The Piano in the Tree

GCLS GOLDIE AWARD WINNER: BEST CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE 2025

Sixteen years ago, something terrible kept Polly from meeting her girlfriend at a train station in Berlin. Dreams were shattered. Hearts were broken. Two women continued through life alone.

Now, Ksenia Tokarycz is obliged to come back to Australia. Sure, she does it in triumph and she does it in style, but a tardy delivery sends her in search of her piano - back to her childhood home, back to the place where Polly Paterson is still just next door.

High on the escarpment where the summer storms beat their way up the coast and hurl their fury against the sandstone cliffs, a love that never truly died forces two women to come to terms with their scars.

But there is a curious sound on the breeze. There is music on the breath of the wind. And when Toks sees what has happened to her piano, she fears there is a very strong chance her darling Pearl might be utterly mad.

The Piano in the Tree is a contemporary, second chance sapphic romance set between Australia and Europe.