even shades of a play—or a Chekhov play. The epigraph is written by Chekhov’s widow, Olga Knipper. She describes a play that her husband intended to write in the last year of his life, in which the hero loves a woman “who either does not love him or is unfaithful to him.” This isn’t a spoiler for Boyd’s novel, only perhaps an inspiration for certain narrative flecks. But there are other Chekhov parallels—from “The Lady with the Dog” and Chekhov’s gun principle to a consumptive protagonist and a small but significant appearance of a Russian doctor, among many examples. I see most of the Chekhov allusions, however, as an aspect of the author’s playful wit, his levity that occasionally borders on farce. But Boyd’s use of the absurd is counterbalanced by an underlying poignancy, so intimate does the reader become with Brodie and his fate. Brodie is immediately smitten with Lika, Kilbarron’s sometimes-mistress, and feels “as if his innards were molten—as if he might melt in a puddle of sizzling magma on the floor.” Curiously, and I think this was the author’s intention, Lika remains inscrutable, inexplicable—not really three-dimensional EXCEPT from Brodie’s point-of-view. We see her through his eyes, not ours. In fact, she “stood at the very limits of both of the lenses of his Franklin spectacles—move and squint as he might, he still couldn’t bring her into focus.” The antagonist is John Kilbarron’s brother, Malachi, a truly old school villain who follows the couple “like a hell hound,” and is present at a duel that marks a turning point of the story. What kept me fastened to the novel was Boyd’s meticulous plotting and the deepening of Brodie’s troubles related to his constant love for Lika, despite the odds which would have driven most men away. He is committed to her despite threats to his life and his need to flee at intervals, and the stress it has on his tubercular health problems. The reader is sent on quite a journey—from France, to Scotland, to Russia—and then full circle where the novel opens with a prologue in the Andaman Islands in 1906. Many sections of the novel are like little short stories that could have theoretically expanded into their own separate narratives. One of my favorites is when the reader is installed at the Moncur family home in the Scottish Borders, with Brodie’s eight brothers and sisters and his fire-and-brimstone preacher father, Malcolm Moncur, a widower, perhaps an analogue of Malachi—a grim and sinister figure. The preacher acts despicably toward his children, especially Brodie, who Malcolm refers to as “you black bastard” and other racist images of Brodie’s coloring, which doesn’t match the rest of the family’s ginger complexion. Malcolm’s blackness comes from the heart “a dark singularity.” Brodie rejects religion as he rejects his father. Instead of blind faith to God, Brodie chooses the providence of blind devotion to Lika. The author expresses his narrative within the secular Chekhovian divination of love, art, time, and death. As Brodie is gazing into the guts of a piano, he reflects, “Mysteries—music, time, movement—reduced to complex, elaborate mechanisms.” Review: Entertaining, original but... - Maybe I am just too old to believe the romance that is the center of this story. Brodie Moncur is a great character for a book - his interesting career as a early 20th century piano tuner puts him at the center of music and culture in the older age of pianos and touring concerts that were as popular as rap stars today. Boyd puts us there as Brodie moves from Edinburgh to Paris to St Petersburg and so many other locations. But the romance that brews between Brodie and opera singer Lika Blum seems too intense for all it's hurdles. Lika is attached to the great pianist John Kibarron and terrified of his business manager brother Malachi. The first part of the book where Boyd spends more time on pianos and the magic of the music and playing along with wonderful insights into Brodie's family works to perfection. As the book moves more towards the secret romance and the effects things seem to go a bit off the rails. Malachi as a deeply dark figure is not given enough substance to prove credible. John Kilbarron is a terrific over drinking super talented somewhat roguish figure that is hard not to like. But the ardor and passion of Brodie is the hardest to grasp. Separations between Brodie and Lika are sometimes quite long with much temptation. The instantaneous attraction and subsequent loyalty of Brodie feels forced. There is little evidence that their love is tested or constructed to allow for the fealty that continues on through the years. Overall entertaining and original and worth the time but left me wishing for the romance to be more authentic. ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #520,777 in Kindle Store ( See Top 100 in Kindle Store ) #194 in Historical Russian Fiction #2,681 in Historical European Fiction #4,664 in Historical Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Fiction | ## Images ![Love Is Blind: A novel - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/91+DwoqeJEL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "Look at your love for me. It's blind. You don't see me as I really am." *by S***N on October 22, 2018* “Love is blind” may seem like a tired proverb, but it fits literally and figuratively as a theme for the protagonist in Boyd’s new novel, which spans over a decade at the turn of the 19th century. Brodie Moncur is a 24-year-old handsome, educated gentleman, a first-rate piano tuner in Edinburgh,with perfect pitch and attention to detail. He has poor vision, though, and depends on his Franklin bifocals; otherwise the world appears “utterly aqueous.” When Brody’s boss at Channing & Co, a family-run piano shop, offers him a showroom managerial position in their Paris store