Honeybees And Distant Thunder Mitsubachi To Enrai Riku Onda by Riku Onda, Philip Gabriel (translation) 9781639364039, 163936403X instant download after payment.

Tender and intense, Honeybees and Distant Thunder is the unflinching story of love, courage, & rivalry as three young people come to understand what it means to truly be a friend. In a small coastal town just a stone's throw from Tokyo, a prestigious piano competition is underway. Over the course of two feverish weeks, three students will experience some of the most joyous—and painful—moments of their lives. Though they don't know it yet, each will profoundly and unpredictably change the others, for ever. 

Aya was a child prodigy who abruptly gave up performing after the death of her mother, and is now trying for a comeback; Masaru, a childhood friend of Aya who came to the piano through her insistence that he learn to play, is now reunited with her after many years, and is equally invested in both his and her success; Akashi, who is older and married, works in a music store & is the “old man” of the competitors, hoping for a final chance at success; & Jin, a sixteen-year-old prodigy, the free spirited son of a beekeeper who travels constantly, and has no formal training (and doesn’t even own a piano) yet whose mesmerizing insight into music has brought him to the attention of one of the world’s most celebrated pianists, the late Maestro Von Hoffman. Each of them will break the rules, awe their fans & push themselves to the brink. But at what cost? 

Beloved in Japan, Riku Onda immerses us in the world of music—from piano masterpieces to the buzz of bees & the rumble of thunder—which crescendos to a surprising ending in this rich & vibrant novel.