A grand romance: Sophy Roberts goes in search of lost Bechsteins in Siberia

In the world of classic cars, barn-finds sometimes do occur. An old Mercedes Gullwing might be discovered under tarps and hay on a farm somewhere in Florida, say, or an E-type Jag exhumed from out-buildings in Norfolk. Such discoveries are relatively rare, yet news of them reaches far beyond specialist magazines and websites for one simple reason: people love classic cars. We all invent stories about their history and fate based on the model, where it was found and who found it.

Musical instruments have nowhere near the same traction in our imagination. For a barn-find fiddle to garner international attention it would have to be a valuable violin, or its provenance would need to be mired in the murk and criminality of Nazi Germany. Yet even these instruments do not capture our notice and imagination in the way a looted Picasso manages. Art trumps music (discuss).

So Sophy Roberts has her work cut out for her even before she embarks on this picaresque tale about the lost pianos of Siberia. Nonetheless, she is certain that on her journey she will find a decent instrument — or one with a provenance so intriguing that she can overlook the cracked soundboard and mouldy hammers — buy it and bring it back to Odgerel Sampilnorov, a Mongolian pianist whom she has met and who has cast a spell. ‘What if I could track down a Bechstein in a cabin far out in the wilds?’ she writes (though chances are a cat would be living in it). Moreover, Roberts gambles that we will care enough about the object she seeks for us to last the distance. She herself would probably say that the characters she assembles in her twisty narrative are as important as the reason she encounters them.