'A mini-masterpiece'William Boyd, Guardian'Remarkable'Daily Telegraph'Unforgettable'Mail on Sunday'Prodigious'Spectator'Perfect'Daily MailIn a snowbound railway station deep in the Soviet Union, a stranded passenger comes across an old man playing the piano in the dark, silent tears rolling down his cheeks.Once on the train to Moscow he begins to tell his story: a tale of loss, love and survival that movingly illustrates the strength of human resilience. 'A very short novel that contains multitudes . . . profound, moving, haunting - full of resonances that are even more valid in today's fraught times'William Boyd, Guardian'A masterpiece, a novella to be read in a lunch hour and remembered for ever'Jilly Cooper, Sunday Telegraph