The Upright Piano Player by David Abbott

Somewhere I saw a British list of top 2011 books (so far), and I added a few to my library queue. 

This novel is about Henry, who is divorced from Nessa (who cheated on him), recently retired (forced out of his own company), and estranged from his family (including his son, daughter-in-law, and grandson).  While the story starts with a tragedy in the current day, the rest of the book takes place in the past.  That sets up a strange dynamic for the reader - I knew throughout reading the entire book how the story was going to end, but now how the characters got to that point.  That technique reminded me of Vonnegut's in Galapagos: the author forced you to focus on something other than the storyline by telling you the ending. 

There is nothing else about the book that reminded me of Vonnegut.  But Abbott is a good writer: concise and clear.  He's the type of writer who can define a character with just a few sentences.  Most of the story is Henry's although there are a few chapters told from other characters' points of view. 

It's a very ironic book - the reader knows that Henry's efforts to be more self-actualized are futile, but he doesn't.  The real tragedy in Henry's life was not just the event that ends the story, but the depth of pain and growth that he goes through beforehand, believing he has found redemption.