The Magnificent Piano Recital, a gentle story filled with feminine touches, marks an about-face from The Prairie Fire, last year’s action-packed “boy story” by Marilynn Reynolds. Yet the protagonists of both books yearn for the same thing: to be heard, understood, and appreciated.

Arabella and her mother, a piano teacher, attempt to make new lives for themselves in a northern sawmill town in post-Second World War Canada. The townsfolk, particularly Arabella’s stern teacher, Mrs. Bat, disapprove of their elegant, impractical attire. Quiet Arabella copes with her loneliness by playing her beloved piano. At the spring recital, everyone – including Mrs. Bat – is stunned by the beauty of her playing. Finally, through her music, Arabella is heard, understood, and appreciated.

Fittingly, Arabella utters just two words in the story, but her actions evoke symphonies of meaning. The prose is pleasingly rhythmic; scenes and characters are carefully balanced; repetition is used effectively to underscore key phrases, although some paring of these would tighten the rather long text. Understated mysteries simmer below the surface, such as the whereabouts of Arabella’s father and the reason for their recent poverty.

The illustrations, by Laura Fernandez and Rick Jacobson, succeed in portraying the warm mother-daughter bond but fail to convey that Arabella is sometimes truly alone, unable to tell even her mother how miserable she is at school.

Girls especially will enjoy this book, but it would be a shame if boys are turned off by the abundant references to perfumes and peplums, because the story’s theme is relevant to any child who harbours a secret passion or hidden talent.