Vera Prudhomme Kennan watches in awe as her husband Lex and Sally Pendergast romp around the world in their quest for stardom on the concert stage. A tragic accident and powerful people are not the only threats to the duo. Passion breaks and binds Lex, Vera, and Sally as they grapple with who they are when the performance stops. No man carries Sally Pendergast's baggage. She is a consummate musician whose Spanish guitar is with her wherever she goes. She's also known for keeping Delta and United grounded at the gate until they let her precious instrument board with her. Lex Kennan lacks the guts to make a career with his flute. Married to the ever practical Vera Prudhomme, he is caged in a secure government job in the nation's capital. Intensely absorbed in themselves and each other, Sally, Lex, and Vera bring their intimate secrets to you in their own voices. Sally and Lex meet at a music party neither wanted to attend. They form a duo and rehearse as Vera -- who shares none of their devotion to music -- watches warily. Sally asks Lex to perform with her in Europe. She tries to convince Vera that the duo is going on a concert tour, not a fuckfest. Music becomes desire and desire becomes music. The Two Musicians call their duo Romanzas and contemplate Mozart's bones, fame and their fate. The Wife Who Isn't hosts a candlelight supper and more in their absence. A powerful patron pushes Sally and Lex down a path they never intended to take. International success threatens to tear the duo apart. Temptation and a tragic accident almost succeed in killing Romanzas. A major recording contract brings Lex and Sally to the cusp of fame. But nothing in this tale of three turns out as expected. Passion breaks and binds Lex, Vera, and Sally as they grapple with who they are when the performance stops.
About the Author: Syd Goldsmith's first novel, JADE PHOENIX, was a finalist in two major international competitions. His second explores the hearts and souls of three passionate people in TWO MUSICIANS AND THE WIFE WHO ISN'T. His op-eds on the U.S.-China-Taiwan relationship have appeared in the Christian Science Monitor, the Los Angeles Times and the Asian Wall Street Journal. Some forty commentaries on the 2008 Presidential election and the American scene during the early months of the Obama administration appeared in the opinion pages of the China Post. Syd has enjoyed multiple careers as a diplomat, musician and entrepreneur on both sides of the Pacific. While in the Foreign Service he learned Mandarin, Taiwanese, Cantonese, and Spanish in addition to French, and was posted to East Asia and South America. As a leadership and strategy consultant to American and Chinese companies in China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, Syd served a stint as interim CEO of a Taiwanese multinational manufacturer with 8000 employees in Taiwan, China and Thailand. Syd was trained in New York as a concert flutist and has performed in twenty countries. His lifelong passion for music leads deep into the desires of his characters in Two Musicians and The Wife Who Isn't. Syd and his wife Hsiu-chen Chang live in Taipei with their two teenagers. They can be found in upstate New York in summertime, cavorting with writers and other fascinating people at the Chautauqua Institution.