in 1894, Brodie accepts. He offers an innovative idea to employ a pianist, John Kilbarron, known as the “Irish Liszt,” to play a Channon piano in concerts and hence boost sales. This leads Brodie to the love of his life--a tall, beautiful Russian opera singer--and thus to the main action of the story. Boyd’s novels tend to be genre-benders, and this is no exception. It is part romance, international adventure, classic drama, a bit of melodrama, and even shades of a play—or a Chekhov play. The epigraph is written by Chekhov’s widow, Olga Knipper. She describes a play that her husband intended to write in the last year of his life, in which the hero loves a woman “who either does not love him or is unfaithful to him.” This isn’t a spoiler for Boyd’s novel, only perhaps an inspiration for certain narrative flecks. But there are other Chekhov parallels—from “The Lady with the Dog” and Chekhov’s gun principle to a consumptive protagonist and a small but significant appearance of a Russian doctor, among many examples. I see most of the Chekhov allusions, however, as an aspect of the author’s playful wit, his levity that occasionally borders on farce. But Boyd’s use of the absurd is counterbalanced by an underlying poignancy, so intimate does the reader become with Brodie and his fate. Brodie is immediately smitten with Lika, Kilbarron’s sometimes-mistress, and feels “as if his innards were molten—as if he might melt in a puddle of sizzling magma on the floor.” Curiously, and I think this was the author’s intention, Lika remains inscrutable, inexplicable—not really three-dimensional EXCEPT from Brodie’s point-of-view. We see her through his eyes, not ours. In fact, she “stood at the very limits of both of the lenses of his Franklin spectacles—move and squint as he might, he still couldn’t bring her into focus.” The antagonist is John Kilbarron’s brother, Malachi, a truly old school villain who follows the couple “like a hell hound,” and is present at a duel that marks a turning point of the story. What kept me fastened to the novel was Boyd’s meticulous plotting and the deepening of Brodie’s troubles related to his constant love for Lika, despite the odds which would have driven most men away. He is committed to her despite threats to his life and his need to flee at intervals, and the stress it has on his tubercular health problems. The reader is sent on quite a journey—from France, to Scotland, to Russia—and then full circle where the novel opens with a prologue in the Andaman Islands in 1906. Many sections of the novel are like little short stories that could have theoretically expanded into their own separate narratives. One of my favorites is when the reader is installed at the Moncur family home in the Scottish Borders, with Brodie’s eight brothers and sisters and his fire-and-brimstone preacher father, Malcolm Moncur, a widower, perhaps an analogue of Malachi—a grim and sinister figure. The preacher acts despicably toward his children, especially Brodie, who Malcolm refers to as “you black bastard” and other racist images of Brodie’s coloring, which doesn’t match the rest of the family’s ginger complexion. Malcolm’s blackness comes from the heart “a dark singularity.” Brodie rejects religion as he rejects his father. Instead of blind faith to God, Brodie chooses the providence of blind devotion to Lika. The author expresses his narrative within the secular Chekhovian divination of love, art, time, and death. As Brodie is gazing into the guts of a piano, he reflects, “Mysteries—music, time, movement—reduced to complex, elaborate mechanisms.” ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Entertaining, original but... *by D***S on April 8, 2019* Maybe I am just too old to believe the romance that is the center of this story. Brodie Moncur is a great character for a book - his interesting career as a early 20th century piano tuner puts him at the center of music and culture in the older age of pianos and touring concerts that were as popular as rap stars today. Boyd puts us there as Brodie moves from Edinburgh to Paris to St Petersburg and so many other locations. But the romance that brews between Brodie and opera singer Lika Blum seems too intense for all it's hurdles. Lika is attached to the great pianist John Kibarron and terrified of his business manager brother Malachi. The first part of the book where Boyd spends more time on pianos and the magic of the music and playing along with wonderful insights into Brodie's family works to perfection. As the book moves more towards the secret romance and the effects things seem to go a bit off the rails. Malachi as a deeply dark figure is not given enough substance to prove credible. John Kilbarron is a terrific over drinking super talented somewhat roguish figure that is hard not to like. But the ardor and passion of Brodie is the hardest to grasp. Separations between Brodie and Lika are sometimes quite long with much temptation. The instantaneous attraction and subsequent loyalty of Brodie feels forced. There is little evidence that their love is tested or constructed to allow for the fealty that continues on through the years. Overall entertaining and original and worth the time but left me wishing for the romance to be more authentic. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Masterful writing and compelling entertainment *by H***A on February 12, 2026* An immersive life story of a Scottish piano tuner who ends up traveling the world while dealing with a broken heart and dying of tuberculosis. Unforgettable characters, who I miss already. --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.no/products/119387696-love-is-blind-a-novel](https://www.desertcart.no/products/119387696-love-is-blind-a-novel) --- *Product available on Desertcart Norway* *Store origin: NO* *Last updated: 2026-09-16*