About Singing Lessons for the Stylish Canary

Lanternfish PressIn a small, cloudless village in nineteenth-century France, Henri Blanchard grows up in his legendary father’s shadow. Georges is a master serinette craftsman, building high-pitched barrel organs for training songbirds; villagers call him the Sun-Bringer due to a miraculous incident in his childhood. Henri yearns to live up to his father’s reputation, but he’d rather learn lacemaking and spend time with his best friend, Aimée. When Henri discovers a stash of foreign letters that reveal he’s not Georges’s firstborn son after all, his efforts to impress his father become increasingly outlandish. One backfires, forcing him to flee the village in search of his half-brother. Singing Lessons for the Stylish Canary explores gender roles, societal cages, and the importance of being true to your voice, no matter what the cost.