Unbound to crowdfund Sanderson's Listen with Father

Unbound is crowdfunding Listen with Father, a “book of remembrance” by Caroline Sanderson.

The author and journalist, who is associate editor of The Bookseller and editor of ALCS News, will explore her relationship with her late father through eight pieces of classical music he cherished. It takes in Mozart, Stravinsky, Kathleen Ferrier, Brahms, Robert and Clara Schumann, Sibelius, Chopin, Richard Strauss and others. Billed as a blend of memoir, biography, history and travel writing, it “also provides an idiosyncratic listening guide and the perfect intro to classical music for anyone who finds it intimidating”.

Unbound, which launched the crowdfunder on 25th October, explained: “When Sanderson was four, she fell in love with the music of Mozart and her father was delighted. Then at eight, she fell even more in love with the music of Davie Bowie, T-Rex and Slade: and her father couldn’t understand it at all.

“For the rest of his life, he tried to rekindle her childhood penchant for classical music, but she was too busy to take proper notice. When her father died, she finally listened to Mozart again and it prompted a resolution to choose eight pieces of music that her father loved – one for each decade of his life – and listen to each with great care and attention, to try and discover what it was he so appreciated about classical music.”

Sanderson said: “In my day job, I’ve had the privilege of reading many beautifully expressed grief memoirs. Now I’ve written one. Except Listen With Father isn’t so much a grief memoir as a book of remembrance through music. Many of my favourite non-fiction books are symphonies of different genres, so I have composed one too, combining memoir and music with biography, history and travel writing. I hope the book will also provide an intro to classical music for those who find it a tad intimidating – as I once did. The result is the most personal thing I’ve ever written, so I’m overjoyed that Listen with Father has found a home with Unbound.”

John Mitchinson, publisher and co-founder of Unbound, said: “I’ve admired Caroline Sanderson for many years as one of the great forces of good in our industry, but nothing prepared me for the emotional charge and deep wisdom of Listen with Father. It is a beautifully written, deeply felt homage to her father and a reminder that music – particularly the great works of the classical canon – can unlock and nourish our memory like nothing else.”