The house was alive with secrets and history, its vaulted passageways, Great Hall and extensive grounds the setting for theatrical presentations, local fairs and international film shoots. Equally fascinating to young Will was his eldest brother Richard, who suffered from disabling epilepsy. The ebbs and flows of electricity in Richards brain, along with the mood swings and outbursts caused by the damage his brain sustained, created the rhythm of family life; Richards story inspires Fiennes journey towards an understanding of the mind. This is a song of home, of an adored and sometimes feared brother and of the miracle of consciousness. Bursting with tender detail, with humour, pathos and wisdom, The Music Room is a sensuous tribute to place, to memory, to the permanence of love and the ache of loss.From the Hardcover edition.